ABSTRACT
In this chapter, the notion of property rights is at stake. In other words, we are dealing with actions following from decisions we are either explicitly allowed to take or which are generally tolerated and which we are free to do entirely unhampered. For those readers who are lawyers, a comment on usage appears useful at the outset. The term ‘property rights’ as I will use it here is slightly more general than the same term as used in property law and extensions. It is used in an allencompassing way, thus including real assets as well as intellectual work and the creation of artwork. I will trace the origins of property rights as well as the reasons for their acceptability, I will examine how they operate, and will also turn to some special issues such as property rights when held in small groups or teams.
