Art,
". . . many people try to take advantage of an idea by patenting the idea but having no product or a way to get the product to market."
Patents are not awarded for ideas, only for methods that operationalize ideas. I am not sure about this, not being patent savvy. All I know is that there have been things that Apple has included in their products that, years later, after they become successful, someone claims an idea that they had, without any operationality, is a valid patent that Apple is infringing on. It happens mostly, from memory, from patent trolls.
There's no question that CD sales are down considerably from, say, 25 years ago. Whether Apple is responsible for this, or the fact that there are numerous ways to obtain a copy of a music selection without having to buy a CD, is difficult to argue. What strikes me as important, however, is the approx. 30% cut that Apple takes from the sale of a music selection, which can have a serious impact on a young, upcoming artist. That brings to the forefront of much of what Apple is arguing with the EU and others about. What is a fair amount to be charging for maintaining a store and a secure payment method that people have confidence in. The markup on things in stores, lots of time, is 100%. Artist gets none of this. It is the price of doing business with a store like Target, Walmart etc. The Apple Store does allow artists without big contracts with labels to get access to customers. Again, the question is what is a fair price to pay. |
