occurs to me that I haven't answered Deepak's point about the importance of respect for licence conditions - but I agree that's an important part of the equation - Cameron Neylon

Very interesting discussion. I think the key might be this: "If you believe that science is better for the things that make it up being shared and re-used, that the value of a person’s work is increased by others re-using this why shouldn’t that apply to other types of work?" It might be argued that, in contrast to science, the value of a piece of design is not increased by re-use. Often, the purpose of design (and especially a logo) is to stand out and be unique - which is clearly at odds with mass re-use. - Victor / Mendeley Team

More generally: If you think that good design is aesthetic, it can (in my opinion) only retain this aesthetic quality if it isn't overused. At that point, it crosses the fine line to triviality or even hokeyness... - Victor / Mendeley Team

I think it would be interesting to discuss the cases where it might not be true - where do the boundaries lie? - Cameron Neylon

My gut reaction would be a teleological view: What did the creator of the work intend? Re-use (to enhance his/her reputation, to give to society...) or uniqueness which may be diminished by re-use (logos, stories, songs, works of art..)? But then the question of the definition/value of pastiche comes in, and I really don't want to go post-modern :-) Surely, design can fall into the first category - such as the wonderful Pinvoke Fugue icon set (www.pinvoke.com) we're (re-)using in our interface redesign. - Victor / Mendeley Team

+5 for the great post. I think that it is very important to get away from the idea that copyright privileges are a socially acceptable to enforce. Especially in science. Some of the things that copyright touches now are important, but not for copyright reasons. Eg. plagiarism is bad, but not because of any copyright violation. - Anders Norgaard

Actually Victor I think the teleogical question is at the nub of this. My belief is that, at least for digital objects, uniqueness or scarcity, or the control required to generate it, reduces nett value. Nonetheless it is important to respect the wishes of the creator, not for any legal reasons, but because being polite is the foundation of civil society. - Cameron Neylon

Anders, that's a really good point, and perhaps if we had a clear understanding of why plagiarism is bad, rather than the fact that it "isn't allowed" the argument would be clearer. I'm not sure I can frame a clear single sentence about why it's bad. Just waffle about the value of trust and the ability to efficiently find the expertise you need. - Cameron Neylon

Plagiarism is bad because it does not acknowledge the original author. - Egon Willighagen

I think the "trust and efficiency" argument is strong enough. Plagiarism is just a specific kind of lying. And arguments against lying take the same form. - Anders Norgaard

I guess I'm looking for the one sentence sound bite that wraps that argument up. In a sense I guess we're lacking the language to really talk about the economics of trust except by analogy. Egon, I don't disagree but I think that's circular - plagiarism is bad because it is plagiarism. The key issue is why is it important that the original author be acnkowledged? And my answer is that lying as Anders puts it, breaks down the value of trust, and the ability to find the right expertise to solve a problem - Cameron Neylon

Cameron, should have read the blog first, I guess.. the underlying thing might be closer to stealing, than to lying... you're lying about who wrote it, but you basically just stole the idea. - Egon Willighagen

One problem in looking for that soundbite is chosing the perspective of the analysis. Lying (and plagiarism) can lead to inefficient decisions which sounds like a fuzzy macroscopic problem. But big personal investments can hinge on that efficiency. Working day and night for a big publication and then having a hiring committee pass you over for a job that they in an inefficient decision give to a plagiarizer it can be a big personal problem for your sense of fairness. - Anders Norgaard

I don't drink coffee, so unfortunately I cannot blame coffee for the lack of whatever needed to write some coherent. - Paulo Nuin

Insufficient coffee is a wonderful scapegoat - has none of the negative connotations of too much alcohol... - Cameron Neylon

And thanks for your post Cameron, it really showed who you are, and maybe opened my eyes to the type of ideas you support. - Paulo Nuin