Alex Hudson home@alexhudson.com writes:
I think artists should be free to earn money for their work pretty much however they please; I don't think it should be limited to patronage/begging.
I agree. The means they use should not, however, restrict the freedom of a legitimate recipient of a cultural work to do whatever they like with it. Any sort of monopoly that extends to the actions of recipients (e.g. copyright) breaks this.
In other words, the author's freedom to attempt to earn a living ends at the limits deliniated by the freedoms of others to engage in transactions that don't involve them.