The International Herald Tribune imagines a world without copyright. The article discusses the use of copyright today as “the tool that conglomerates in the music, publishing, imaging, and movie industries use to control their markets.”
The authors understand the core of the issue as they state that “[c]ultural monopolists desperately want us to believe that without copyright their would be no artistic creations and therefore no entertainment. That is nonsense, we would have more, and more diverse ones.”
They go on to foresee the result of a free market in artistic expression: “A world without copyright is easy to imagine. The level playing field of cultural production — a market accessible for everyone — would once again be restored. A world without copyright would offer the guarantee of a good income to many artists, and would protect the public domain of knowledge and creativity.”
