> The term "intellectual property" lumps together copyrights, patents,
> trademarks and other more obscure areas of law, all of which are
> totally different. (See http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/words-to-avoid.html.)
> Its main use is to obfuscate the difference between these areas and
> discourage careful clear thinking.
How about expanding the acronym IP to mean "intellectual patrimony" ?
This reflects on both sides of the copyright deal and the patent
system:
1) the work/invention was created by somebody, who should be
compensated as an encouragement to share the work/invention
with the rest of humankind
2) ultimately the work/invention belongs to all of mankind and
not to the author/inventor ... after all, the work/invention
is based on thousands of years of cultural and technical
development, the vast majority of which is used without any
restrictions or royalties (eg. the wheel)
3) future generations should be able to use the new intellectual
patrimony without any restriction, just like we are able to
use old intellectual patrimony without any restrictions
kind regards,
Rik
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