Yes, I had better not imply that I owe each of the 100 excluded others (let's say) $1. Now, if only one person (A) is excluded from the materials, then I would clearly owe them $1, since—A's complaint—how she would fare were I to exclude others is $1 worse than how she would fare were I not to do so, this being the "value" of the materia…
Yes, I had better not imply that I owe each of the 100 excluded others (let's say) $1. Now, if only one person (A) is excluded from the materials, then I would clearly owe them $1, since—A's complaint—how she would fare were I to exclude others is $1 worse than how she would fare were I not to do so, this being the "value" of the materials.
But what if there were someone else (B) as well, then how much do I owe her? In this case, A's complaint may or may not be true, since that depends on what B would do were I not to take the materials. On the one hand, it might be that B would appropriate the material instead of me, so A still misses out, in which case she fares no differently whether I exclude her or not, so that, if that's what would happen, I owe her nothing. On the other hand, it might be that B would NOT appropriate the material, and leave them for A to use, in which case her complaint would be true, so that if /that's/ what would happen, I owe her $1.
Of course, B may or may not appropriate it instead. Suppose there is a 50% chance. It follows that I owe A 50% x $1 in compensation, and, of course, the same for B, making for a total compensation cost to me of $1. No problem paying that, if my improved form of the materials is $10. [Something like this might work for your objection to compensating for loss of ability to appropriate.]
Yes, I had better not imply that I owe each of the 100 excluded others (let's say) $1. Now, if only one person (A) is excluded from the materials, then I would clearly owe them $1, since—A's complaint—how she would fare were I to exclude others is $1 worse than how she would fare were I not to do so, this being the "value" of the materials.
But what if there were someone else (B) as well, then how much do I owe her? In this case, A's complaint may or may not be true, since that depends on what B would do were I not to take the materials. On the one hand, it might be that B would appropriate the material instead of me, so A still misses out, in which case she fares no differently whether I exclude her or not, so that, if that's what would happen, I owe her nothing. On the other hand, it might be that B would NOT appropriate the material, and leave them for A to use, in which case her complaint would be true, so that if /that's/ what would happen, I owe her $1.
Of course, B may or may not appropriate it instead. Suppose there is a 50% chance. It follows that I owe A 50% x $1 in compensation, and, of course, the same for B, making for a total compensation cost to me of $1. No problem paying that, if my improved form of the materials is $10. [Something like this might work for your objection to compensating for loss of ability to appropriate.]