Intellectual Property

 

You Belong To Me

See the pyramids along the Nile
Watch the sun rise on a tropic isle
Just remember, darling, all the while
You belong to me

But to whom does Intellectual Property belong?

“To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries;”

US Constitution, Article 1, Section 8

A copyright, ©, is a protection for the seller in a transaction. A copyright licenses the Intellectual Property, IP,  of artists for a defined period before it enters into the public domain. A copyright confers government protection for that Intellectual Property while it is NOT in the public domain. Otherwise that IP could otherwise be copied, without a fee, by the potential buyer. Without this protection, the seller does not have an incentive to produce that Intellectual Property.

A patent is related to a copyright but covers scientific and technical Intellectual Property. Like a copyright, it is for a defined period and is protected by the government during that period.

A trademark, ^TM, is a protection for the buyer in a transaction. A trademark is used to ensure that the good that is being sold is trustworthy.  A trademark may include a word, but it is most probably a stylized symbol which may include a word. A trademark does NOT have a defined period and is valid forever. E.g. one of the oldest trademarks is the Golden Lions of Lowenbrau. By registering that trademark with the government, the government is ensuring that the goods being sold with that trademark can be trusted by the buyer.

Copyrights were originally extended to authors because, under the technology at the time that the Constitution was written, primarily books could be easily copied. The intent is that all creative works can be copyrighted, and that all inventions can be patented.

Artists and inventors are people, not corporations. An artist or inventor can be employed by corporations, but corporations are NOT the People, at least they are not enumerated in the US Census as the People. Corporations are instead chartered by the government. Corporations may be groups of the People, but they are a special entity charted by the government where the assets of the People owning shares in, or employed by, those corporations are protected from liability.

As such, corporations should not be issued copyrights or patents. They are not the People. Copyrights, or patents, can not be created, or invented, by corporations. They can be created, or invented, by the People employed by corporations, but not by corporations themselves. Thus copyrights and patents should be issued only to the artists and inventors. Those artists and inventors can then in turn issue licenses that may give rights, including exclusive rights, to anyone, including corporations, during the period that the government is ensuring its protection.

This is NOT  a trivial issue. For example, a copyright can be issued to the late Walter Elias Disney for Steamboat Willie and that copyright can be passed down to the estate of Walter Elias  Disney during the period of protected ownership. The license to use that copyright, including exclusive use, can be sold to the Disney Corporation, and the Disney Corporation can own the license to the copyright, and whatever terms and restrictions are agreed to in the license between the copyright holder and the receiver of the license, but not the copyright itself.

Thus it becomes a legal matter to whom copyrights, or patents, may be issued. In the case of a book, it is clearly the author. In the case of a song, it may be the composer and the lyricist. In the case of collaborative arts, such as movies, the copyright may name a number of positions ( e.g. producer, director, leading actors, writers, etc.) while excluding others ( e.g. extra and uncredited actors, stunt persons, grips, etc.)  Who can be named on a copyright, or patent, should be a legal matter. The ability to issue of copyrights and patents is a congressional matter, the actual issuance is an executive matter, and disputes about ownership and licensing is a judicial matter. Corporations can license copyrights, or patents, but they can not own copyrights. or patents.

Because corporations have previously been issued copyrights and patents, any changes where copyrights and patents can NO LONGER be issued to corporations would take effect only upon enactment of a new law. At that time, all existing corporate copyrights, or patents, should be considered instead to be exclusive licenses to that corporation by anonymous copyright, or patent, holders. Thus a case of copyright infringement by one corporation against another, would be treated exactly the same but would now be a case of license infringement. Corporations could be sued for license infringement, but they could not be sued for copyright, or patent, infringement because while they could license a copyright, or patent they could not be issued a copyright, or patent.

In the case where there are multiple holders of a copyright or patent, it should take only a two thirds supermajority of those holders to issue a license. This would prevent a single copyright, or patent, holder from being able to block the actions of other holders of that same copyright or patent.

All licenses should require that the copyright, or patent, IP is available during that specified time period. If the IP is not available to others, or is not used by the license holder, during that period, any license would be terminated. Thus corporations could not buy up and prevent patents from being sold or used, and streaming platforms could not delete copyrighted material from their sites, effectively making them unavailable to all other parties.