ArtMetal

Absolutey. There are many many intellectual property concerns for an artist -- in the modern age, many of them are similarly treated and/or addressed in the Western world.

However, many netizens (as well as old-time blacksmiths, and artisans of all crafts) foster an open culture. Simply by promoting their own creations, art evolves (like jazz, hip-hop, etc). See the archivees of many fine pre-internet publications, at your local library or even metal arts friends. Research how ALA (the American Library Association) has been dealing with the US Patriot Act and DMCA (Digital Millenium Copyright Act), to learn more there.

Look to sites like iForgeIron, NWBA, and its various chapters, as well as personal sites by many (ranging from amateur through masters) who offer freely, into the public domain, both designs (copyrightable) and processes (potentially patentable). The internet is chock full of "Open Culture", and is in large part founded upon it... check out wikipedia.org (and wikiquotes, wikimapia, etc) and archive.org (both their wayback machine and their audio and video archives) for some fine examples that we're lucky enough to be able to enjoy.

Great topic -- there's a LOT to it. What in particular interests you, aside from my rant? :)

BenB
ben [at] nw-arts [dot] com
BenB's Blog