So why
should the big manufacturers, publishing houses, record
companies, software companies and fashion houses worry?
The answer lurks in history. Intellectual property is a
relatively new notion. In the near past, no one considered
knowledge or the fruits of creativity (art, design) as
'patentable', or as someone's 'property'. The artist was but a
mere channel through which divine grace flowed. Texts,
discoveries, inventions, works of art and music, designs - all
belonged to the community and could be replicated freely.
True, the chosen ones, the conduits, were honoured but were
rarely financially rewarded. They were commissioned to produce
their works of art and were salaried, in most cases. Only with
the advent of the Industrial Revolution were the embryonic
precursors of intellectual property introduced but they were
still limited to industrial designs and processes, mainly as
embedded in machinery. The patent was born. The more massive
the market, the more sophisticated the sales and marketing
techniques, the bigger the financial stakes - the larger
loomed the issue of intellectual property.
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