What is an Alternative Compensation System?
There are actually a few different meanings for the term “alternative compensation system”. In general, it simply means that the author of a given work, or copyright holder of a given work, will receive payment or compensation through some means besides simply charging users for the license to use the content.
In a general sense, alternative compensation systems, or ACS, are used to refer to any scheme where the artist, him or her self, finds a way to make money on their work without actually charging their customers.
Some of these methods might include…
Banner Ads
For years now, print magazines have been making the majority of their revenue through advertisement, with subscription and sales fees really only covering the costs of production and distribution. Of course… this is taken to extremes by some magazines, like say, those make-up magazines where you won’t even read the table of contents until you’ve been through well over two hundred pages of advertisements.
Advertising has become an excellent way for web-comic artists to make a little money with their work, without having to charge membership fees and so on. By allowing advertisers to place ads on your comic’s site, for either a flat fee or a per-click compensation scheme, a web-comic artist can easily make a comfortable living while still providing free content.
Merchandising
Since you can put just about anything on a t-shirt or a coffee mug these days, and at very little cost to yourself, through online print-shops and similar services, many artists choose to distribute their work for free, online, and then to maintain a shop, selling t-shirts and other merchandise with the web-comic characters printed onto them, or in the case of internet culture phenomenon Homestar Runner, even selling toys and so on.
This is, technically, charging money for items, but it differs from traditional sources of author-income by the fact that the actual content, the web-comic or short stories or videos or whatever it may be, are offered for free, while the more dedicated fans can support their favourite online artist by sporting t-shirts and baseball caps and so on.
In Terms of Copyright Law
The more official definition of alternative compensation systems was first suggested as a response to the problem with software and media piracy. There were worries that artists would eventually see piracy put too large of a dent in their income.
As we’ve seen, people keep pirating, but musicians and filmmakers still manage to make ends meet somehow, so, in the eyes of many, the want for initiating some legally defined ACS, is seen as somewhat outdated and naïve.
A number of proposals have been put forth for somehow collecting money to pay authors of software or media that becomes easily pirated. These have included…
Income Taxation
For obvious reasons, this one isn’t really taken seriously. Software and media piracy has never really put a big enough dent on anyone’s income to justify taking money from the public to pay wealthy artists what a number of unscrupulous peer-to-peer traders may or may not have stolen from them.
Blank CDs
Because many pirates use blank CDs and blank DVDs to store or sell pirated software and media, an extra fee for buying CDs and DVDs has been suggested by some. Again, this is seen as somewhat unfair. The vast majority of people buying blank CDs and DVDs are not using them to commit piracy. There’s really no justification for charging someone “piracy taxes” when they only wish to put some home videos on a DVD. Likewise, software and media pirates not willing to shell out for the actual CDs would probably not be willing to shell out for blank CDs which cost almost as much as the album that they plan on pirating and burning onto that blank CD.
The Real Problem
The real problem behind the idea of ACS is this… the idea would be to basically phase out the traditional consumer model for buying music and movies and other media. Basically, what we now think of as pirating would become the primary means of getting music, while the federal government takes money from you, whether you’re downloading music and movies or not.
Nobody with a lick of common sense needs to be told why that’s a bad idea. An art and entertainment industry regulated and controlled by the federal government doesn’t have anything to do with the American principles of a free market and freedom of speech.
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Why Legal Forms Online Are So Popular
The cost of hiring a lawyer can be truly exorbitant, particularly if you are only needing him to send a legal form. To save those hundreds of dollars, why don’t you check online for the forms? There are forms available for all types of legal problems and complaints. Nonetheless, you do have to be careful about a few things before you jump into it.
The internet can provide the necessary information to help you choose the business form that is needed for your special problem. But there are many things you need to know before you fill out these forms, so be prepared. You can save yourself a ton of money, if the problem isn’t too complex and you are armed with knowledge and the correct forms.
Unfortunately, the laws are not identical throughout the United States. A corporate form that was correct for Chicago, may well not be the proper choice for New York. Every state has its own laws, so make sure the forms you are looking at online are for the state you are in.
There are city, county, state and federal laws, and there are business forms available for all of them. Since most of the things you do will involve either city or state regulations, make sure that you specify online the city and state your are living and or working in.
A good example would be if you needed to get a birth certificate. In this case, you would need to go online to the state you were born in. There you would find the correct online form to fill out to have one sent to you. If you are submitting health forms, ask yourself who wants this information? This could be for a city job, a county health program, etc. And the protocol at each level and in every state may very well be entirely different. This could end up costly in both time and money.
