James Alexander wrote: > On Fri, Jun 25, 2010 at 6:04 PM, David Gerard <dger...@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 _______________________________________________ foundation-l mailing list foundation-l@lists.wikimedia.org Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-l
