[LINK] Beechwood homes and IP

[Richard Chirgwin]

Linkers,

I've long thought that people in general didn't care about questions of 
copyrights and patents because such things are too remote from everyday 
life.

<http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/receiver-rejects-call-to-release-home-plan/2008/06/18/1213770732792.html>
It's interesting to see that people caught up in the Beechwood Homes 
collapse are now running into the nasty end of copyright law. They're 
being told they can't go ahead and build their homes with some other 
builder, because the plans they paid for are actually the copyright 
property of Beechwood.

It will be interesting to see whether something that clearly brings 
copyright politics to the kitchen table will have any impact on 
law-making attitudes... And to people who lobby over IP issues, I would 
remark that you've never had a better issue given as a gift.

RC