or An Essay on the Right of Authors and Inventors to a Perpetual Property in their IdeasSECTION XIV. Objection Fourteenth. Another objection is, that after the author of an idea has once made it known to others, it is impossible for him ever to recover the exclusive possession of it. This objection is of no validity—and why? Because it is wholly unnecessary that he should have the exclusive possession of his idea, in order to practically exercise his right to the exclusive use of it. The objection assumes that it is practically impossible for a man to exercise his right to the "exclusive use" of an idea, unless he also have the exclusive possession of it. The objection rests solely on that assumption. Yet such an assumption is a self-evident absurdity; for the exclusive possession of an idea is not, in practice, at all necessary to the exclusive use of it. An idea, unlike a corporeal commo...