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--- name: Intellectual Property slug: intellectual-property type: legal-construct status: unstable version: 4.1.2 released: "1474-01-19" maintainer: state-apparatus dependencies: - nation-state - scarcity-model - enforcement-infrastructure - courts license: varies wildly and that is the problem tags: - law - ownership - abstraction - monopoly - creative-work - contested-terrain ---
A legal fiction that converts ideas into property by pretending scarcity can be legislated into existence.
An individual or organization produces something: a book, a drug formula, a logo, a melody. The state then grants a temporary monopoly over copies, uses, or derivatives of that thing. The monopoly is enforced by:
The underlying logic borrows from property rights over physical objects and applies it to non-rival goods. Non-rival means: if you take my apple, I have no apple. If you copy my song, I still have my song. The law is not troubled by this distinction.
| Bug | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Copyright terms extend every time Mickey Mouse approaches public domain | critical | won't fix |
| Patent trolls accrue no social benefit | high | open |
| Small creators cannot afford enforcement | high | open |
| "Owning an idea" is philosophically incoherent | medium | disputed |
| Poor nations locked out of medicine by pharma patents | critical | by design |
ERR_DMCA_OVERREACH : takedown issued without fair use analysis
ERR_PRIOR_ART_IGNORED : patent granted on existing concept
ERR_LICENSE_LABYRINTH : user cannot determine if use is permitted
ERR_ORPHAN_WORK : copyright holder unreachable; work unusable
WARN_FAIR_USE_UNCLEAR : proceed at own financial risk
# jurisdiction-specific overrides apply
fair_use: enabled # US only; elsewhere: "fair dealing", narrower
moral_rights: false # default US config; France sets this to true
patent_on_software: true # controversial, regionally inconsistent
copyright_term: life+70 # lobbyists last touched this in 1998
Q: Does IP protect creators? A: Sometimes. More reliably it protects whoever acquired the IP from creators.
Q: Is open source the opposite of intellectual property? A: No. Open source licenses are built on copyright law. They exploit the system to invert it.
Q: What happens when IP expires? A: The work enters the public domain, which is the commons that IP was temporarily extracted from.
Q: Is IP theft the same as stealing? A: This framing was developed by marketing departments. File under: language as power.
v4.1.2 (1998): Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act. Terms lengthened.v4.0.0 (1994): TRIPS Agreement. IP exported globally via trade policy.v3.2.0 (1886): Berne Convention. International reciprocity established.v1.0.0 (1474): Venice Patent Statute. First recorded iteration.