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At this week's Town Board meeting I heard a snide comment mumbled by someone in the 'audience' when Town Attorney Guy Krogh explained why the Town was renewing it's American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) license.  ASCAP (and a few sister organizations) licenses anyone who plays music in public to play it, and pays its artist members from these fees.  It's one way that musicians make a living from their work.  When music is played at a Town event, it's legal to play it, because the Town has purchased a license to do so.

But a lot of people think art should be free.  Look at the brouhaha that ensued when ASCAP and music publishers began suing individuals for illegally downloading music clips.  Everyone's sympathy went to the downloaders, and some excused this behavior by claiming that the big music labels were the ones losing money, and that was OK because they make millions and stiff the artists anyway.

So let me get this straight... it's OK to steal if you are stealing from a crook?  What ever happened to 'two wrongs don't make a right?'

I heard a story about a barn not far from here, on Route 88.  The owner had painted a big picture of Snoopy on the roof.  According to the story, cartoonist Charles Shultz's attorney got wind of the picture and sent the farmer a cease and desist letter, part of due diligence in protecting his client's copyright.  With good humor, the farmer painted out Snoopy and lettered the message 'Doggone!'

I told this story to a group of independent software developers, who are very sensitive themselves about software piracy, thinking they would get a laugh out of the farmer's gracious response, but take the side of the artist.  Much to my surprise they excoriated me for siding with Shultz, because 1) Snoopy is beloved, 2) Shultz was rich, and 3) it was just a picture and what was the harm, really?

Well, the harm was that artists work hard like everybody else, and they deserve to eat.  Just because you can't hold a song in your hand doesn't mean it doesn't have value.  The artist made it and deserves to make his or her living from it as much as a builder deserves to get a bunch of money for building a house.  Everyone I know loves music, and theater (well, musicals, at least!), and pictures, and if they don't love sculpture they sure have something to say about it!  We value these things that are an important part of our lives, but we don't value the people who make them.

Sure, some artists are rich.  Most aren't.  Most are just working stiffs like you and me, trying to eke out a living doing something they know how to do.  That's about the same in every profession I've every heard about.  To single out workers to steal from in one profession isn't right.  Artists need to be paid for their work.  If they're not, there won't be any art, music, or theater.  And what would life be like then?

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