My few thoughts on Intellectual Property
The problem with owning truth is that there is only so much truth that can be owned.
I know why copyright laws and patents exist, there is value in authors feeling like their efforts will be remunerated as they are more likely to share their discoveries. But there are only so many things that can be developed and restricting access to information may not always be in the benefit of human progress.
There is not a single person in this world that has done anything by themselves, they were able to be and do because others help them in a number of ways, even if they don't realize it. Your landlord who gave you a few more days to pay the bill, the teachers that instructed you when you were younger, the people that feed you, all the books you've read that summarize a lifetime of reflections for some of the most dedicated thinkers and the people who helped manifest all these books physically.
You are a collective as much as an individual, there is no you without the rest of us, I know this may sound a little extreme to some people because most make great efforts every day to be recognized for their individuality, for their personal contributions. The thing is, you wouldn't be able to make the first of those contributions without help.
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One of the biggest issues I see in claiming truth as one's creation is that often this truth is attached to the character of the person saying it, which sometimes can come to make it more difficult for people to accept it. Very few people would be willing to hear what a pedophile or rapist have to say. Someone perceived to be paranoid, for example, could point out many things that are really happening and people would have a hard time believing it.
Because the truth is owned by the person who said it first, or the person recognized to have said it first, a lot of people will refuse to support the message because they don't want to be associated to the doings or beliefs of the messenger.
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Over and over again through the centuries of recorded history we keep seeing people from different places, ages, who speak different languages and believe in different divinities reach the same conclusions. They have never encountered each other and yet in many instances even their art is very similar.
If this has happened before we were able to call each other on the phone, what can be expected in the age of information?
2+2=4 and it doesn't matter who said it first, it belongs to us all, we don't need permission to speak the truth even if it sounds a lot like the truth someone else is speaking.
The idea of intellectual property could make some feel protected, while others who could have contributed further would find obstacles in this idea if they come to think everything that could be said or invented already has; not only that, but it also has an owner that can come after you.
We all tend to agree that the author should have some ownership of their works. That they should not be stolen.
And so, we agree with patent and copyright law because we believe that is what those laws mean / imply.
But they don't. Copyrights and Patents are the right to sue. They offer no protection in and of themselves. And if you are a little person, they can often be used against you. Even though they are your copyright / patent.
A patent is a gun that costs $5,000. But the bullets cost a million dollars a piece.
It is corporations like Dizzey that keeps making the copyright laws more and more one sided (what fair use?). They keep moving the laws until everyone is guilty. And they keep playing the old song of "we must protect the little, defenceless authors". All the while, destroying little authors and eating artists.
Many have seen through this game, and have gone the route of "its already lost", giving it away is a much better option. Copylefting, Opensource...
Because copyright and patents do not mean what we think they mean. Nor, have they ever meant it. It was a con job from the start.