Psy Makes $8.1 Million By Ignoring Copyright Infringements Of Gangnam Style
Found on Techdirt on Tuesday, 11 December 2012
A couple of months back, Mike wrote about how Psy's relaxed attitude to people infringing on his copyright helped turn Gangnam Style into one of the most successful cultural phenomena in recent years, and that includes becoming the most-viewed video on YouTube ever.
This is yet another great example of how artists can give away copies of their music and videos to build their reputations and then earn significant sums by selling associated scarcities -- in this case, appearances in TV commercials.
The RIAA will still find a twisted reason to complain and try to turn this all around in an attempt to prove how infringing copyrights hurts the artist, probably by arguing that Psy could have earned trillions when they are basically just angry because only their share is affected and they cannot squeeze tons of money out of all this.