[orclev]

It is impossible to own an idea. You might be given a monopoly on the application of that idea, but by merely speaking or documenting the idea you distribute it to any that hear or read it and therefore can no longer truly said to own or control it. It's the difference between data, and matter. One is copied infinitely without destruction or consumption (although it can be "lost" in entropy) and can travel at the speed of light. The other is a unique instance subject to the laws governing all matter and capable of being destroyed. In fact it's impossible to truly copy or distribute a physcial object, you can at best create a new arrangement of matter that mirrors some existing matter.

This is why property is a concept solely reserved for physical objects, not to information. They are fundamentally different categories of things. You cannot own an idea any more than you can own a frequency (regulation of the broadcasting of certain frequencies of RF waves should not be confused with "owning" the waves themselves).