Surber points to the usual Die-Verse dividing act, accusing white musicians of “cultural appropriation”. The term is nonsense. In music as in most other arts, good work gets used by a wide variety of performers. The audience doesn’t care who “appropriated” who; the audience only cares about the pleasure of the performance.
Surber points out another important fact. The music industry has always been strict about contracts and copyrights. The original author gets royalties every time his work is performed or recorded professionally. Authors who are making money are not the victims of “cultural theft”; they’re participants in normal honest business relationships. Pay for value, value for pay.
How long has this been goin on? (1945)
A very long (rag)time. (1902)
As I’ve been pointing out, copyright cuts both ways. If you want your work to be preserved, and you’re not especially concerned with money, public domain is the answer. If you primarily want to be paid for your work, copyright is the answer. Both motives are honorable.
Royalties are a major topic in this year’s entertainment strike. Modern plutocrats are more openly evil than previous generations, using digital distribution and AI to eliminate the Negative Externality of royalties. The strike is attempting to regain normal business relations.
Polistra's Mill 