We are just at the beginning of a major transition in the way things will be created and distributed. Economists call this new form of creation “non-rivalrous economics”. Goods are considered “non-rivalrous” when copying is very inexpensive relative to the one-time cost of designing and creating the initial product. If goods that are by their nature “non-rivalrous” (books, software, recorded music or video, etc.) were available for the minimal costs of duplication, more people could benefit from them.
Currently the concept of “intellectual property” limits the distribution, and hence the value received by society as a whole from what would otherwise be non-rivalrous goods. In an Open Creation environment, creators would no longer be dependent on the “suits” that act as “cultural gate-keepers” in regard to what can and cannot be created. The creative talent can free itself from the financial and marketing frictions that eat up so much of the cultural dollar today.
Under the “Open Creation” initiative and within the context of the Citizenship Wage, each United States citizen would receive $10 a month of Open Creation Money designated exclusively to fund the creation of intellectual property. Anything created under this program would be considered to be in the public domain.
Intellectual property rights would be left in place for those who prefer to create on the historical intellectual property rights model. Markets will decide which model is the best choice for creators.