2008 / August 8^th/ That’s my property

Intellectual property is a bitch. It’s an evil far worse than lawyers, lawsuits and contracts. It’s the monster in the closet for creatives. Most people who actually create could care less about IP law. They just don’t want people to unjustly steal their work. Who owns my work? Who cares? I just want it in my portfolio.

What’s yours might not be yours

Let’s imagine for a moment: A few years ago you graduated college and landed an awesome job at some slick agency as a copywriter. Upon getting hired, you immediately spent your first day filling out more paperwork than a congressman’s intern. In the midst of this paperwork was some page about inventions or some such, but you didn’t really think it mattered. You signed it.

Last year you started writing down your thoughts about copywriting on your own blog after hours. On your own computers. On your own internet. By some miracle, a well-off pacific islander approached you last month and offered a total of $300 million for your blog.

Unfortunately, it all fell through because he found out that your agency owns your work, not you. That includes this blog. That’s what that inventions page was all about. Shit.

What’s yours might not be yours. Many employers have completely unreasonable non-compete & IP ownership contracts. Some go so far as to claim any rights to any creative works you come up with during your employment. In a sense, they actively discourage you from broadening your skillset or enjoying what you do. (Fearful employees make good employees).

But it really is

Okay, I’ll scale back on that last example. Keep in mind that US courts actually do try and serve justice. There is little chance that any court would actually grant your agency rights to your blog if it indeed had little to do with your job. Additionally, most contract wording can be beat if a “reasonable person” wouldn’t have read, understood, and agreed to such a thing. US Law is a tricky thing. It’s all about precedents and arguments. Not exactly black & white.

But relying on those kind of assumptions is a little like putting on a bullet proof jacket and having your friend shoot you with a blindfold on. It’s far from foolproof.

Wouldn’t it be nice

• Wouldn’t it be nice if you could post every piece of creative work you’ve done to your portfolio?
• Wouldn’t it be nice if you could just make things for yourself without worry who owns it?
• Wouldn’t it be nice if you could just create and not worry?

These are things I constantly think about. The programmer who goes home and hacks on his own social network is far more likely to be more productive and educated at his 9-5 job than the programmer who goes home to a case full of Miller High-Life. But the way IP law is setup right now, if his social network ever became profitable, he’d most likely run into all kinds of problems. The law discourages initiative and personal development for creative professionals (yes, programmers are creative professionals as well).

Ramble on

Intellectual Property. We’re talking about ideas here. How can you put a price on a thought? On a an idea? How can you put a price on knowledge itself? Only lawmakers seem to be able to answer these questions. They package ideas up like a plate of brownies, ready to split up and devour during the next Board of Directors meeting.

1. 

   David Pennington

   August 8^th | #

   What a true fact of life – if only CEO’s and other company reps would have spent a little time in our shoes; it might have changed some things. After all, they try to tell us what looks good and what doesn’t.

   It reminds me of the case with a popular math site I read about. Someone spent a lot of time building up this huge resource that people could use for free. Then he was approached by a book company that wanted to make a printed version.

   He didn’t read the contract throughly enough.

   After the book was printed he was sued by that company for having the content online. In the end that company owned his site, made him pay a large sum, and caused a couple years of trouble.

   It just makes you sick.

2. 

   Ryan

   August 8^th | #

   You are absolutely correct, my friend.

   Think of how the same issue of the value of “idea” is played out on a global scale.

   Terrorism anyone? Fundamental, it’s an idea. How do you put a price on that? How do you fight that?

   I need to pull out my old philosophy 401 notes from college – this is a wonderful debate issue.

3. 

   17k

   August 28^th | #

   solution is: don’t give a damn about copyright.

   i’m all in favour of no-copyright thought in this field.
   neither creative commons, or fair use.
   there must be no-copyright.

   if you create a good design, that is your advertising: the design itself.
   it has no value, as everyone can brutally copy it, and this is true from the ancient times, because everyone with sufficient skills can copy a story, a drawing…

   history is full of examples.
   so, what to do?

   work. put everything on the internet, your entire hard disks as i do.
   ideas included (i am building a wiki).
   hope to avoid pranks and hackers, that aim to destroy, rather than build.
   don’t even think about splogs, stolen designs ecc.

   i repeat: your work is your advertising.
   you can only hope to hit the ceiling (slashdot fx is all in favour of people who have ideas) one time, and on time (before you die!) and reach the olympus of people that can ask more money for their expertise. this is the internet.

   this is the also the market.
   and until that, if someone steals your work, it doesn’t matter.
   drink a bottle of wine, and think that you work is good, if it deserves to be stolen.

   marco infussi

   ps: i write after 4 designs stolen, even an entire film plot, and also identity theft. don’t think about it. if you have ideas, only you know exactly them, how to build / reproduce / evolve them. people that steals, when asked, can’t go through this process.

   the only important thing is that you have to exhibit those ideas in front of the right people, so they can fund your projects.

   here in italy this is the impossible step.

   pps: so, if you want, we can talk about it.

4. 

   17k

   August 28^th | #

   ppps: two remarks.

   2) the important thing imo is to produce your projects. so, try to create a community around them. i have great ideas for a search engine mashup, but no programmers. so, the project is waiting. this is common for developers like us, who want to develop, and now!

   3) talking about stolen designs, i’m referring to design stolen by companies that are making money on them.

   4) building a great repository is the only way to affirm your identity as a single.
   if your entire life brings that work, it has to be yours at the eyes of every visitor or user.

   copyright, as order, is innatural.

5. 

   ivanceras

   December 10^th | #

   Great blog! It speaks. I also has an idea(though rare) which couldn’t just be completed because of employment. Well, I really have to work to pay my cost of living,etc. If only could someone just finance this(even just my basic needs.. food, shelter,clothing etc.). I will surely grabbed it. The more my time is spent in an employment the more the itch I feel to complete that idea! Programmers know the same feeling! :(

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