Nathan Hangen

Protect Your Ideas or Launch Them?

Free thinking

Listening to an interview with Leo Babauta today, I appreciated hearing him discuss his decision to drop the copyright on his work.

Social media in general, along with the concept of open source, the character of wikis, and the lack of privacy online all conspire to lead us inevitably into a new culture centered around sharing, transparency, and universal access to tools. In such an environment, clinging to ownership is rendered a useless waste of energy.

To many people, this will be shocking, obvious anathema. Can I actually be saying that the creator, the one with the brilliance, resources, education, investment, or whatever oomph it took to actually produce the original must abdicate ownership, must even freely allow others to profit from the creation?

Well, yes. Why not?

I’m not being sassy. Or socialist. Just rational. If you consider rationally why you hoard anything, you’ll end up letting it go.

Your ideas shared with the planet at large makes a ton more sense than your ideas shared only with your blog readers. Or even your Amazon customers and newsletter opt-ins. All the customers you can possibly amass is still a pitiful number compared to the masses who will encounter your ideas if you release the copyright.

Lessons from the boards

Perhaps because my older sister was a much better artist, and people cringed when I sang, I took to the stage early on as my expressive venue. And if nothing else, the theater teaches about value in the ephemeral. Performance can’t be preserved; the art of the theater lies in its immediacy.

So when in later life I was bold enough to try some drawing, there was no attachment to my works. I still happily paint over previous works, to start afresh. And writing, certainly, has no more weight than a patch of fog.

I’ve often thought that we do a disservice to children by treasuring their art makings. Yes, the finger paintings and odd clay shapes are charming, but suggesting to the tyke that these are possessions to be defended sets children up to connect creativity with scarcity.

And nothing could be further from the truth. If there’s one thing that can be counted upon in this world, it’s the abundance of creativity.

The creativity, not the creation, is the miraculous thing.

How far is your reach?

A wonderful post I read recently, entitled Is Someone Stealing Your Ideas? Let Them (Penelope Trunk), reminds us that there is no bottom to the well of good ideas; and that, “The people with the fewest ideas are the ones who hoard them.”

Babauta made no bones about it in the interview I heard: his removal of copyright has resulted in many people actually reprinting his work and profiting from it. (Note that they are still constrained to cite the writing’s source. Babauta is credited, if not remunerated in these publications.)

To state it as simply as possible, he’s waiving his right to sole possession of his work in favor of dissemination of that work far beyond the distribution that would happen at his sole instigation.

His action has allowed the viral full power. His thought is given maximum focus.

Personally, he enjoys appreciation (and recompense) by those who seek the source; but his thought travels far beyond his personal sphere. He is able to influence an entire world, not just a slice of it.

Isn’t this the ideal?

Mary H. Ruth is a virtual assistant and a certified social media marketing specialist. Please visit WritingVA.com for help with all the innumerable ways written communications matter in your business; and InboundMarketingAssistant.com for details on my social media work. And both sites include blogs, so please read on.

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