The past 100 years have seen a vast array of technical advances in
broadcasting, multiplication and transmissions of culture, but equally
much misguided legislators who sought to preserve the old at the expense
of the new, just because the old was complaining.
It started around 1905, when the self-playing piano was becoming
popular. Sellers of note sheet music proclaimed that this would be the
end of artistry if they couldn’t make a living off of middlemen between
composers and the public, so they called for a ban on the player piano
In the 1920s, as broadcast radio started appearing, another copyright
industry was demanding its ban because it cut into profits.
In the 1940s, the movie industry complained that the television would
be the death of movies, as movie industry profits dropped from $120
million to $31 million in five years. Famous quote: “Why pay to go see a
movie when you can see it at home for free?”
In 1972, the copyright industry tried to ban the photocopier. This
push was from book publishers and magazine publishers alike. “The day
may not be far off when no one need purchase books.
The 1970s saw the advent of the cassette tape, which is when the
copyright industry really went all-out in proclaiming their entitlement.
Ads saying “Home taping is killing music!” were everywhere
The 1980s is a special chapter with the advent of video cassette
recorders. The copyright industry’s famous quote when testifying before
the US Congress – where the film lobby’s highest representative said
that “The VCR is to the American film producer and the American public
as the Boston strangler is to the woman home alone” - is the stuff of
legend today
Right after the turn of the century, the use of Digital Video
Recorders was called “stealing” as it allowed for skipping of
commercials (as if nobody did that before).
In 2003, the copyright industry tried to have its say in the design
of HDTV with a so-called “broadcast flag” that would make it illegal to
manufacture devices that could copy movies so flagged.
Every time something new appears, the copyright industry has learned to
cry like a little baby that needs more food, and succeeds practically
every time to get legislators to channel taxpayer money their way or
restrict competing industries.
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