Fun fact: in music, anyone can avail themselves of a compulsory mechanical license to record someone else's already-recorded song. As the songwriter, you only h

Fun fact: in music, anyone can avail themselves of a compulsory mechanical license to record someone else's already-recorded song. As the songwriter, you only have a right to specify who may release the first recording. This is how cover songs can exist with minimal effort of rights acquisition. I wonder what the IP world would be like if this model, or some variation, were more widely applied?