Give credit to the source...

Let's face it, the problem is not that someone takes an idea and make it work in ways that it wasn't originally planned or implemented in a way that the original creator didn't think of.

Doing that, is actually healthy since it drives innovation. No one can thing of every possibility on which an idea, or concept, might be put to work to provide solutions to problems. This is why if there should be any restrictions on ideas, those restrictions shouldn't be upon the use, distribution or modification of the idea.

If an individual, or group, should be punished because they take an idea and they share it. The punishment should come if they fail to give credit to the individual, or group, from which the idea originally came from.

What's wrong, is not that you make use of the idea as you see fit, but that you don't acknowledge when an idea is not yours to begin with.

Even if you are using a modified version of the work, credit is due. So, it's important to have in mind that in some case that mentioning from where you took the idea, and point the way to your source, is all that you have to do.

Yet, sometimes you have to pay to make use of the idea in any way, shape, or form.

It's important to keep this in mind, because the progenitors of any idea have the right to have a say on how you can share their idea. After all, they made an effort to come up with it.

But, it's also unfair for the authors to make to many restrictions and make they idea virtually unusable by people that might have a real need to use it in some way.

So, the main problem is how do we give the author a way to receive both credit, and income, for the idea they put out, and make that idea accessible to the most people as possible.

I don't believe there is a simple solution, or one that will work for everyone.

At the end, we'll have to work together to find one.