Re: FLASH: turning over .fla files

[Gregg Caines]

Well I come from more of a programming background and

less of a design background, so maybe my take on this is

a bit different (and maybe not so relevant to Flash design).


Source files are always easy to reuse.  I've updated lots of

other source code from other programmers without

understanding a great deal of it (and without needing to

understand it, because the work is already done).


But the fact that something is easily reproducible by others

doesn't mean its a commodity.  Take pain relief medicine for

example.  Tylenol spent millions in R&D coming up with a new

pain relief drug that didn't contain Aspirin (I'm allergic to

Aspirin, like many other people).  As soon as they came up

with something, it was easily reproducible by any other

drug companies, but luckily, because of patent laws they

were able to produce the Tylenol formula exclusively for a

number of years before other companies had the legal right.

If it wasn't for patent law, and the notion of intellectual

property, there would be no incentive for such excellent R&D

work.  Sure pain relief medication with the Tylenol formula is

a commodity now, but to treat it like a commodity right from

the beginning is a disservice to Tylenol (and would have put

them out of business).


If you consider all your hours of work, trial and error,

education, and headaches, you might not look at the FLA as

just a "little old file".  I think whatever the developer decides

to do with the FLA is fine...just consider its real worth.  We're

not just pumping gas here.


Just my opinion... :)


---------------------------------------------------

Gregg Caines

n e o m e t r i x  systems inc.

http://www.neometrixsystems.com

gcainesneometrixsystems [dot] com

>

> ==Finally:

> I'm all for finding ways to make money, but I really disagree that giving

> away a little old file is "giving away the store".  I think of it this

way:

> if your source files are so easy for someone else to re-use then you're

only

> providing a commodity and indeed you should be careful giving it away.

> However, the product I think most people are providing is the whole

> thing--design, concept, and programming.

>

> Phillip




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