<
https://www.techdirt.com/2024/08/01/first-move-advantage-shows-how-copyright-isnt-necessary-to-protect-innovative-creativity/>
"One of the arguments sometimes made in defense of copyright is that without
it, creators would be unable to compete with the hordes of copycats that would
spring up as soon as their works became popular. Copyright is needed,
supporters say, to prevent less innovative creators from producing works that
are closely based on new, successful ideas.
However, this approach has led to constant arguments and court cases over how
close a “closely based” work can be before it infringes on the copyright of
others. A good example of this is the 2022 lawsuit involving Ed Sheeran, where
is was argued that using just four notes of a scale constituted copyright
infringement of someone else’s song employing the same tiny motif. A
fascinating new paper looks at things from a different angle. It draws on the
idea of “first-mover advantage”, the fact that:
individuals that move to a new market niche early on (“first movers”) obtain
advantages that may lead to larger success, compared to those who move to
this niche later. First movers enjoy a temporary near-monopoly: since they
enter a niche early, they have little to no competition, and so they can
charge larger prices and spend more time building a loyal customer base.
The paper explores the idea in detail for the world of music. Here, first-mover
advantage means:
The artists and music producers who recognize the hidden potential of a new
artistic technique, genre, or style, have bigger chances of reaching
success. Having an artistic innovation that your competitors do not have or
cannot quickly acquire may become advantageous on the winner-take-all
artistic market."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
