Intellectual Property

Intellectual property dominates English majors' lives. We constantly have to be aware of what we are writing and being aware of any potential plagerism problems. Especially when writing research papers. We constantly have to cite where we found information and who provided it. Any concept that we paraphrase also has to be properly cited. I have no idea how a writing world without intellectual property functions.

I know in some Eastern cultures intellectual property still does exist. My brother works for a big engineering firm, and he said that his company has to be careful when they hire somebody from Asia because they have no problem with taking any confidential ideas and sharing them with any other company they work with.

I also experience this within my internship. I edit news articles for a website news company and they use an Asian freelance writer. I always have to double check his sources to make sure he does not plagerize because plagerism is not a crime in his country.

The idea of intellectual property is definitely a Western one. I think this concept definitely feeds into our culture's emphasis on the individual. As writers we are always trying to come up with unique and original ideas or writing styles. I think it is more difficult to be a successful writer in a Western culture than it probably is in Eastern cultures.

I wonder if in third world countries storytelling is more prominent than it is in first world countries.