This morning I experienced the flash of insight, coming clear like the solution to a puzzle. With time to sink in, Signal or Noise led me to it — how Internet has changed our environment, legally speaking. Internet gave birth to the powers to aggregate the public domain and to place its immense library of knowledge and capacity for creativity in the hands of common man, any one with access to a digital recording machine and a node on the Net. Here is the audio of my rant. Let it go Charlie, lawyer for musicians without lawyers, for artists in their hearts, whatever money they may have made. Let’s raise money for health care for artists without lawyers who are without them because they don’t have the money. Let’s raise it from artists who do, by offering and inviting homage in the form of a penny or two, part to go to the old guys, like the Grateful Dead, who aren’t touring any more, seeing dwindling checks come in as their downloads compete with free. Yes, John Perry, you have a problem. Help us solve it. We are building a DME to do it, in the open, under flag of HARVARD and law of Fair Use. Digital Media Exchange and Public Library.
And while I’m at it, here’s Cary Sherman’s reaction to my Grokster post.