Who owns an idea?

This lead paragraph from a page 6 story in the May 30 ADWEEK caught my eye:

"Hilton Hotels' insistence that agencies sign away ownership of their pitch materials in order to participate in its review has reignited the longtime industry debate about the value that clients place on creative ideas and the lengths agencies will go to win a piece of new business."

For months we've been trying to move our compensation back near the beginning of the customer relationship, where the "ideas" flow, rather than continue with the more traditional "advertising agency" approach, where you give away the ideas in order to win the implementation work.

Implementation is important. In fact, one of the best books I've read in the last several years was Larry Bossidy's and Ram Charan's "Execution." But implementing marketing plans based on faulty or incomplete thinking is no fun, it's not profitable, and we certainly add little value.

Pay for the ideas. Bid out the implementation.

Here's another way of looking at it. I really don't blame the Hilton folks for asking; it's the companies who agree to terms like this that deserve our disgust.