Jonathan Lethem’s “Ecstasy of Influence” for Harpers Magazine

The paradox of Originality as the art of appropriation could be said about anything that is man made. Cryptomnesia: “The appearance in consciousness of memory images which are not recognized as such, but which appear as original creations,” (Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary). When quoting a quotation of a passage from a quotation… who is attributed with the original? I believe it is necessary to give credit to the source of inspiration. However, the ‘original’ is understood through an infinite history of influence. Today, innovations in technology have extended the accessibility and the limitations of cultural production. The ironic dependence between creativity and intellectual property re-unites the modern nostalgia of a pubic commons with its commoditization. ‘Literature has always been a crucible in which familiar themes are continually recast,’ (Lethem). Ideas can only be stolen when they become property. The legal support of intellectual property is rationalized through a monetary incentive to create. Copyright and patent laws offer protection from future competition. In order for monopolies to remain in control there is a necessary abuse of capitalism to inhibit the progress of ideas. The right of a corporate ‘individual’ to own a patent on genetic code is more unsettling to me than an individual’s right to own a patent on a harmless invention.

About 10 years ago I was seriously going to apply for a patent. It was an invention for a pair of shoes with retractable wheels. I drew up sketches and looked up existing patents on similar inventions, but the cost to actually get the patent was too much for a 10 year old. Only a few years later a similar roller shoe appeared in a ‘Toys R Us’ catalogue. It was an upsetting moment to realize ‘my idea’ had hit the market without me. Those Healy shoes where everywhere and I think that design actually works better than mine. No one has infringed upon my inventions because the ideas where already free for the taking.