미국에서의 아이디어 제공에 대한 계약법적 보호

The economic value and importance of ideas have increased in most industries in the creative economy, which is a powerful and positive global force. Especially, the ever increasingly entertainment industry has become heavily reliant on ideas. Although plaintiffs, in some cases, have sought legal protection for their ideas under various legal theories including contracts, torts, the law of ideas in Korea has not as yet developed. Despite the tremendously increased value of ideas, it does not appear to be easy to form the law of ideas in light of the policy objectives underlying intellectual property laws, such as copyright law that does not protect ideas. This article examines the law of ideas in the United States to have some implications for further developments of the law of ideas in Korea. It first examines the brief history of the development of the law of ideas in the United States in which, over time, many legal theories have served to protect ideas. It further explores contract protection for ideas,which is a dominant legal theory used to impose an obligation on the idea-recipient, focusing on circumstances creating implied agreements and characteristics of the idea submitted. This article concludes by providing implications for developing the law of ideas in Korea,and also invites further study and debate regarding whether the recipient’s activities actually amount to a breach of contract.