William Stepp from Against Monopoly has an interesting take on the Wall Street Journal article I just wrote about.  Responding to movie companies flooding the market with too many movies, Stepp cites economist Arnold Plant 1934 article on “The Economic Aspects of Copyright in Books.”  He explains that because of the monopolies granted by copyrights, publishers make excessive amounts of money off a few blockbusters, which they use to fund a long string of duds no one wants to read.

Julio Cole tackles this issue in “Controversy: Would the Absence of Copyright Laws Significantly Affect the Quality and Quantity of Literary Output?” In the paper, Cole recognizes the lottery aspect of publisher, but criticizes copyrights for increasing the payout of larger titles, distorting the marketplace.