Read Online Against Intellectual Monopoly by Michele Boldrin;David K. Levine - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Michele Boldrin;David K. Levine
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worldwide and on a very large scale. We learn,
for example, that in Britain alone about 20 million copies were printed
annually. The firms carrying out this business were not large multinationals
as today, but family-owned companies, such as Casa Ricordi in Milan,
which, nevertheless, managed to reach also foreign countries. Apparently
these "majors" managed to collude quite efficiently among themselves. The
records show that the average script sold in the United Kingdom for about a
fourteen pence. Then "piracy" arrived, as a consequence of two changes: the
development of photolithography and the spread of "piano mania," which
increased the demand for musical scripts by orders of magnitude. "Pirated"
28
copies were sold at two pence each.
Naturally the "authorized" publishers had a hard time defending their
monopoly power against the "pirates," enforcement costs were high, and
the demand for cheap music books was large and hard to monitor. Music
publishers reacted by organizing raids on "pirate" houses that were aimed
to seize and destroy the "pirated" copies. This started a systematic and
illegal "hit and destroy" private war, which led, in 1902, to the approval of a
new copyright law. The latter made violation of copyright a matter for the
penal code, putting the police in charge of enforcing what, until then, was
protected only by the civil code.
The South Park portrayal herein of the "copyright police" storming the
house to arrest children for sharing files exaggerates the current situation.
In the early twentieth century, however, the hit squads of the authorized
publishers did indeed burn down entire warehouses filled with "pirated"
copies of sheet music - so perhaps South Park should remind us of what
might be if Congress continues in its current direction.
At least in the case of sheet music, the police campaign did not work.
After a few months, police stations were filled with tons of paper on which
various musical pieces were printed. Being unable to bring to court what was
a de facto army of illegal music reproducers, the police stopped enforcing
the copyright law.
The eventual outcome? The fight continued for a while, with "regular"
music producers keen on defending their monopoly and restricted sales
strategy, and "pirates" printing and distributing cheap music at low prices
and very large quantities. Eventually, in 1905, the king of the "pirates,"
James Frederick Willett, was convicted of conspiracy. The leader of one of
the music publishers' associations, and the man who had invented the raids,
launched the Francis, Day & Hunter's new sixpenny music series. Expensive
sheet music never returned.29
The Birth of the Movie and of the Recording Industries
A fact not heavily advertised by the MPAA is that the Hollywood film industry was built by "pirates" escaping the heavy hand of intellectual monopoly.30
After a long period of competitive fighting, in 1908, the major producers
of film and movie equipment - including the Edison Film Manufacturing Company and the Biograph Company - formed a cartel in the form
of the Motion Picture Patents Company (MPPC). Through this instrument, they demanded licensing fees from all film producers, distributors,
and exhibitors. They vigorously prosecuted "independent" filmmakers who
refused to pay royalties. In 1909, a subsidiary of the MPPC, the General Film
Company, tried to confiscate equipment used by the unlicensed companies,
disrupting their operations.
To avoid the legal battles and royalty payments, the independents
responded by moving from New York to California.
California was remote enough from Edison's reach that filmmakers like Fox and
Paramount could move there and, without fear of the law, pirate his inventions.
Hollywood grew quickly, and enforcement of federal law eventually spread west. But
because patents granted their holders a truly "limited" monopoly of just 17 years
(at that time), the patents had expired by
for example, that in Britain alone about 20 million copies were printed
annually. The firms carrying out this business were not large multinationals
as today, but family-owned companies, such as Casa Ricordi in Milan,
which, nevertheless, managed to reach also foreign countries. Apparently
these "majors" managed to collude quite efficiently among themselves. The
records show that the average script sold in the United Kingdom for about a
fourteen pence. Then "piracy" arrived, as a consequence of two changes: the
development of photolithography and the spread of "piano mania," which
increased the demand for musical scripts by orders of magnitude. "Pirated"
28
copies were sold at two pence each.
Naturally the "authorized" publishers had a hard time defending their
monopoly power against the "pirates," enforcement costs were high, and
the demand for cheap music books was large and hard to monitor. Music
publishers reacted by organizing raids on "pirate" houses that were aimed
to seize and destroy the "pirated" copies. This started a systematic and
illegal "hit and destroy" private war, which led, in 1902, to the approval of a
new copyright law. The latter made violation of copyright a matter for the
penal code, putting the police in charge of enforcing what, until then, was
protected only by the civil code.
The South Park portrayal herein of the "copyright police" storming the
house to arrest children for sharing files exaggerates the current situation.
In the early twentieth century, however, the hit squads of the authorized
publishers did indeed burn down entire warehouses filled with "pirated"
copies of sheet music - so perhaps South Park should remind us of what
might be if Congress continues in its current direction.
At least in the case of sheet music, the police campaign did not work.
After a few months, police stations were filled with tons of paper on which
various musical pieces were printed. Being unable to bring to court what was
a de facto army of illegal music reproducers, the police stopped enforcing
the copyright law.
The eventual outcome? The fight continued for a while, with "regular"
music producers keen on defending their monopoly and restricted sales
strategy, and "pirates" printing and distributing cheap music at low prices
and very large quantities. Eventually, in 1905, the king of the "pirates,"
James Frederick Willett, was convicted of conspiracy. The leader of one of
the music publishers' associations, and the man who had invented the raids,
launched the Francis, Day & Hunter's new sixpenny music series. Expensive
sheet music never returned.29
The Birth of the Movie and of the Recording Industries
A fact not heavily advertised by the MPAA is that the Hollywood film industry was built by "pirates" escaping the heavy hand of intellectual monopoly.30
After a long period of competitive fighting, in 1908, the major producers
of film and movie equipment - including the Edison Film Manufacturing Company and the Biograph Company - formed a cartel in the form
of the Motion Picture Patents Company (MPPC). Through this instrument, they demanded licensing fees from all film producers, distributors,
and exhibitors. They vigorously prosecuted "independent" filmmakers who
refused to pay royalties. In 1909, a subsidiary of the MPPC, the General Film
Company, tried to confiscate equipment used by the unlicensed companies,
disrupting their operations.
To avoid the legal battles and royalty payments, the independents
responded by moving from New York to California.
California was remote enough from Edison's reach that filmmakers like Fox and
Paramount could move there and, without fear of the law, pirate his inventions.
Hollywood grew quickly, and enforcement of federal law eventually spread west. But
because patents granted their holders a truly "limited" monopoly of just 17 years
(at that time), the patents had expired by
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