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THE DIFFERENT ASPECTS OF OWNERSHIP
Alex Badion
Class of 1980, Eastern Visayas State University - Tanauan Campus
Bachelor of Science in Industrial Education
Which word is commonly heard - ownership or proprietorship? Which term is commonly used - owner or
proprietor? Try to see the structure: ownership and owner, proprietorship and proprietor. What do you notice
about it? Can we just simply say that ownership is the state or quality of being an owner? And can we just
merely say that proprietorship is the state or quality of being a proprietor? Now, the absorption to this concept
is narrowed and simplified. If you are the owner of something which you have is certainly called ownership and
proprietorship on the other hand. But the point does not stop there. Ownership doesn’t stand in one side. It
has different directions to follow, different characteristics to distinguish, and different conditions to understand.
No matter what angles does it have to show, we would like to clarify and analyze the true facets of what an
ownership is. Because it has different features to think about which somehow could lead us into a sudden
confusion or guide us into a better comprehension. Which one brings you to understand ownership?
Ownership tells us that every person owns directly a property. It is what we called personal ownership or
individual ownership because it is a property belonging to an individual. In most societies both men and
women can own property with no restrictions and limitations at all, Wikipedia says. However, properties that
are held in common by all members of society have been regarded as non-ownership. It is a common
ownership. Another model, assets and property that belong to a collective body of people who control their
use and collect the proceeds of their operation is known as collective property. It can be a private or
cooperative. The former stresses out that it is a subset of collective property whereby a collective group of
owners (such as shareholders) own productive property that is used by employees, usually for the purpose of
generating a profit while the latter points out property that is owned by those who operate and use it. It is also
referred to as social ownership. But think and consider this aspect, an intellectual property is a term referring
to a number of distinct types of creations of the mind for which a set of exclusive rights are recognized under
the corresponding fields of law. Under intellectual property law, owners are granted certain exclusive rights to a
variety of intangible assets, such as musical, literary, and artistic works; discoveries and inventions; and words,
phrases, symbols, and designs. The common types of intellectual property rights include copyrights, trademarks,
patents, industrial design rights and trade secrets in some jurisdictions. The term intellectual property is used
to describe many very different, unrelated legal concepts according to Richard Raysman in his book
“Intellectual property Licensing: Forms and Analysis”. And one thing to think about is ownership society. It was
a political slogan used by United States President George W. Bush to promote a series of policies aimed to
increase the control of individual citizens over health care and social security payments and policies. Critics
have claimed that slogan hid an agenda that sought to implement tax cuts and curtail the government's role in
health care and retirement saving. This is another aspect to be aware of because, ownership follows different
dimensions in this complex world.
Having these different principles and ideas regarding ownership can help us to be more aware of what an
ownership is. They are tool guides to understand more how we are going to deal with the property that we
have in our lives. Perhaps you would ask yourself, “Am I a good owner?” Do I legally own my property? It would
also give a clearer picture of what this term brings us. Now, the question is, which aspect of ownership will you
take?
Questions for discussion:
1. What is ownership? Give your own opinion.
2. How do you protect your intellectual property? Give an example.
3. What can you say about ownership society?
4. Compare and contrast private property from cooperative property.
5. Why non-ownership is called common ownership?