Thomas Jefferson Quotes
[Intellectual property] cannot, in nature, be a subject of property. He who receivers an idea from me, receives instructions from me without lessening mine, as; as he who lights his taper at mine, receives light without darkening me.
Thomas Jefferson, 1743-1826, 3rd President of the United States (Democratic Republican, VA), Quoted in The Atlantic Monthly, September 1998
Sourced by: Eigen's Political and Historical Quotations
This has been true for a long time. The United States in its colonial days and its early days of independence stole huge amounts, especially from England. The Lowells stealing the technology and machines for weaving cloth from English companies is one dramatic example. Another is the fact that we did not recognize the copyright laws until the middle of the 19th century. American publishers, including Benjamin Franklin, stole most of the material they published. Thomas Jefferson was a foe of government protection of intellectual property—{605105}.
At the time copyright, patents, and intellectual property in general were relatively new ideas. Property had in earlier countries been limited to tangible things—including people (wives and slaves). The Western world had in large part adopted the concept of intellectual property in law, but the average person’s thinking did not include these intangibles as “property.
In America it used to be 26 years with a renewal for an additional 26 years. However, Mickey Mouse was about to go into the Public Domain, and Walt Disney and other large copyright holders lobbied to extend the copyright term to the life of the author plus 100 years. See {624751}.
Note that the only reason given in the constitution for protecting intellectual property was to promote the progress of science and useful arts. Inventors, would keep secret their inventions and techniques of manufacture and use in order to protect their economic interests. No one else would be able to benefit by understanding the invention and taking it further and increasing knowledge and understanding. So the Founding Fathers told Congress to establish a system where inventors would get a guarantee of a reasonable time to profit exclusively from the invention in exchange for making the invention public. The plans, methods and drawings had to be made public and until the 20th century a model of an invention had to be supplied to the Patent Office. Anyone could get an inexpensive copy of any patent and come and study the models. Today, most people believe that the reason for a patent system is to protect the intellectual property of the inventor, but that was not a purpose or even a serious consideration. The reason however was educational and to demystify technology and produce more science and technology which it did.
- Born: April 13, 1743
- Died: July 4, 1826
- Nationality: American
- Profession: President
Thomas Jefferson was an American statesman, diplomat, lawyer, architect, philosopher, and Founding Father who served as the third president of the United States from 1801 to 1809. He had previously served as the second vice president of the United States under John Adams between 1797 and 1801. The principal author of the Declaration of Independence, Jefferson was a proponent of democracy, republicanism, and individual rights, motivating American colonists to break from the Kingdom of Great Britain and form a new nation; he produced formative documents and decisions at both the state and national levels.
