# LANGUAGE translation of https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/dat.html # Copyright (C) YEAR Free Software Foundation, Inc. # This file is distributed under the same license as the original article. # FIRST AUTHOR , YEAR. # #, fuzzy msgid "" msgstr "" "Project-Id-Version: dat.html\n" "POT-Creation-Date: 2021-10-01 17:27+0000\n" "PO-Revision-Date: YEAR-MO-DA HO:MI+ZONE\n" "Last-Translator: FULL NAME \n" "Language-Team: LANGUAGE \n" "Language: \n" "MIME-Version: 1.0\n" "Content-Type: text/plain; charset=CHARSET\n" "Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit\n" #. type: Content of: msgid "The Right Way to Tax DAT - GNU Project - Free Software Foundation" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><h2> msgid "The Right Way to Tax DAT" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><address> msgid "by <a href=\"https://www.stallman.org/\">Richard Stallman</a>" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><div><p> msgid "" "<em>[This article does not concern software, not directly. It concerns a " "parallel issue about sharing copies of music.]</em>" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><div><p> msgid "" "<em>[The article was first published in <cite>Wired</cite> magazine in 1992; " "the text has not been changed; instead, I have added notes, in square " "brackets and with italics or other emphasis.]</em>" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><div><p> msgid "" "<em>[The original article addressed the (then hypothetical) issue of sharing " "music using (then just appearing) digital audio tape recorders, since that " "is what the proposed US tax law was supposed to address. Nowadays it could " "be applied to Internet file sharing.]</em>" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><div><p> msgid "" "<em>[Another approach developed by the late Francis Muguet with my " "assistance, which includes some of these ideas, is called the Global " "Patronage system (in French, Mécénat Global). I support both " "solutions; that is to say, I favor adopting either one.]</em>" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "Record company magnates don't like the digital audio tape recorder (<abbr " "title=\"Digital Audio Tape\">DAT</abbr>), which can make perfect copies of " "musical recordings. They fear that customers will copy music themselves, " "and stop buying prerecorded music." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "Threatening lawsuits, they have obtained from the manufacturers of DATs an " "agreement to pay a fee for each DAT unit and each DAT tape sold to " "consumers. This fee is to be divided among various participants in the " "music business: musicians, composers, music publishers and record " "companies. In addition, DAT manufacturers have agreed to cripple DAT units " "so that they cannot make a copy of a copy of a prerecorded piece." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "Now the record companies have asked Congress to enact a law turning this fee " "into a tax and prohibiting manufacture of DAT tapedecks that function " "without imposed limitations." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "The stated purpose of the tax is to “compensate” musicians for " "copying done by individuals using DATs. However, 57 percent of the funds " "collected would go to record companies and music publishers—leaving " "less than half to the people who participate in the creative process. Most " "of these remaining funds would go to musical superstars, and thus would do " "little to encourage musical creativity. Meanwhile, DAT users would be " "unable to make full use of the power of DAT technology." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "Here is a proposal for a different system for taxing DATs and DAT " "tape—one designed to support music rather than cater to vested " "interests." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><ul><li> msgid "" "Collect funds with a tax on DAT machines and DAT tapes, as the current " "proposal provides." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><ul><li> msgid "Use a survey system to measure the extent of copying of each musical piece." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><ul><li> msgid "Distribute these funds entirely to the people who create music." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><ul><li> msgid "" "Adjust each contributor's share so that it increases more slowly per copy as " "it gets larger. This spreads the funds more widely to support a larger " "number of musicians adequately." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><ul><li> msgid "Make no restrictions on the functioning of DATs." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><h3> msgid "What is the purpose of copyright?" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "The record industry presents its proposal as a way to " "“compensate” musicians, assuming that they are entitled to be " "paid for any copy made. Many Americans believe that copyright law reflects " "a natural right of authors or musicians—that these are entitled to " "special consideration from public policy. However, any lawyer specializing " "in the field knows this is a misunderstanding, a view rejected by the " "American legal system." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "The stated purpose of copyright, given in the U.S. Constitution, is to " "“promote the progress of science and the useful arts.” Progress " "in music means new and varied music for the public to enjoy: copyright is " "supposed to promote a public good, not a private one." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "Yet copyright is often thought of as a natural right by laymen and " "politicians, which often leads to wrong decisions about copyright policy. " "Even courts, defining the details of the copyright system, often let this " "thought creep back implicitly even though it is supposed to be excluded. " "This is a conceptual error because it mistakes a means (copyright) to a " "larger end (progress) for an end in itself." