It may not have been the intent of the staff from the Institute for Policy Innovation who organized the event held yesterday in recognition of World IP Day to cause me to think of the effect of a small stone tossed into a calm lake, but I did.

As I listened to an esteemed group of panelists - Lien Verbauwhede Koglin of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), Michael A. Gollin of Public Interest Intellectual Property Advocates (PIIPA), and Mohit Mehrotra of Excel Life Sciences - discuss the effects of intellectual property on local social and economic development in many countries, I thought of the many ripples that one stone can cause in a lake.

Ms. Koglin remarked how small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) represent about 70-80 percent of enterprises in countries around the world. And, 30-40 percent of them have some sort of system or initiative that is considered innovative. Sure, this can be your 200 person creative company, but it can also be your 5-person graphic design firm or your one man web design shop.

As a painter who has sold a dozen or so paintings myself, I realize that there are a lot of little companies and individuals out there who are working hard to not only contribute creatively to society, but also stimulate the economy.  

The economic impact of an individual artist or creator, I've concluded then, is not too unlike the initial impact of the stone. Though I am not a scientist, it seems to me that the stone actually causes only the first ripple. It's that ripple that causes the subsequent ripple, and then the next, and next, and so on. Similar to a stone, once a work of art hits the market, it can cause many ripples through buying, selling, and encouraging fringe spending, thus stimulating the economy.

The downside, though, of having an economy that is so driven by creative expression is that there is a perpetual disconnect between creators (including SMEs) and the understanding of the need for protecting creative works. Each of the panelists commented on how individuals, businesses, and associations alike have not always taken the necessary precautions in becoming educated on how to legally protect works and then actually protect them. So, unlike a stone whose impact can cause an indefinite number of ripples, the impact of a creative work can stop short if not properly protected.       

This entry was posted on Friday, April 25th, 2008 at 10:29 am by Lucinda M. Dugger and is filed under World IP Day, creators, economy. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.