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Since
Adam stole Eve's apple, creators everywhere have struggled with
the issue of ownership of their work. Now there are copyright
laws to protect the artist, designer, and writer but those laws
are often ignored because the copycat has no fear of being caught--
especially on the World Wide Web where there are a multitude of
sites, and bumping into the original creator is as likely as bumping
into someone in the middle of Times Square.
Another
issue other than the flagrant stealing of a creators' work is an
issue probably never to be solved--the problem of ownership of a
concept or idea. As a businessman told me when I asked him how valuable
a good idea for a website is, he told me "Zero, zip." It has no
value. Why? Because ideas are nothing without execution. I thought
about that and I decided to agree with him--but for another reason.
How can you own an idea? Who's to say you didn't get your idea from
somewhere else? The idea was some meme you picked up trolling the
Web, or reading a magazine. It may not have even consciously registered
itself with you, but later when you were in the shower thinking
about your life it cropped up.
Someone
who has good ideas is just a receptor for multitudes of meme data.
They are the ones who can parse that data and come up with some
derivative of it that seems new. They are the people who wet their
finger, raise it to the sky, and can tell which way the wind blows.
It's a talent but unfortunately not something a person can own.
I wonder
about those on the web who worry excessively about being the rightful
owners of their work--who complain when a person uses the same type
of image border they do. I especially wonder about those whose work
is so blatantly a mixture of many different influences in the first
place. I wonder because I believe in the end the execution of an
idea in its totality (not the image borders) is really all your
own--to share with others. No one can steal your execution, just
as no one can steal you. It's like an intricate dance the way creators
pass ideas and executions. We each do different steps and yet if
we are in the same field--often we are all dancing together. Why
dance alone?
When
a person is overly worried about ownership it's usually because
they themselves are having a hard time seeing the value in their
own work, its solidity, or maybe they lack the discipline to really
finish their projects as they would like. They've got to stop focusing
on other people's work and go back to focusing on their own, which
is much more rewarding anyway. It's like when your parents used
to tell you: "You have to learn how to share." People have to do
that now, especially on the Web because creative memes are flying
by every millisecond. There are plenty to go around, so there's
no reason to hold onto that one little meme you think you've got
cornered. Don't let your ego get too involved--that will stifle
creativity. Isn't the whole point in the end for any creative medium
to be a form of expression, and hence a form of communication? It
has no value unless it is communicated as you wanted it to be. And
if people choose to mimic your work it is the highest form of flattery.
It is to be taken as a compliment, not a threatening attempt at
stealing your livelihood or soul.
Don't
get me wrong. Downloading of entire sites and putting them up on
other servers, or copying whole writings in their entirety and selling
them as your own--these are wrong (and really stupid) things to
do. But for the creator and executor of the idea--don't worry about
it. If you keep yourself busy always inventing you won't have the
time to notice the meme-takers. You'll feel better if you save your
energies for expressing your dance, communicating more, and letting
it flow.
Copyright © 2000 Margaret Penney All Rights Reserved
Margaret
Penney is a writer, designer, and user interface architect originally
from New York City but currently on assignment in Hong Kong. She
spends much of her time critiquing the binary world, and working
on her net art site Dream 7.com.
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