Royalty pays. Just look at the British Royal Family. It was reported in their annual accounts in 2018 that while they cost the British taxpayer 69p each, they returned £5.21 each for over 63 million citizens to the public Treasury; not a bad return on investment or (if you want to be cool) ROI. How does that work? The Royal Family has a trust of real estate that has been passed down, heir to heir, over the centuries. Trusts are designed to protect the assets within an estate so that the profits they generate will continue to benefit their beneficiaries in perpetuity. The royal family also offers its services as being figureheads and diplomats on behalf of the British government in exchange for backing by the people while also supporting the people with their wealth. To make a very complicated subject very simple, they continue to be the Royal family due to their benevolence for their people and their pride for their country.

The function of royalties is to benefit the owner of a property and those who use that property, but what does that have to do with royalty? “Render to Caesar what is Caesar’s” said Jesus when asked about taxes by the Pharisees and the Herodians. Why pay Caesar taxes? Because the money they used had Caesar’s face on it. His Kingdom: his money. Caesar was rightfully due taxes because he made sure the people had a functioning society that would generate wealth and success for the empire and it’s people. After all, it is much easier to collect taxes from those who have some than from those who have none. Concerning the British Royal Family, the Royals are due taxes because they make sure the society they work to maintain is in the position where their people are able to be successful.

Musicians, engineers, programmers, authors, and the like are all people who work to generate ideas that other people will want to use. However, they do this work because they know they will reap the fruits of their labors. Every mouth needs food, but there is no such thing as a free lunch. People not living on handouts will not waste time when they know their next meal is up to them. Everyone has someone to provide for, even if it is just themselves. In a society devoid of protection for ideas, the life-water of financial incentive for people who can do this kind of work evaporates. No incentive means no results. That would mean many of the things that we rely upon to make our lives better and more comfortable would not come to pass. Do not construe this to mean that ideas are the permanent property of their creator. Ideas are meant to be shared and good ideas are shared rapidly. Eventually, ideas must be surrendered to society so that everyone might benefit, just not only after their original owner has long passed and can no longer continue to foster their creation with others. This social contract that protects the fair trade and use of ideas by and for society that enables our way of life to function can only work when everyone respects each other’s needs and cease thanklessness. Royalties are not limited to a select few; royalties are everywhere when they are understood to mean “Thank you”.

On behalf of everyone at Behny Entertainment, Arts, & Media,

Thank you for your support!

PS. When writing an addition to our company development blog, normally we are able to tie our topic, a comparative concept, and the point of it all together. After writing today’s entry, it didn’t seem right to include the accompanying announcement up in the main body. We take pride in our work. We believe it’s important to let a creative work breathe and we felt the point made today was strong enough to stand on its own. So here we are:
Our licensing structure regarding use of our protected content has been finalized and published on our Copyrights and Royalties page. If you are interested in using any of our content for your own creative projects, please take a moment to understand your needs and what we have to offer to fill those needs.

Thanks again.