I Don't Know ...... THIRD base

Last week as I was driving home one of the local college radio stations, KTRU, played Abbott and Costello's who's on first routine. It was nice break of their regular format of musica obscura. I soon found myself chuckling out loud and grinning, it has been years since i heard it last so the bit was fresh again. I wondered where i could get a copy of a movie so i could show it to my kids .... then the pondering began ..... why buy a movie when i could find it online at some video site. Then the the wheels of of rights and compensation started turning. If i find it without buying it, am i stealing it? But i don't want to own it i just wanna see it. O.K. I don't wanna see it i wanna show it, but if you see it you've consumed it and must pay for it. But it's not like a sandwich where when you consume it, its gone. But it made you chuckle. But I won't chuckle if I watch it every day. Ok rent it then. Yeah for how much. 99 cents? 99 dollars? whats a fair price? Fair for who the content owner or the consumer. In my case how much am i willing to pay to let my two year old watch Abbott and Costello's who's on first? I can tell you even 99 cents seems to be too high, and a quarter might be a waste too. Then it started again. Some thing as iconic as this routine should be seen by her and if i don't show it to her she may never get to see or hear it in today's media system. If it's never seen, who looses out? Her or the owner? If it's important to me then i should be willing to pay for it? If it has worth then it should be promoted and marketed. How can we as a nation allow part of our national experience fade away or be left to college radio station. But if minimal money is returned then minimum investment and effort on their part is justified. But if there is so little money is made off it then let it out free, the money and product was made long ago by people who are now dead. But if I chuckle then the product is still working. But I'm showing it to a kid so they will be a better rounded person so it's educational. Bud and Lou are just was important as Shakespeare right? ... and so it went.
My reasoning and logic and feelings were taking me circles just like Bud does with Lou. I was getting getting nowhere, and harshed the buzz I had from listening to the golden oldie that started this quagmire. I put it all to rest by admitting the munchkin is only two and the subtleties of who's on first would be lost on her. Maybe if i wait a few more years we will be able to reconcile the conflict between the need for those of us who creating content to earn a living and the need for the collective experience. I only hope by then she might get as much of a chuckle out of it as I do.