A Thought on Intellectual Property

[benlehman]

Inspired by some kefluffle.

On the internet, a lot of thought (including me) is put into the availability and rights to creative work: intellectual property.

Considerably less emphasis is put on producing creative work which is actually work someone's time: your own or others.

This seems backwards to me.

Comments

[the-tall-man.livejournal.com]

"Worth someone's time" strikes me as a less-than-perfect phrase. We waste time on a regular basis. "A meaningful use of time"? I dunno.

(I'm looking for the right way to frame this so that I can think on the actual, very real issue I think you're pointing at. If my casting about for a frame I like distracts, just ignore it.)

[evilmagnus]

"Is of value to someone other than yourself", perhaps?

[tigerbunny-db.livejournal.com]

I don't think these questions are really pointing at any of the same things. Access to the raw material of creative work is the keystone of IP controversies (at least the part of it that's not merely about consumerism and entitlement); quality, craftsmanship, and professionalism is irrelevant.

I think your "authorial tradition" is only one - relatively modern and culture-bound - way of looking at creative work. Part of where the friction comes from is that the much older, much larger tradition of creative work is folk art - which definitely thrives on amateurism, mix-and-match, pastiche, outright theft, and a gift economy. All of these are anathema - as you say - to the authorial model. But the authorial model is foreign to the vast majority of human creative activity.

To the extent that's true, "authors" and "remixers" have little to say to one another.

The other thing is, the whole "long tail" concept is built around the idea that one man's trash is another man's treasure - that anything, no matter how obscure, crummy, poorly crafted, etc. probably has value to someone. Search costs become the limiting factor. Which is why healthy criticism and an RPG culture built around actual play is absolutely necessary if authors (rather than just tinkerers) are to survive.

[misuba.livejournal.com]

I am reminded of the last panel of this (http://xkcd.com/309/).

[sirogit.livejournal.com]

Why does it seem backwards?

[kleenestar.livejournal.com]

The latter doesn't happen on Internet Time, hence the Internetz are not particularly interested in it. That's my theory. Doesn't mean it's not happening.