This reminds me of an early scene in the film adaptation of Asimov's "Bicentennial Man" when robots had no individual rights at all. The robot in question pres

This reminds me of an early scene in the film adaptation of Asimov's "Bicentennial Man" when robots had no individual rights at all. The robot in question presents anomalous behavior such as creativity and curiosity. US Robotics offers a free replacement for this defective unit but the owner refuses much to the chagrin of US Robotics; the owner and family want this defective, creative, curious robot. Along the way of making and selling high-quality clocks, the robot incurs some minor damage which requires repair at US Robotics. The owner, his robot, and his lawyer get face time with the US Robotics CEO and corporate lawyer. "We've installed warning sensors around key points of this robot's positronic brain. Whilst repairing his damaged finger, if we detect any incursion into his positronic brain, we shall sue you and this company for the loss of all of his potential revenue that he could have made from now until the end of time." A few hard swallows later and the robot walks out with a restored finger and an undamaged, anomalous positronic brain.