I honestly think that the most important part of creating any art is the experience of creating it. That experience is the only thing I think the artist can really call their own - your unique experience of creating something, although it may have similarities with others who partake in the same art, but that experience will always remain yours. I think whatever you create instantly belongs to everyone the moment it is released. I've often thought the need to release some piece of art is based solely on my ego's need to be stroked. But I've also heard it said that to keep one's creative ideas to ones self, is pure selfishness. This thread also makes me think of how odd it is that many of the people who have had the greatest affect on my views died before I was born - their books were published before I knew how to read. It is a kind of 'immortality' I guess. It's also kinda spooky when you think about someone reading your words after your gone.