I agree with you when it comes to the casual marijuana toker/grower/pollen chucker. But amongst breeders I think it's a common professional courtesy to get the blessing of another beeeder who's strain you plan on using IMO.
So say this for example(all hypothetical).
I'm fucking nobody in the cannabis world. I will never meet a famous breeder in my life. I am geographically secluded(this is not hypothetical for me) from any form of clone only strain or and am secluded from any large cities or cannabis communities for that matter. I am so thankful for the internet.
What if I want to breed? What if I have a 500 plant count and I can do selections from decent sized populations. What if I put in serious work of selection of males and growing out their progeny for many generations to find a proven stud.
I am supposed to have asked for permission to use genetics in a cross, that I might have spent upwards of $1000 on seeds? I don't get it. Am I supposed to somehow become someone in "the community" or "the industry" first beforehand so that I am worth of even asking for permission? Surely they aren't going to just "give permission" to some guy they never met or heard of.
You can see it quickly all becomes a joke. What is this Monsanto? You can't fucking own genetics. It's a damn plant.
So long as you pay homage to the strain and accredit the breeder for it in your new strains lineage it's all good.
SO long as it's not something they are working hard on and hold dearly to their heart which is cherished and you don't leak it out into the masses it's all good. Even that is unethical(to hoard potential medicine) imo but I think I could *kind of* respect those kind of wishes in those circumstances.
You buy the beans, you buy the clones(sometimes upwards of 10grand in the past?) you own it don't you?
........ but I'm just a nobody, not even a pollen chucker. So what I say means nothing. Just my thoughts. There's my rant for the day. I probably should vape a bowl now.