To be honest Tim, I know some copyright counsels in the in the industry. I’d be happy to pass along your works if you think that you understand copyright business policy. You write enough about the industry aspect of copyright, it might be time to talk to someone who works in it.

***There are many who feel like any kind of compliance is a burden on innovation these days. My response is that legal barriers to entry occur in every industry, and that if a company cannot afford to license IP or get legal counsel, I would question its business plan, and somebody should tell whatever poor VC lent it money.

WRT to your comment Do either of you or both believe it is a good thing for Yougle (a new moniker!) to use copyright solely for its suppressive effect on competition?

I believe Yougle is on the receiving end of copyright disputes, and the general sentiment is that Yougle is the one being suppressed. Perhaps you meant that the Studios are weilding copyright to suppress competition by Yougle.

In any case, your comment implies an endorsement for perfect competition, and when that does not happen, you cite a situation where competiton does not occur or is suppressed. In Yougle’s case, simply having to license content from an IP owner is far away from posing any instance of stifled competition. That argument is a stretch.

If YouTUbe did not have the capital to get licenses, it probably planned on establishing a user market, delaying copyright disputes long enough that the Studios would see its bsuienss value grow, and eventually be bought out. This is exactly what transpired.

What gets me is those who argue for YouTube’s handling of copyright as if the company had remained an independent entity, and was not bought out by Google. But YouTube was not a viable business, and any real innovation coming from it will be in the Yougle era, when the copyright issues are handled legitimately.***

I bet DeLong is completely wrong about those contracts between Google and Universal. Of course we’ll never get to see the contracts unless the whole deal explodes in a flood of litigation.