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "Promoting progress in the arts does not inherently justify the idea that " "authors are entitled to any particular sort of copyright, or even that " "copyright should exist at all. Copyright is justified if the benefits of " "progress exceeds the burden that copyright imposes on everyone except the " "copyright holder." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "How do we make this cost/benefit comparison? It depends partly on facts (how " "does a particular law affect musical activity and music users) and partly on " "our value judgements about those results." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "Let's assume that it is worth paying a DAT tax if the result is a " "significant increase in musical activity, and investigate how we should " "arrange the details of this tax in order to maximize the benefit. But " "first, let's review basic principles and facts which have a bearing on the " "inquiry." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><h3> msgid "Diminishing returns" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "The law of diminishing returns is a general principle of economics. It " "states that each additional increment of efforts or funds spent on a given " "goal typically produces a smaller and smaller increment in the results. " "There are exceptions to this law, but they are local; if you keep on " "increasing the inputs, you eventually leave the exceptions behind." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "For example, you can make traffic flow more smoothly by improving roads. " "Adding one lane to 20 miles of congested roads in a city might increase the " "average traffic speed by 15 miles an hour. Adding a second lane to those " "roads will not give the same improvement; this might increase the average " "speed by only 5 more miles an hour. The next additional lane might make no " "noticeable difference if the traffic jams are already gone. Yet each " "successive lane will cause greater dislocation as more and more buildings " "must be torn down to make room." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "When applied to the activities of musicians, diminishing returns tells us " "that each successive increase in the income of musicians will have a smaller " "effect on the amount of creativity in music." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "Diminishing returns is the first reason to reject the idea that any use of " "music “should” be covered by copyright. There is nothing to " "gain by trying to guarantee owners control of every possible aspect of the " "use of music or to give them a financial stake in every possible " "aftermarket. Extending copyright can only “promote progress” up " "to a certain point. Further extensions merely increase what the public pays " "to the owners for what they will do anyway. Extending copyright beyond that " "point is certainly undesirable." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><h3> msgid "Trade-offs" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "Those with a vested interest in extending copyright start the discussion by " "claiming that copyright “should” be extended as far as it can " "go. But the principle of diminishing returns renders this claim " "implausible. So they fall back on the position that copyright should be " "extended to maximize the rate of progress. But this too is wrong, because " "it ignores the existence of other trade-offs. Copyright imposes costs and " "burdens on the public, like any other government project. The benefit may " "not be worth the price." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "Government fills many important functions, but few would say that any one of " "these functions should be expanded to maximize output. For example, " "governments build roads, and this is very useful. But few leaders would " "advocate building every road that could be built. Road construction is " "expensive, and citizens have other uses for their money. Too much " "concentration on building roads means that other social and individual needs " "will be unmet." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "The same considerations apply to individual decisions. By spending more " "money, you can buy a bigger and fancier house. Most people would prefer the " "more expensive house, all else being equal. But given finite resources, at " "some point spending more on a house becomes a poor allocation of them." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "Copyright does not directly spend public funds, but it does impose a " "cost—a loss of freedom—on every citizen. The wider the scope of " "copyright, the more freedom we pay. We might prefer to exercise some of our " "freedoms rather than trade them away. We must judge any decision in " "copyright policy by comparing the benefits with the costs." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><h3> msgid "“Incentive” is the wrong concept" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "The idea of providing a monetary incentive for making music is based on a " "misunderstanding. Musicians hope primarily for other kinds of reward; they " "must. Very few musicians get rich from their music; a talented person whose " "primary goal is wealth would seek it in other ways." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "In fact, psychological studies show that the desire for an extrinsic reward " "(such as profit) generally hampers creative activities such as writing " "music. The people who can do them well are usually those who do them mostly " "for their own sake." