THE POWER OF INNOVATION: We want people to keep coming up with new ideas, but there's a problem: if others can just take your idea and make money from it, why would you spend any time inventing something?
BIRTHDAY SUITS: Intellectual property laws are supposed to protect our ideas but they can also be restricting. I can't even sing "Happy Birthday" on air without costing Fox a lot of money since Warner Music owns the rights to the tune.
PIRACY: Why call copying "piracy?" Pirates take property from others. Internet "thieves" make copies, but don't "take." Some libertarians say it would be better if America had no copyright or trademark protection laws. I push back.
EXPOSING MAGIC TRICKS: Magicians want to protect their own tricks, but patents are public. That means their secrets would get exposed! Magician Rick Lax explains how a magician protects his work.
KNOCKOFF ECONOMY: The counterfeit fashion industry is huge. Our producers go undercover in Chinatown .
MY TAKE: Libertarian journalist Matt Ridley once said human progress happens when "ideas have sex with each other, and then give birth to new, often better ideas." Trademark and copyright laws make it harder for ideas to "have sex."
But I wonder if I would have written books and done TV if publishers, cable subscribers, and advertisers didn't pay for "exclusive right." Some intellectual property laws are a good thing!
