Plenty of content producers make money. Sure it’s the companies that employ the artists that make the most money, but that’s a general feature of our economy, not anything unique to copyright. I think Netflix is a huge vindication of copyright. It started out as a middleman simple peddling other people’s content. But copyright forced them to start producing their own content, and they’ve turned television on its head as a result. It’s probably s bigger change in the TV market than cable studios.

The thing about copyright is that it’s existenxe isn’t preventing the alternative models you’re talking about. Unlike any other form of property, copyright covers an individual’s own creations. Owning land is staking claim to something that existed for eons before you were born and will exist for eons after you’re dead. But copyright is over something unique you brought into the universe. With recording and distribution being so cheap, nothing prevents creatives from giving away their work and making money on their own unique contributions with performances or Kickstarter. But people want AAA production values. Just like how Kickstarter can’t raise enough capital to design and build something with mass market appeal like a MacBook Pro, it’s not suitable for making something like the new Star Wars movie. (Which I refuse to watch because blockbuster movies are dreck, but the public wants what it wants.)