If you are inexperienced at doing on line research for legal forms, and are in a quandary as to state laws, you might try calling a local lawyer or a paralegal to ask them where to look or what a specific law is. This information will probably be free, but make sure of it before you ask any questions.
Because it is most important to follow the laws and rules to the letter, whether you need simple business forms, corporate forms, or are simply requesting health documents, remember to find the answers before you fill out and submit the forms. However, many of the online legal form sites volunteer the necessary information that you will need for the state , county, or city you are in. Look for a site that does this. You may also be given a choice of downloading the form, filling it out and mailing it, or filling it out online and emailing.
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Unitus: Helping Reduce Poverty
October 27, 2008 by jb
Filed under Helping Others
There are nearly 3 billion people living in extreme poverty around the world; 70% of the world’s poorest are women and children. Limited schooling and lack of appropriate health education are just some of the chronic issues that are strongly correlated with high poverty rates in women.
Fighting Poverty One Woman At A Time
Inspiring and empowering stories about women who are being given a hand-up through the power of microfinancing. It is a novel concept that is having a load of success. As a business woman, I applaud this group that has gone above and beyond to help families through empowering women to be successful.
- Each year, more than 8 million people around the world die because they are too poor to stay alive.
- Over 1 billion people-1 in 6 people around the world-live in extreme poverty, defined as living on less than $1 a day.
- Over half of the world’s population-nearly 3 billion people-lives on less than U.S. $2 per day.
- More than 800 million go hungry each day.
- Every year, 6 million children die from malnutrition before their fifth birthday.
- Over 11 million children die each year from preventable causes like malaria, diarrhea and pneumonia.
- Every 3.6 seconds another person dies of starvation and the large majority are children under 5.
- Over 100 million primary school-age children cannot afford to go to school.
Unitus Battles Global Poverty Through The Microfinance Project
Microfinance is based on the belief that the poor need a hand up, not a hand-out. This new philosophy emerged in the 1970s in places like Bolivia and Bangladesh as social innovators began to offer financial services to the working poor – those who were previously considered “un-bankable” because of their lack of collateral. Once given the opportunity, not only did clients of microfinance institutions (MFIs) expand their businesses and increase their incomes, but their high repay…
Link to Unitus. Spread The Word and Change the World – One Woman At A Time
Help fight Global Poverty – Add a Unitus banner to your website and help raise awareness about this marvelous program.
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The Importance of an Advanced Directive
Terri Schiavo was the unfortunate pawn in the middle of a battle between her parents and her husband over whether withdrawal of medical aid following an accident which left her totally incapacitated.
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The media circus which ensued reached to the highest levels of the government, even taking this matter to the level of the Supreme Court and to the office of the President of the United States. Unfortunately, prior to her accident, Terri left no living will or advanced medical directive to clearly spell out her wishes were she to find herself in such a dire condition.
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What is a Medical Power of Attorney?
A medical durable power of attorney (or healthcare proxy) allows you to appoint a person you trust to act on your behalf as your healthcare agent (or surrogate decision maker). This is a person who is authorized to make medical decisions should you become unable to do so.. As with a living will, before it is possible for a a medical power of attorney to legally go into effect, a person’s physician must conclude that the patient is unable to make his/her own medical decisions. In addition, if it is determined that a person has ever regained the ability to make these types of decisions, the agent cannot legally continue to act on that person’s behalf. These documents are usually legally binding even when they come in conflict with the wishes of the individual’s immediate family.
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Is it legal to put a bumper sticker on your back window in Texas?
August 23, 2008 by jb
Filed under Uncategorized
Just answered a question on the legality of having a bumper sticker in the back window of a car in Texas. In the course of looking for an answer, this is what I came across. Thought I’d share.
Is it legal to put a bumper sticker on your back window in Texas?
My answer: I think you should be okay with the bumper sticker. I would check with a cop on the street if you’re nervous, unless of course you don’t like cops. I’ve never had any problem with bumper stickers in my back window as long as it didn’t obstruct my rear view mirror. Here’s an interesting fact I found though when trying to answer you question.
People who opt to exhibit their individuality through these decals often take part in more acts of road rage. Colorado State University social psychologist, William Szlemko, found that aggressive driving is linked to the number of markers a person has on his/her car, regardless of the messages portrayed. He says this idea is linked to the idea of territoriality. The more individualized the car, the more the person tends to think of public roads as his/her own.
So, while it may be legal, watch out for those road ragers -
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