Ownership of a stock index became legally contested despite being ‘public domain’.

Evidence

The Merc’s lawyers had told Melamed that no agreement was needed: ”… they [the Standard & Poor’s Corporation] don’t own the index. Nobody owns an index… It’s … public domain.” (Melamed interview) Indeed, when Melamed went to see Brenton W. Harries, the president of Standard & Poor’s, “he looked at me as if I was … from Mars,” asking Melamed “You want to pay me for something we’re giving away for free?” (Melamed interview) … The Merc’s apparently unnecessary expense turned out to be a wise investment. The Board of Trade decided to offer futures on the Dow Jones industrial average, and took the stance that the index was in the public domain, but then lost a court battle with Dow Jones. So it ended up trading futures on the Amex’s much less well known Major Market Index, which was only a partial proxy for the Dow Jones. — Donald MacKenzie, An Engine, Not a Camera, 769

Categorization

• CANDY: “You want to pay me for something we’re giving away for free?” then the Board of Trade loses in court on the same point — a neat irony.
• XREF: Ties to performativity: an index is not a pre-existing ‘public domain’ object but something whose very definition and legal status get constructed — connects to MacKenzie’s broader thesis.