From: Petter Reinholdtsen <pere@hungry.com>
Date: Fri, 16 Nov 2012 16:34:39 +0000 (+0000)
Subject: First draft.
X-Git-Url: https://pere.pagekite.me/gitweb/homepage.git/commitdiff_plain/866c1084798849b33bb0fe4a6fb21df8e967f241?ds=sidebyside

First draft.
---

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+Title: Can we get the tax office to help us put copyrighted works in the public domain?
+Tags: english, opphavsrett, freeculture
+Date: 2012-11-17 09:00
+
+<p>While working on a Norwegian translation of the Free Culture by
+Lawrence Lessig, which talk about the problems with todays copyright
+law and how it stifles creativity, one thing occurred to me.  The idea
+is to get the tax office to help us make more works enter the public
+domain and help us make it easier to clear rights to use copyrighted
+works.</p>
+
+<p>The idea is partly based on the argument that copyrighted works are
+intellectual property, but the core requirement is that copyrighted
+work have value and the tax office like to collect their share from
+any value in a country.  Sharing it here to let others comment on it
+and perhaps shoot it down.</p>
+
+<p>Most valuables are taxed by the government.  At least here in
+Norway, the amount of money you have, the value of our land property,
+the value of your house, the value of your car, the value of our
+stocks and other valuables are all added together.  If the tax value
+of these values exceed your debt, you have to pay the tax office some
+taxes for these values.  And copyrighted work have value.  It have
+value for the rights holder, who can earn money selling access to the
+work.  But it is not included in the tax calculations?  Perhaps it
+should?</p>
+
+<p>If the government want to tax copyrighted works, it will want a
+database of all the copyrighted works and who are the rights holders
+for the works, to be able to associate their values to the right
+citizen or company for tax purposes.  If such database exist, it will
+become a lot easier to find out who to talk to for clearing
+permissions to use a copyrighted work, which is a very hard operation
+with todays copyright law.</p>
+
+<p>If copyright causes the citizens to have to pay more taxes, they
+will have a small incentive to "disown" their copyright, and let the
+work enter the public domain or at least state (in the database) that
+they do not need to be consulted when clearing rights to use the work.
+This will make it even easier to clear rights, and also increase the
+amount of works that enter the public domain.</p>
+
+<p>The effect is that the tax office help us to get more work into the
+public domain and make it easier to get rights to use the works that
+have not yet entered the public domain.</p>
+
+<p>Why have this not happened yet?  I am sure the tax office would
+like to tax copyrighted works.</p>