IP is a thought crime by Joren De Wachter at TEDxLeuven (Transcript)

Joren De Wachter

Full text of IP strategist and thought leader Joren De Wachter on IP is a thought crime at TEDxLeuven conference.

Listen to the MP3 Audio here: IP is a thought crime by Joren De Wachter at TEDxLeuven

TRANSCRIPT:

Today is a very special day for me. And I would like to share that day with you in a traditional way by singing a song.

So I’m going to ask you to share a song with me. I think you know how it goes. So, on the count of three if you would sing with me. One, two, three.

♪ Happy Birthday to you ♪

♪ Happy Birthday, dear Joren ♪

♪ Happy Birthday to you ♪

Thank you. That was lovely.

Now I have two things I have to confess to you. The first one is that, although today is a special day for me, it’s not actually my birthday.

And the second confession is that, by sharing this song, by performing publicly, we are all potentially liable of going to jail for committing a crime, because the song “Happy Birthday to You” is still under copyright.

And this is what I want to talk to you about today. I want to talk to you today about copyright and patents, those systems that have been developed in order to promote innovation and creativity.