Horsepower - and licensing options for patent use

James Fair is a British artist making music, writing stories and more.

Interestingly and most likely incidentally, he touches the issue of patent licensing in his song Horsepower released on his 2018 album Lunarticks. According to a chat I had with Mr. Fair, the album refers to the Lunar Society in Industrial Revolution Birmingham where all kinds of innovations obviously took place.

The song proposes a new and patented machine that replaces horses. As payment a license fee is accepted based on the savings made by using the machine instead of horses:

How much work can your horses do? I've made a machine that will double it for you An engine of unique design Custom built from a patent of mine I'll only take a payment From the savings you'd be making You'll save on resources by replacing all your horses

Furthermore, Mr. Fair points at the heart of the patenting system, i.e., to protect ideas (sure, inventions can be protected not ideas, but let's accept this little inconsistency for now) and proposes to defend the same:

Defend your patents Protect your ideas

The lyrics finish with a homage at James Watt, the inventor of the steam engine which most certainly is the machine mentioned in the beginning of the lyrics:

James Watt; the worrier, the chemist The dear friend, the engineer, the scientist The genius, the Lunar Man

Amazing how a single song covers the most important aspects of the patent system. Thanks, James!