According to the World Intellectual Property Organization, intellectual property consists of two categories: industrial property, such as patents and trademarks, and Copyright, which includes those creations of the mind like literature, films, and music (WIPO). I wonder, when did people conceive of the intellectual property? Who conceived it? And under what circumstances? After all, from reading Howard, it would appear the early books had no need to protect such artistic integrity. Writers of antiquity wrote their names on their own work, of course; and, when printing appeared, it took years before they decided to write the publishing house’s name or the place of publication. I wonder if attitudes toward intellectual property, and publishing in general, have truly changed since then. Did people in Gutenberg’s time believe in the free sharing of ideas? Or was it simply not even thought of; the prospect of a buyer much more important than the identity of the seller? I hope when we get to more modern developments of “books” we will see the contrasts more clearly.

P.S. Does that title count as alliteration?