Contingency Markets and IP

Defenders of IP often ask how creative artists could get paid for their work if anyone were free to copy it. The short answer, of course, is: if imaginative entrepreneurs who stand to make a profit from solving such problems are left free to act, “the market will take care of it.”

Check out the latest promising approach.

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8 Responses to Contingency Markets and IP

  1. dennis May 25, 2009 at 7:00 pm #

    That’s a really cool idea.

  2. Robert Paul May 25, 2009 at 7:53 pm #

    Interesting idea, and I’m sure it will have its uses, but as a more general solution I prefer some sort of “voluntary IP”.

  3. iceberg May 25, 2009 at 8:47 pm #

    Hmmm, I’ve got an idea of how to revive the JLS…

  4. Robert Hutchinson May 26, 2009 at 12:38 am #

    A rather new instantiation, already successful for several, is at http://www.kickstarter.com . (I’m getting some crosswords out of the deal, myself.)

  5. Anna Morgenstern May 26, 2009 at 7:46 pm #

    As another possibility:
    Most webcomic artists who do it professionally or quasi professionally make their money from merchandising.
    I would bet that Lucas made more from Star Wars toys than he made from ticket sales.

  6. John Markley May 26, 2009 at 10:21 pm #

    Interesting. This reminds me a bit of the “ransom” system pioneered by Greg Stolze that I’ve seen used for some indie roleplaying games: An author or designer will propose an idea for a game or supplement, and if people who are interested in the proposal contribute enough to pay the specified “ransom,” the product is released online. There’s a potential problem with free riders, obviously, but apparently results have been promising so far.

  7. John Q. Galt May 27, 2009 at 2:58 am #

    If the Free State Project and Ron Paul Money Bombers can use contingency markets….

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