Can we really claim ownership over information? Maybe only as long as it’s a secret. This is an idea I’m always thinking about–this thing called “intellectual property.” A friend recently asked me,  should artists get paid? And I said “yes!” As an artist, I like to get paid.That being said, I struggle with the idea of retaining absolute ownership over even my own creations once I’ve released them to the public.

Is it right for others to make money off my hard work, my creativity? It doesn’t seem like it. Nevertheless, these words from Thomas Jefferson got me thinking:

If nature has made any one thing less susceptible than all others of exclusive property, it is the action of the thinking power called an idea, which an individual may exclusively possess as long as he keeps it to himself; but the moment it is divulged, it forces itself into the possession of every one, and the receiver cannot dispossess himself of it. Its peculiar character, too, is that no one possesses the less, because every other possesses the whole of it. He who receives an idea from me, receives instruction himself without lessening mine; as he who lights his taper at mine, receives light without darkening me.

So if someone takes the art I create (but still have a copy of…e.g., music) have I really been robbed? What are your thoughts?