I Wonder How Long Lars Ulrich Allows THIS?!?
Perhaps I’m just that old. Perhaps I’m ranting, but I remember when the whole Napster thing started going down, and Metallica drummer, Lars Ulrich was leading the charge suing users. Which brings me to the following YouTube clip courtesy of “… on pampers, programming & pitching manure”.
Which makes me wonder about participatory culture. Web 2.0. And all things user centric.
Wonderland: Live Music in Lord of the Rings Online
Aghghghg FINALLY! Lord of the Rings Online offers up performable music using in-world instruments (oh maybe other folks have done this, but it’s the first I’ve seen in a structured-narrative world: SWG, Tolkein, WoW, etc).
…
I bet Raph had this sort of thing in mind when he designed the early SWG, and I also bet it was quashed by “IP protector” types who didn’t want to see Twi’Leks rocking it to something ‘not in the narrative’. However, this is pure conjecture, and I shall celebrate it with a cup of tea.
Is it all doomed to get totally screwed by overzealous lawyers and IP rights holders? I mean, I don’t know how much you’re “supposed” to pay for doing covers, but could you imagine if a bunch of users got together and put on a concert in LotR Online? It’s the ghost of Lars Ulrich with boxes of fan names that is lurking in my closet at night. Don’t love anything too much, because chances are you’re going to get a lawsuit for demonstrating your care.
Is what we need is some massive copyright and IP law overhauling so that we can not get hung up on things like this, and instead get back to what the point was in the first place? Allowing artists, inventors, tinkerers, etc. to profit moderately from their creations and to then place them into the public domain for the benefit of society more broadly. The point was not to provide ample salaries for IP lawyers, because in the end, that’s who is really benefiting from all of this. IP holders aren’t seeing the lion’s share. It’s legal firms.
