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e-stuff: why knowledge is all

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There are more ways of considering digital property than there are commentators, as Roderick Ramage explains

When you put a coin in a newsvendor’s hand and take the proffered paper, you create a contract, the subject matter of which is a tangible object, a newspaper. The newspaper itself contains intangible property in the form of reports, articles, pictures, cartoons etc, the copyright in which belongs to the newspaper publisher or its contributors, which you may read but which you are not entitled to copy except for fair use or dealing. Similarly, if you buy a ticket to enter a concert hall or a motor car, you acquire a tangible object and with it some benefits in respect of intangible property. Broadly speaking, all that has changed over the millennia is the medium through which intangible property is delivered.

Knowing what you have

Tangible property consists mainly of computers (including desk- and laptops, tablets and smartphones) mobiles, 3D printers, memory devices, modems, power sources (transformers), cabling etc.

Intangible property includes almost

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National Pro Bono Centre—Esther McConnell & Sarah Oliver Scemla

National Pro Bono Centre—Esther McConnell & Sarah Oliver Scemla

Charity strengthens leadership as national Pro Bono Week takes place

Michelman Robinson—Akshay Sewlikar

Michelman Robinson—Akshay Sewlikar

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McDermott Will & Schulte—Karen Butler

McDermott Will & Schulte—Karen Butler

Transactions practice welcomes partner in London office

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