Synopsis
A man has a job that makes most people despise him: he collects royalties from patented phrases. You can patent a phrase like, "They were made for each other", and if someone happens to use the phrase in a conversation he is liable for a copyright fee. The protagonist carries a box which listens to conversations, and if it recognizes a copyrighted phrase it automatically bills a fee.
Publications (4)
| Date | Publication | Publisher | Type | Page |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| September 1955 | Galaxy Science Fiction, September 1955 | Galaxy Publishing Corporation | MAGAZINE | 76 |
| December 1955 | Galaxy Science Fiction, No. 33 | Strato Publications | MAGAZINE | 117 |
| January 2016 | The Freelancer | Project Gutenberg | Chapbook | |
| April 2017 | The Science Fiction Crime Megapack | Wildside Press | Anthology | |12 |