Aren't you just upset when your boss or colleague steals your ideas and your hard work, and take credit for it?

To prevent this ever happening again, how about a law that every idea must carry the name of its originator, that every product must carry the name of its creator, and that every piece of writing must carry the name of its writer? And it would be illegal for anyone to try to remove/alter that name.

Besides rewarding effort and giving credit where credit is due, it also encourages people to take full responsibility for what they produce, and have pride in it, because it will always bear their name.

In addition, attempts to steal credit for another's work should be made a jailable offence.

Note: This should be distinguished from patents, trademarks and copyright. These can be sold and transferred, along with the rights to use, produce and sell them, but the name of the originator should always be there.
-- baboo, Apr 09 2002

"This idea by baboo. Do not steal, copy or imitate."
-- neelandan, Apr 09 2002


The trouble is that it's often difficult to apportion credit between the person who had the idea, the person who inspired the idea, and the person who thought of an application for the idea. The classic example is the guy working for 3M who accidentally discovered an adhesive that wasn't very good. It may easily have been someone else who wanted to stick notes for his colleagues onto their monitor screens.
-- angel, Apr 09 2002


Let's suppose that your cow-orker overhears your conversation with a friend about a new idea. Said cow-orker then rushes to his desk and writes the idea down in a memo to the boss, taking credit for the whole idea. You later go talk to the boss about your idea, and she calls the police to arrest you for stealing the idea that she read 15 minutes earlier in the memo. The burden of proof is now on YOU to demonstrate the idea was yours first. So tell me again why legislation is a good thing here?
-- BigBrother, Apr 09 2002


"What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun."

-- Ecclesiastes 1:9 NIV

Okay, maybe that's a little too pat.  I'm sure that there are some new ideas but most are recycled in some form or another.
-- bristolz, Apr 09 2002


Ideas don't have names. Products and services have names, but usually combine many different ideas.
-- jutta, Apr 09 2002


You can't OWN an IDEA, man.
-- prometheus, Apr 09 2002



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