There is a better way

The Lutsu manifesto turns intellectual property into public good and thus removes an established method of making money by selling usage rights such as license fees. Therefore the production costs, including the salary of authors and researchers, must be covered by other approaches. Where does that money come from?

First of all, the end of a particular way of making money is nothing new. It happens all the time. Cigarettes, analog cameras, diesel engines, are markets that have been lucrative in their time and have become useless more or less quickly. Selling usage rights for intellectual property is a market that is going to die sooner or later.

Many publishers of formerly printed content try to keep their old business model where only those who paid for it were able to consume their product. Here is my advice for you: forget the old model. Don’t waste your money, time and energy into restricting usage of your work, by developing paywalls or otherwise. Somebody wants to read your content but has no money to pay for it? Let them read it! Rejoice! Don’t reject those who desire “to be fed with what fell from the rich man’s table” (Luke 16:21). Make your content available to everybody, without restrictions. Trust in donations, sponsors, patrons. Be yourself trustworthy and transparent regarding your financial situation and your organization. Let everybody know about your new business model. Be proud about it. You are working for the public common and you deserve a just salary. Tell those who have enough money why they should donate part of it to you. You are doing good work and hence you will get the necessary money.