As it happens, I do not believe in a moral basis for copyright: independent invention ruins all "property" aspects of most creations, as does the way almost every "invention" comes about, which is by incremental advances on some one else's ideas or creations. Another way that ownership fails is that the "owner" can't really tell if his or her idea has been "stolen", and has to have the state enforce property-style rights.
What I'm pointing out is that at least in the USA, legislation since 1976 has moved away from the constitutional basis for copyright or patent, and towards an "ownership" basis. "Copying is theft" type slogans and commercials prove that wealthy entities in the USA are pushing ownership as a moral basis for "intellectual property". The fact that a "World Intellectual Property Organization" exists proves that for a lot of people, "ownership" is a good moral basis for "intellectual property".
I've even heard my 6-year-old daughter complain that one of her classmates 'stole' my daughter's idea for the format of a book report. Ownership, like the idea of a "just price" is just one of those illogical things built in to human nature.
Well, the slogans used by proponents of more restrictive copyright policies aren't themselves the basis of the law, and even if many people seem to be amenable to the notion of ideas as property, actual copyright and patent law still don't work that way.
I don't agree that ownership of ideas is something built into human nature; physical property as been with us from time immemorial, but the modern notion of copyright is only a scant few centuries old, having been established by positive law and not recognized under common law. The notion of "intellectual property" is even newer.
Perhaps your daughter is being influenced by the current milieu, and not expressing an intrinsic equivocation between copying and theft that originated within her own mind.
What I'm pointing out is that at least in the USA, legislation since 1976 has moved away from the constitutional basis for copyright or patent, and towards an "ownership" basis. "Copying is theft" type slogans and commercials prove that wealthy entities in the USA are pushing ownership as a moral basis for "intellectual property". The fact that a "World Intellectual Property Organization" exists proves that for a lot of people, "ownership" is a good moral basis for "intellectual property".
I've even heard my 6-year-old daughter complain that one of her classmates 'stole' my daughter's idea for the format of a book report. Ownership, like the idea of a "just price" is just one of those illogical things built in to human nature.