[audi100quattro]

If you only used fingerprinting/watermarking instead of DRM, you could very well imagine an alternate model where creators are rewarded, and can find an audience a bit better, piracy is kept to a minimum, and culture is better off. There will still be sites like solarmovie, popcorntime, and perhaps some rental revenue will be lost because it will be easier to watch my neighbor or friends copy that he downloaded and walked over to my place with, but no one will be able to share it widely on youtube with anyone's fingerprint/watermark. The upside to culture? Anyone is free to edit/mix/use/peruse their fingerprinted/watermarked copy that they bought/rented. Unlike the consume-only model of the current Netflix/Amazon/Hulu/CBS/etc..

This is a long-term choice that I think both creators and consumers can make, but it probably won't happen as long as AT&T can make money off selling 4K copies of all Time Warner movies again, and as long as Disney never lets the copyright on Mickey Mouse expire. Copyright also has an important part to play in culture.