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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Majoru Oakheart" data-source="post: 4686564" data-attributes="member: 5143">Art is HIGHLY subjective.  I've seen people make all sorts of money off of crap that was certainly NOT art.  But someone in the world thought it was.  I'm fairly positive that anyone with enough time and effort could do exactly as you say.  Find one thing they actually know about and write a book, a blog, a movie, a podcast or whatever and make money off of it.  It isn't easy, but it has a lot less to do with the content than it does the marketing.  I know that my skills don't really lie in an artistic field.  I make money off of understanding and using technology.  Other people make money off of marketing their ideas.  No problem with that.What's the difference?  What makes a particular drawing "art" and not a picture someone drew?  What makes a book something worth buying rather than a bunch of ideas thrown on a page?  What makes a movie worth putting worldwide in theaters for money rather than posting to the internet for free?  What makes a blog written by a celebrity worth advertising on and therefore worth money when this post on a message board is worth nothing?It is all just information or an idea.  It is objectively so.  Just some things are valued more than other things.  And the people who own those ideas that are valued by people are being greedy and holding on to them or releasing them in small quantities for money.You seriously don't see any problem with saying "I got this great idea, this will improve people's lives dramatically.  Now, if I can just find a way to charge people 100 dollars every time they use it, I'll be rich beyond my wildest dreams.  And if anyone attempts to use it without my permission, I'll get a team of lawyers to sue them for everything they own.  After all, how dare they improve their lives without my permission?  It was my idea.  From now on, no one else is allowed to have that idea but me.  Greedy, self-centered bastards!"?And that is the current state of IP, Copyright, and Patent laws in the world.  And it's getting worse by the day.And I should be clear here.  I have no problem with people coming up with an idea, getting a bunch of money for it and then giving it to the world.  I encourage it.  I want the laws to encourage it.  I just want the laws to encourage it the same way it encourages me to do well at my job.  I don't make any mistakes, I go a bit above and beyond and I might get a raise or a small bonus as long as I work here.  But then, tomorrow, I come up with new ideas, do new things and get paid for those.I want people to write a book, put it in stores, have people run out and buy it, and then have the natural tendency to pirate to distribute it to everyone who didn't think it was worthwhile to pay for.  I know it can work.  I've heard of projects where it worked.  It's just that the profit margins are a LOT lower.  And that's what worries people.  When they write a book, they might only make 40,000 dollars and have to live off of that for a year while writing another book instead of making enough money to survive for 5 or 6 years off the initial profits from a book and 2 or 3 more off the residuals.</blockquote>

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