[Foundation-l] ASCAP comes out against "copyleft"

[Michael Snow]

James Alexander wrote:
> On Fri, Jun 25, 2010 at 6:04 PM, David Gerard <dgerard at gmail.com> wrote:
>   
>> http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2010/06/ascap-assails-free-culture-digital-rights-groups/
>>
>> They're actually gathering money to fight free content.
>>
>> We may need to do something about this.
>>
>>
>> - d.
>>     
> I can at least understand them having issue with EFF and the like but the
> article is right: going against Creative Commons is laughable. How DARE you
> decide to release your own content into the public sphere, how DARE YOU! /me
> sighs
>   
Creative Commons is actually a much bigger threat to their revenue 
stream than EFF is, which probably explains the animosity. ASCAP 
administers licenses for the music its members create, collects fees 
when it is performed, and distributes royalties to members accordingly. 
The fees also pay for the costs of administering the system. If the 
material is available through alternative licensing channels, it 
undermines the ability of ASCAP to make money off of it. It's the same 
reason that Getty Images won't allow photos they acquire through their 
Flickr deal to remain available under the site's Creative Commons 
license options.

The letter looks like garden-variety political fundraising where the 
money will mostly go toward campaign contributions for select 
politicians (no doubt with an eye on particular congressional 
committees). I'm not sure it will be used to hire any actual lobbyists 
or mount a specific legislative campaign, although we should certainly 
keep an eye out for further developments in that regard. If that does 
materialize, I'd be happy to speak out on it in a personal capacity, 
whether or not the foundation is in a position to do so.

--Michael Snow