Intellectual Property Rights: Too long?

I'm all for intellectual rights and rewarding those who come up with ideas that revolutionize the world. Water purification systems, solar panels, the human genome. These are just some of the things that originated in the mind of an individual and were engineered and refined over the years. Providing life, energy and understanding to the history of man. But at what point does that person or company get to hold onto the patent right of that creation? At what point does the intellectual property belong to all of mankind and shared freely among the rich and poor? Well, I say 10 years. In that time, the product or idea will be able to reach a large amount of people and the intellectual property owner will be able to earn more money than he can spend. I guess that's the problem I have with patent rights in general. The owner gets to keep the rights for a long long time. Case in point is with Disney. They've managed to extend ownership of Mickey Mouse for over 70 years by hiring lobbyists to keep changing the laws. Same goes for the pharmaceutical industry. They've managed to keep patents by changing the pill from a tablet to a caplet and with a straight face, say that it is a completely different product. These drugs should have gone generic a long time ago, thereby making them more affordable and accessible to many. Eh, maybe I'm a little sour because I keep coming up with ideas for things but don't have the know-how to actually create them. I'd be happy if someone took one of my ideas, created the product and then gave some of the credit to me. I don't need a lot of money or fame. In fact, I don't want fame, a nice house and economic freedom is all I want.

Umbrellas Everywhere: Fun or Profit?

I had an interesting thought that could be used two ways. It rained here in Los Angeles and it gave me the chance to do something I love. I walked up and down Melrose with my umbrella and offered it to people who were without one. They were very grateful and surprised that someone would help them like that here in LA. Doing this I thought of the public improv group called Improv Everywhere, wherein they create events in public areas, you know, stores, subways, malls. They are a very funny and create memorable scenes during unmemorable moments of life. I had the idea that they should all go out when it rains and do the same thing, but in a more crowded area. I picture dozens of people all wearing the same outfit, walking around offering their umbrellas. Then, I had the more cynical and some would say shrewd idea to turn this into a marketing ploy. The umbrella careers become walking billboards so to speak with ads on them and even turning the umbrella into a sort of billboard. Maybe for a coffee company, they paint the umbrella to look like a coffee cup turned upside down and the people underneath are in it. Think what kind of free publicity they would get if one day 20 large coffee cup looking umbrellas in the rain were walking around with people under them. It would be funny and the company would be seen nicely as helping strangers in the rain. It needs some fleshing out, but there's something there. PS: As I write this I'm also watching Rear Window with James Stewart and Grace Kelly. They are just talking about what makes art and ideas and Grace said there has to be an element of surprise. I agree.

Fill in the book

I have ambitions to write a novel someday. I've got plenty of ideas that I think would make good stories to read. But until that day comes when I actually decide to write something, I'll just keep putting out ideas on books. I have this idea for a fill-in the blank book that is also a contest of sorts. Each story starts with a pre-written sentence or phrase and you fill-in the rest. Once it is completed you submit it to a juried panel of literary experts and the chosen selections are then put in a new book. I'll admit, this idea is a little thin and needs some work. Perhaps the books would be a good way to encourage students to write and the incentives to be published would supplant the need for a financial reward. Books could be made with different starting topics like the environment, politics, family. There could be different literary styles like mystery, historical fiction and comedy. It's an idea to get people whether young or old to start writing again and use their imaginations and personal history to create new stories and not retreads of retreads.