Blog posting written by Ann Michel and Phil Wilde, coprincipals, Insights International (Ithaca and New York City)

This term, "fair game,"  is an expression many of you used recently when commenting about the ethics of posting certain films on-line. Manyof you have contended that once something is posted on-line, it becomes "fair game"--for use, re-use, mashups, satire, commentary, sharing, and of course, piracy. 

Does this mean that there is no such thing as intellectual property?

That the creators relinquish ownership through the act of putting their work on-line? 

Books, articles, songs, pictures, movies – now everything belongs to everybody? It's all free and fair game?   Perhaps artists and authors had better find another way to make a living. 

What are the implications of believing that everything posted on-line is "fair game?"