Encryption and other data protection techniques might indeed offer a short-term solution to freely distributable digital assets. But those with long-term memories know that there is always a Flash Gordon decoder ring available somewhere. The history of successful, long-term encryption is dismal, to put it charitably. We are still rooted in physicality, and the bits and bytes of digital intellectual property seem far less real and substantial to most people. The music industry is already grappling with the wrenching restructuring of its compensation, distribution, and copyright mechanisms.
Nobody knows yet.
Nobody has a clue, really. Technology has always shaped the distribution of, and compensation for, creative work. The printing press made it possible for Daniel Defoe to make a living as a novelist. Film and projection devices enabled a new art form and a new industry, as did vinyl records and microphones. Ironically, this latest technological development might show both creative talent and underwriters that they have more in common than they ever thought possible, even as they prepare to face off across the table and argue their differences in the months ahead.