[lbo-talk] Copyrights and the Cultural Revolution

[Ira Glazer]

In the course of research that I'm doing on alternatives to the patent 
system for producing medicines, I came across the following:

And Chinese authorities during the Cultural Revolution promulgated the 
following popular saying: “Is it necessary for a steel worker to put his 
name on a steel ingot that he produces in the course of his duty? If 
not, why should a member of the intelligentsia enjoy the privilege of 
putting his name on what he produces?"

from Carla Hesse, 'The rise of intellectual property, 700 b.c.–a.d. 
2000: an idea in the balance', Daedalus, Spring 2002