Mises Wire

IP = right to profits. Nothing more and nothing less.

IP is the manifestation on creativity of an underlying Marxist theme: the labor theory of value.

What if I discover/invent something but others market it first? What if they market it better?

Am I not entitled to profits for my discovery or invention?Answering yes to the last question is what lies at the core of so called Intellectual Property.

Well, one does not have a guarantee in any other activity, so why in invention? Shouldn’t that area too be subjected to the rigors of the free market? But of course, I say.

1.- What if another copies my machine?

Learn marketing and keep improving, as we all do in other areas.

2.- What if another uses my brand?

Learn marketing and keep your standards, or you will destroy the brand no law could keep live anyway if you mess up.

3.- What if another plays my tune?

You learned how to walk or talk from others (gestures instead of notes), in very specific cultural combinations too. Be a good musician. Nobody confused a Beethoven or a Mozart with a second-rate musician in any age. The best do better.

Yes, patents, trademark and copyright: the three ugly faces of the labor theory of creativity.

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