Friday’s Endnotes – 09/02/16

Copyright’s Race, Gender and Age: A First Quantitative Look at Registrations — Robert Brauneis and Dotan Oliar crunch the numbers on copyright registration applications from 1978 through 2012 to see what demographic information can be revealed.

Motion Picture Unions Opposed to FCC “Set-Top-Box” Proposal — David Newhoff writes, “Just like most labor in the United States, today’s motion picture craftspeople are the beneficiaries of hard-fought rights — many negotiated decades ago — to share in the financial rewards of successful products they do not own. Films and TV shows are mostly made by middle-class, freelance workers whose average, annual incomes comprise not only day rates and overtime, but also residuals and health and pension benefits. These terms are negotiated and managed for most crew and performers by the unions DGA, SAG-AFTRA, and IATSE. These unions are opposed to the FCC ‘Set-Top Box’ proposal because, as it stands, the proposal would break the licensing structure on which their compensation packages are based.”

No, the Internet Has Not Killed the Printed Book. Most People Still Prefer Them. — Though over 500 years old, the technology of the printed book remains widely popular. A recent Pew Research Center reveals that the popularity of the printed book “has not slowed in recent years”, despite the continuing rise of ebooks and ebook readers.

Why a camera might be the least important thing a photographer brings to the job — In case you missed it: I posted an article I wrote on Medium about the importance of separating the tools of creators from the actual creative work, a point sometimes lost. Though the article focuses on photographers, the point is applicable to all types of creators.