A conversation that was started elsewhere.
http://www.kayakforum.com/cgi-bin/Building/index.cgi/noframes/read/174078

It seems to be of such a great importance that I'd suggest it warrants a separate thread. It can be discussed in the context of kayak design but it applies to almost everything you touch every day.

#1. "We all stand on shoulders of giants". So how much royalty the bungee jumping operator should pay to Isaac Newton? (architectural firm to Euclidus ... Nick Shade to Archimedes or John Winters...?) Archimedes is dead but John in good health (we all hope)

#2. The "prior art" factor - different take on #1. If it has been known before, is it a ripoff? The Greeks made triremes with long slender hulls? Epic kayak makes boats with long, slender hulls. If I copy Epic kayaks, who am I ripping off? The Greeks?

#3. Everybody is doing it. All my buddies at Lewis & Dope College are Bit-Torrenting mp3s, so it must be OK by popular consent? It is unlikely I will be caught so as long as I can invent my "excuse ideology" my conscience is clear.

# 'Magnum Opus' : how much value have I added to this idea!?

Did I copy the 20 centuries of Western Civilization, signed my name below and declared "It's MINE!" (Genoan thief planting a cross and repeating 'I discovered it') ?
*OR*
Did I spent years in the lab, tried a 100 different options before finding the one that works?
*BUT*
how does the vision of the New World, begging the King of Spain, outfitting 3 ships and the courage to go over the edge of the world compares with years of long nights in the lab?

Thomas Edison: you are the salt of the Earth.
Bill Gates: you are replaceable but useful too, though in a different way.

Ditto for the trivial universe of kayaking and people who care about it (us)