We talk a lot about the ways intellectual property stifles innovation once it attaches — the patent thickets created when dozens of companies claim rights to parts of the same widget-process, the hindrance to free expression and commentary posed by copyright clams to political imagery or culture — but lately, I’ve been wondering about the burdens of incipient intellectual property: when the vague promise of some potential future IP right causes people to share less and develop less value than optimal.
Incipient intellectual property is the false promise that “you might be the next big star,” that keeps some artists from appreciating the intermediate audience-building possibilities of Creative Commons licenses. It’s the remote prospect of patent that keeps scientists from publishing early-stage findings or sharing with potential collaborators lest they statutorily bar themselves from patenting later.
Does the possibility of outsize exclusive benefits from the IP lottery blind people to the much greater shared benefits of openness?
