December 14, 2006

Tragedy of the anticommons - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Filed under: Powder Monkeys — at 6:26 pm by Blacque Jacque Shalloc :: ::

Tragedy of the anticommons - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: “WKRP in Cincinnati was one of the most popular syndicated sitcoms of all time, and many television shows from that era have been successfully released on DVD. However, it is unlikely that a DVD release of WKRP will be available in the near future. When it was a television program, an agreement was in place between television producers and music licensing organizations such as ASCAP and BMI wherein a standard licensing fee was paid for each song that was played on a television show. As such, the producers could determine how much money would be paid for their use of music clips and budget accordingly. However, there is no similar standard agreement for use of music on DVD’s (which ASCAP and BMI do not control), and the producers are now faced with the prospect of negotiating individually with several dozen composers.”

This was the saddest thing that I’ve heard in a long time.