A new copyright model

Should original works be protected by copyright? I think there is merit in rewarding writers and originators of new ideas with financial reward. It encourages me to write more interesting and accessible articles, giving away years of experience and knowledge - there has to be a reason to do this.

Passing on knowledge makes it more valuable. Copyright law should never prevent the passing on of knowledge but should ensure that the rights of the owner are respected.

With the advent of the Internet, file sharing and republishing, the question of "enforcing copyright" is a major legal problem. Who to accuse? A fictional average individual who has perhaps ripped an average of 1 film or one album from the web really would not be able to front up with payment if sued for copyright for their brief career as a file downloader. In other words, the prosecution of users is counter productive.

We have the internet. It is the solution. Distribution of information can be tracked with meta-data that allows it to be attributed correctly. Any use of information should be rewarded with a right to pass it on to another. The old model suited the creation of artifacts.

The new model is more to do with the fluidity of distribution. Knowledge shared is knowledge that benefits people.

An international copyright register makes more sense than all these prosecutions. If we create the roads for data to travel on, then we should expect that people will use them. Subscriptions could contain a copyright tax that adds to the international pool and the number of times an article or item is copies could then allow an artist to make a claim for copyright.

This model has the intention of rewarding sharing.