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "This is not to say that musicians don't care about being paid. Most hope to " "make a living from music so they will be free to devote their time to it. " "As long as they earn enough to live, they will make music as best they can. " "We might wish them to earn somewhat more than just enough, so they can live " "as well as most Americans. But to offer them wealth beyond this gains the " "public little—it is a matter of diminishing returns." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "With this understanding, let's consider how a tax on DAT tape could be " "designed to serve the intended purpose of copyright." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><h3> msgid "Who should get the funds" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "If the purpose of the DAT tax is to better reward musicians and composers, " "then all the money collected should go to them—not just 43 percent. " "The musicians and composers are the ones who truly create the music. In " "principle, we could do without record companies entirely." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "Record companies do provide a useful service: they distribute prerecorded " "copies of music, usually of high quality. This service is widely used, and " "will probably remain so. And it is right that the purchasers of prerecorded " "copies should pay for this service. But listeners making copies for " "themselves or their friends do not consume this service; they use only the " "work of the musicians and composers. The record companies contribute only " "incidentally and their role is not essential." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><h3> msgid "Dividing the funds" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "What share of the tax revenues should each musician or composer get? The " "record company proposal would divide the money in proportion to record " "sales." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "It makes sense to distribute the funds based on how much that musician's " "work is copied, more or less. But strict proportionality is not the best " "apportionment. If each musician gets a share in strict proportion to the " "amount of copying of his or her music, then a large share will go to make a " "few superstars even richer than they are now. This won't do much to promote " "musical culture or diversity." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "We can promote music more effectively by making any one musician's share of " "the tax revenues taper off as copies increase. For example, we could " "calculate an “adjusted number of copies” which, beyond a certain " "point, increases more slowly than the actual number." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "The effect of tapering off will be to spread the money more widely, " "supporting more musicians at an adequate standard of living. This " "encourages diversity, which is what copyright is supposed to do." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "The US government has already established a program to fund diversity in the " "arts: the <abbr title=\"National Endowment for the Arts\">NEA</abbr>. " "However, NEA grants involve discretionary power, which makes them a center " "for controversy, sometimes because a few members of the public strongly " "dislike the work, and sometimes because hardly anyone particularly likes " "it. Spreading out DAT tax revenues will also have the effect of supporting " "less popular musicians. However, it will not support musicians whose work " "nobody likes. In addition, since it involves no discretion, no arbitrary " "decisions, there is little room for objection on account of any particular " "case." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "<em>[I was later asked an interesting question: what organization would " "“manage” the distribution of these funds. Since this is tax " "money, a government agency should collect the tax and distribute the funds. " "Private organizations should not be involved.]</em>" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><h3> msgid "Encouraging home copying" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "The record company proposal includes a requirement to make it difficult for " "home listeners to make copies. Specifically, it requires that consumer DAT " "machines refuse to copy a copy that was made on a consumer DAT machine. The " "argument for this requirement is based on the assumption that home copying " "is somehow unfair." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "In the past, many people have considered it unfair, because it reduced the " "income of musicians. The DAT tax makes this reason obsolete. Once home " "copying does contribute to the income of musicians, through the DAT tax, the " "reason to discourage home copying disappears." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "Therefore, if a DAT tax is adopted, the ability to copy DAT tapes should not " "be restricted. Home copying is more efficient than record companies and " "record stores; music lovers should be encouraged to use home copying as much " "as possible." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><h3> msgid "Measuring the use of each piece of music" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "Today, nearly all the recorded music in the United States is purchased in " "record stores; home copying is but a small fraction. This will probably " "remain true for a long time, because record stores offer a place where a " "person can go to find a particular piece or to browse a wide selection. " "While this remains true, we can usually estimate the audience of a given " "piece fairly well by counting record sales." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "Eventually, home copying may become so widespread that estimating its extent " "from sales figures may be unsatisfactory. This is already unsatisfactory " "for musicians who distribute independently without the help of record " "companies; and if any musicians need additional support, these are the " "ones. We need another way to estimate usage of any given piece, in order to " "distribute the tax funds." