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*TTRPGs General
File-Sharing: Has it affected the RPG industry?
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<blockquote data-quote="Lazybones" data-source="post: 1540382" data-attributes="member: 143"><p>I agree with everything that's been said about the ethics of filesharing. I view copyright infringement as ethically wrong, in that it deprives the author of renumeration that he/she has earned by the intellectual labors involved in creating new IP. I admit I have fileshared files of various sorts, and offer no justification/excuse for this behavior. The fact remains in this debate, however, that some 60 million Americans have engaged in filesharing. </p><p></p><p>That said, I think that the companies are in fact contributing to the overall acceptance by a large percentage of the population (leaving aside the die-hard "I want it free, gimme" folks who would probably do whatever they could get away with in any case) of filesharing as a legitimate practice. While I agree that many people are just jerks who will stiff creators/authors/distributors whenever they can for their own selfish benefit, I also think that there are many people (I won't estimate whether this percentage is larger than the former group, but I would like to think that it is) who WANT to see creators get their due. Unfortunately, the actions of content companies are pushing more people from Column B (people who generally want to play by the rules) into Column A (screw 'em). </p><p></p><p>My reasoning behind this statement:</p><p></p><p>1) A point I asserted earlier in the discussion: a perception among the population that enjoys media of various sorts that the companies that control distribution of product screw the creators of said product out of an overwhelming majority of the revenues earned by sales; </p><p></p><p>2) An aggressive campaign by content-controlling groups/companies (not so much in RPGs, but definitely in music and movies) to discourage copyright infringement by the pursuit of aggressive legal campaigns against often sympathetic targets (like college students), including filing lawsuits against infringers for millions of dollars with an obvious intent to pressure cash settlements from them; </p><p></p><p>3) Pursuit by said groups of legislation that is perceived (rightly or wrongly) by the content-consuming public as unfair or unethical; for example the DMCA and other laws that erode widely-accepted principles of "fair use", and copyright extensions that have the practical effect of indefinitely withholding material from the public domain; </p><p></p><p>4) Reluctance to accept or pursue new means of distribution that better suit the changing needs/wants of consumers. The RPG industry is actually bucking this trend, I think, but accepting the PDF method of distribution of content. In music, we are seeing iTunes and like models appear, which are great, but consumers are still unhappy about a) DRM, format, and copying restrictions that limit their ability to enjoy the product, and b) pricing models that do not reflect consumer desires. Furthermore, there has been discussion of including even more restrictions in the next generation of media players (both computer software and hardware devices like TVs and DVD players) that has the potential of further alienating consumers. </p><p></p><p></p><p>I'm not saying that content producers should just passively accept filesharing, but I do believe that these massive media companies are unwilling to accept what I see as the inevitable future model: a distribution model where more profits end up directly in the hands of content creators and the middlemen are increasingly removed from the picture. Thus they are driven to even more aggressive campaigns to protect their monopolies and current profits. History would suggest that these attempts will only drive consumers away to the alternatives.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Lazybones, post: 1540382, member: 143"] I agree with everything that's been said about the ethics of filesharing. I view copyright infringement as ethically wrong, in that it deprives the author of renumeration that he/she has earned by the intellectual labors involved in creating new IP. I admit I have fileshared files of various sorts, and offer no justification/excuse for this behavior. The fact remains in this debate, however, that some 60 million Americans have engaged in filesharing. That said, I think that the companies are in fact contributing to the overall acceptance by a large percentage of the population (leaving aside the die-hard "I want it free, gimme" folks who would probably do whatever they could get away with in any case) of filesharing as a legitimate practice. While I agree that many people are just jerks who will stiff creators/authors/distributors whenever they can for their own selfish benefit, I also think that there are many people (I won't estimate whether this percentage is larger than the former group, but I would like to think that it is) who WANT to see creators get their due. Unfortunately, the actions of content companies are pushing more people from Column B (people who generally want to play by the rules) into Column A (screw 'em). My reasoning behind this statement: 1) A point I asserted earlier in the discussion: a perception among the population that enjoys media of various sorts that the companies that control distribution of product screw the creators of said product out of an overwhelming majority of the revenues earned by sales; 2) An aggressive campaign by content-controlling groups/companies (not so much in RPGs, but definitely in music and movies) to discourage copyright infringement by the pursuit of aggressive legal campaigns against often sympathetic targets (like college students), including filing lawsuits against infringers for millions of dollars with an obvious intent to pressure cash settlements from them; 3) Pursuit by said groups of legislation that is perceived (rightly or wrongly) by the content-consuming public as unfair or unethical; for example the DMCA and other laws that erode widely-accepted principles of "fair use", and copyright extensions that have the practical effect of indefinitely withholding material from the public domain; 4) Reluctance to accept or pursue new means of distribution that better suit the changing needs/wants of consumers. The RPG industry is actually bucking this trend, I think, but accepting the PDF method of distribution of content. In music, we are seeing iTunes and like models appear, which are great, but consumers are still unhappy about a) DRM, format, and copying restrictions that limit their ability to enjoy the product, and b) pricing models that do not reflect consumer desires. Furthermore, there has been discussion of including even more restrictions in the next generation of media players (both computer software and hardware devices like TVs and DVD players) that has the potential of further alienating consumers. I'm not saying that content producers should just passively accept filesharing, but I do believe that these massive media companies are unwilling to accept what I see as the inevitable future model: a distribution model where more profits end up directly in the hands of content creators and the middlemen are increasingly removed from the picture. Thus they are driven to even more aggressive campaigns to protect their monopolies and current profits. History would suggest that these attempts will only drive consumers away to the alternatives. [/QUOTE]
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