Digital BW, The Print

Ernst Dinkla wrote:
> What may have contributed as much to photography as the invention of 
> photography itself is the very nice gesture of the French government to 
> grant annuities to Daguerre and the son of Niepce in exchange for the 
> rights so the invention became free for everyone to use.
> 
> Today we see the opposite of that, patents issued for the silliest 
> inventions and when the rules are bended even more they actually could 
> patent photography again in the US 200 years after its invention.
> 
> See also:
> 
> http://yro.slashdot.org/search.pl?topic=155
> 
> Ernst

But what did Daguerre do? He rushed out and patented it in England!

And of course the Daguerreotype was a dead end. Talbot also patented his 
work and although that altered the course of development of photography, 
it didn't stop it.

There is also a long history in photography of patents being granted for 
things people didn't actually invent. In some cases the US Patent office 
eventually sorted matters out, but I think the department for doing that 
closed long ago:-)

I'm against many current developments in patents, and have contacted my 
MEPs recently on the subject, but the development of photography 
happened in spite of patents, and occasionally I think they did play a 
useful part in encouraging investment in research.

Regards,

Peter Marshall
About Photography 	      http://photography.about.com
31 Budebury Rd, STAINES, Middx, TW18 2AZ, UK
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