gwern branwen wrote:
On 10/18/06, Andrew Gray shimgray@gmail.com wrote:
On 18/10/06, Anthony wikilegal@inbox.org wrote:
No. Copyrights are only deductible to the extent of the basis in the property (essentially how much you spent to obtain it). For copyrights purchased from someone else you might also be able to deduct any net income which the charity makes off the copyright. See the American Jobs Creation Act of 2004.
So *that's* what the "basis" is. I was finding that detail surprisingly hard to figure out!
"If you donate a patent or other intellectual property ... your deduction is limited to the basis of the property or the fair market value of the property, whichever is less." - IRS Publication 526.
So does this mean that it's considered valueless until someone has bought or sold it - it has no basis until then? I can sort of see how this might happen, but it seems conceptually odd on some level...
Well, I hear that's one definition of value economics uses - what someone is willing to pay for something.
Although suppose I wrote an article and sold a guaranteed licensed free and vandalism free copy to some project like Citizendium or the Encyclopedia Project, and I donated the copyright to the Wikimedia Foundation: would that then be deductible?
Usually no.
Ec