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 CHAPTER 1

First Graders on the Magic Planet

Once, as I was sleeping, I had a dream. There was a strange planet. Something magic happened there every time an artist created new work. At the very moment the artist took his work out of his house, it became as widely known to the public as it was brilliant. There was a law there also: nobody was required to pay the artist while using, in any imaginable way, his work.

Amazed, I woke up and tossed and turned for the rest of the night, trying to grasp if there was any way for an artist to make money there. I could not wait to bring this up with my first graders. They do so love magic! So the next morning, I asked them about it, and look at what I got.

Who Gets Money and Why?

Alpha: There is nothing to talk about here. If nobody has to pay an artist, then nobody will, no matter how famous he is. I say, the more famous an artist is, the more money he loses on that stupid planet. Beta: He ain’t losin’ money because nobody gets money there. Gamma: How come? Beta: If nobody has to pay for the use of artwork, then everybody may copy it and have it for free. Delta: Yeah, except for the money spent on copying. Gamma: So somebody does get money? The copy machines! Ha ha ha! Kappa: And somebody owns those machines. Beta: People could sell or rent copy machines and other things you need, right? By the way, if copying takes money and time, then people may come along and do it for others, right? What are those people called, that copy for others? Teacher: Publishers? Beta: Publishers.