[sigmar]

I'd also like to add that not only do people have too much confidence in their "ownership" of an idea, but people severely underestimate the extent to which their idea was influenced by the cultural zeitgeist (which frequently accounts for collisions and false charges of plagiarism).

[philipov]

That belief is promulgated by the media corporations fighting for strong copyright of "intellectual property." They have themselves drawn on the public domain culture, and use copyright as a tool to claim private ownership over it.