Page 133 - Communication Cultural and Media Studies The Key Concepts

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

Often it is simply the ability to use old ideas as the rawmaterials for
something new.
In the knowledge-driven economy, where companies rely on
information to improve their products and create newones,
innovation becomes the central component for wealth-creation. Once
the idea has been hit upon, it will then be necessary to locate the
required resources, possibly a team to work on the development and
knowledge of factors that might inhibit the production of the work.
Entrepreneurs bring the idea to fruition. Innovation therefore requires
a range of appropriate conditions, skills and knowledge in order to
occur. Fostering the right conditions for innovation has become a
chief concern within the science, business and arts industries of the
knowledge economy.
See also: Information society/information economy, Knowledge
economy, New media policies

Further reading: Acs and Audretsch (1990); Caves (2000); Landry and Bianchini
(1994); Leadbeater (1997); Leadbeater and Oakley (1999, 2001); Rogers (1995)

INTANGIBLES

Assets such as knowledge, competence, intellectual property, know-
how, the people in a company, its R&D, brands, reputation, customer
relations, etc. Intangibles are much more important to the new
knowledge economy than tangible assets such as plant, land, etc. (see
Leadbeater, 1997: 44–45). Any business that exploits knowledge,
culture or ‘copyright’ products or services is trading in intangibles.
Culture is an intangible in economic terms.

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

Ownership of intangible information. Intellectual property casts
information as being subject to entitlements. It is a legal framework
that enables information to be owned, and hence allows the owner to
constrict its use or determine who uses it. Copyright is one example
of intellectual property, whereby duplication of books, music,
artworks, etc. can incur penalty if performed without the creator’s,
or copyright owner’s, permission.
Although intellectual property is a legal concept, its boundaries are
far from clear. The tension between fair use of information within the

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