Skilled workers of the early nineteenth century enjoyed a degree of professional independence because workplace knowledge and technical skill were their "property," or at least their attribute. In most sectors of today's economy, however, it is a foundational and widely accepted truth that businesses retain legal ownership of employee-generated intellectual property.19世纪初的技术工人享有一定程度的职业独立性，因为工作场所的知识和技术技能是他们的“财产”，或者至少是他们的属性。然而，在当今经济的大多数部门，企业保留员工创造的知识产权的合法所有权是一个基本且被广泛接受的事实。