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "We can make these estimates by survey. From time to time, survey staff " "would ask randomly chosen members of the public to show what copies they " "have made of copyrighted music. The citizens asked would not be required to " "answer. But no penalty and no guilt would attach to having made copies, so " "most people will be glad to participate. Fans will hope to be chosen so " "that they can contribute to the count for their favorite musical groups." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "To make the survey more efficient and broader-based (and thus more " "accurate), it could be automated. The survey bureau could mail read-write " "memory cards to the chosen participants, who would connect them momentarily " "to their DAT units and then mail them back. With proper design, the survey " "bureau would have no way of knowing who had sent in any particular card, and " "thus no information about who had copied what, but they would still have an " "accurate total." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><h3> msgid "Conclusion" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "The record companies have proposed an excellent scheme for taxing the public " "to increase their own income, but this isn't a legitimate purpose of " "copyright. Through due attention to the ends of copyright rather than past " "means, we can design a system which supports musicians while giving citizens " "full freedom to copy music as they wish." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><h3> msgid "What You Can Do" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "<em>[This section is no longer applicable today; it is too late, because the " "DAT tax bill was adopted in 1992—and DAT recorders are obsolete " "nowadays. However, the same method can support musicians and other artists " "in a world where sharing copies on the Internet has been legalized.]</em>" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "Record company lobbyists are working hard to pass their form of DAT tax. " "There is little organized opposition, and little public debate. Their bill " "has already been sent out of committee in the Senate." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "This article proposes an alternative to the record company plan. In order " "for this alternative, or any alternative, to have a chance, we must first " "prevent the hasty adoption of the record company plan. To help accomplish " "this, please write letters to:" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><address> msgid "Congressman Barney Frank" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><address> msgid "437 Cherry St" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><address> msgid "West Newton, MA 02165" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><address> msgid "Senator Metzenbaum" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><address> msgid "United States Senate" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><address> msgid "Washington, DC 20510" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><address> msgid "House Subcommittee on Intellectual Property" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><address> msgid "House of Representatives" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><address> msgid "Washington, DC 20515" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "Urge Congress to reject the record company bill so that this and other " "alternatives can be properly considered. It takes just a few minutes to " "write a short letter, but in combination with other people's letters it can " "do a great deal of good." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "If you know any musicians, composers, or songwriters, give them copies of " "this article. Many musicians prefer this alternative to the record company " "tax plan, and they are strongly motivated to act on their concern." msgstr "" #. TRANSLATORS: Use space (SPC) as msgstr if you don't have notes. #. type: Content of: <div> msgid "*GNUN-SLOT: TRANSLATOR'S NOTES*" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><div><p> msgid "" "Please send general FSF & GNU inquiries to <a " "href=\"mailto:gnu@gnu.org\"><gnu@gnu.org></a>. There are also <a " "href=\"/contact/\">other ways to contact</a> the FSF. Broken links and " "other corrections or suggestions can be sent to <a " "href=\"mailto:webmasters@gnu.org\"><webmasters@gnu.org></a>." msgstr "" #. TRANSLATORS: Ignore the original text in this paragraph, #. replace it with the translation of these two: # #. We work hard and do our best to provide accurate, good quality #. translations. However, we are not exempt from imperfection. #. Please send your comments and general suggestions in this regard #. to <a href="mailto:web-translators@gnu.org"> # #. <web-translators@gnu.org></a>.</p> # #. <p>For information on coordinating and contributing translations of #. our web pages, see <a #. href="/server/standards/README.translations.html">Translations #. README</a>. #. type: Content of: <div><div><p> msgid "" "Please see the <a " "href=\"/server/standards/README.translations.html\">Translations README</a> " "for information on coordinating and contributing translations of this " "article." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "Copyright © 1992, 2009, 2010, 2021 Richard Stallman" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "This page is licensed under a <a rel=\"license\" " "href=\"http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/\">Creative Commons " "Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License</a>." msgstr "" #. TRANSLATORS: Use space (SPC) as msgstr if you don't want credits. #. type: Content of: <div><div> msgid "*GNUN-SLOT: TRANSLATOR'S CREDITS*" msgstr "" #. timestamp start #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "Updated:" msgstr ""