Just a note about the mp3 problem - because it is proprietory, software developers are being asked to pay for liscensing the technology that gives mp3. This is discouraging to the small software developers, and some of the costs may be passed on to end users.

So... we have heard a *lot* about why copyright isn't fulfilling the need it was designed for. Let's hear a little about what we can do to help.

First, there is the open source software movement. (And remember that open source can cost money!) Because of open source, musicians who use computers have alternatives, and alternatives that are actually better than the proprietary ones! Use ogg instead of mp3, midi ain't copyrighted yet, and mod was always an open format.

The other thing is, if we can take some pointers from the open source movement, and apply them to our needs as musicians and creators, and to the needs of the public domain, we can create a legal copyright license that will NOT let people rip us off.