I have an ironic idea. What if all the writer, composers and creators in the world just stopped doing what they do and go do something else like sell insurance… Go with me here. Eventually, there will be nothing new in the world and people will eventually wonder why and begin begging artists to create again. Now imagine the increase in pay artists could get due to the filling of the void. It would most certainly make up for the loss of income while people were without.

via jasonrobertbrown.com – weblog – archives.

This is an excerpt from a comment on a posting by composer Jason Robert Brown’s blog regarding the unauthorized trading and copying of his music. On Slashdot, no one has a problem with the denial of an artist a living: “HEY, ART SHOULD BE FREE!!!”. Maybe we in the arts should go Galt, and just stop making art. oh, it will continue, but wait till a kid finds he is supposed to give it away after hours/days/weeks or months of work. wait till she finds that someone is copying their work, and selling it. Wait til that kid finds that they can’t do what they love, because they have to do what they hate in order to make a living.