Breeders' Rights

HI Everybody,
           A week or so ago Ran asked what we thought about how he should handle his 'Oh My Heart' so as to keep greedy propagators from getting one and TCing it so that they could make all the money and leave him with nothing. This has happened so many times in the past, that it is today considered the norm in the U.S. I ran a search today on the Breeders Rights thing I couldn't remember then, and the results can be found by clicking below:
 
 
 
           Anyway, I think this situation is becoming worse to the point where it's almost accepted that if you let a few people buy your plant, it will be worth $5 within two years. As Ran was told, get what you can fast, because someone will steal it from you and you'll never see another dollar from it. This is destroying the high-end collector part of the marketplace as most savvy buyers know that if it's $150 this year, it will be $20 within a couple years, once it's been TCed. At Peoria in 1998, the AHS Convention auction brought in about $27,000, with the top price being $4,100 for 'My Child Insook'. This year in North Carolina the auction brought in only $8,000 or so with the top price being only $320, for a new plant called 'Retread' from Frank Nyikos. It is clear that the atmosphere of "get what you can" lawlessness is starting to impact the Hosta community in a negative way.
          Those who say that no hosta is worth more than the $5 it costs to produce it are contributing to the problem. Would you say that no painting is worth more than the canvas-and-paint cost of $20? Or that no piece of music is worth more than the  $1 worth of tape it's recorded on? No. Hostas are worth what people are willing to pay for them, and that is a lot less now than it was before unethical propagation and sales practices became the norm. There isn't a lot we can do until the government passes more effective laws similar to the Plant Breeders Rights Acts discussed in the links above, but the next time you're tempted to buy that rare hosta from a seller that you know shouldn't have it for sale, ask him where he got one and if any of the money he charges goes to the originator. Ask if he has an agreement with the originator to sell it. I'm talking about new plants that are just hitting the market, not the ones that have been around for years. If Dennis Savory's seedling that was stolen from the nursery shows up for sale from a retailer, would you buy it if the price was right?
         Lot's of us like to complain about the sorry state of affairs in this country, and now that it's happening right before our eyes in the hosta community we have decisions to make. If we accept it as the norm, it will become the norm. If we buy that plant, the seller will have other new plants next year. If Ran is selling 'Oh My Heart', and someone else gets ahold of one and starts selling it cheaper, where will you buy one? If it's the cheaper source, then his business will grow at the expense of those he preys upon. He will rationalise it as "I'm just selling what people want to buy". The problem with the rare new plant market is: Do you want one if that's how it comes to you? If you do, you are part of the problem. Thieves of any kind can't prosper without customers that are willing to buy what they've stolen. 
                                                                            .................Bill Meyer