Excessive Intellectual Property Rights Have Become An Obstacle To Human Progress

Statement Of The Problem

Intellectual property rights grant an exclusive man-made monopoly for a limited time to the originator. They have become to some extent anachronistic and need to be seriously reviewed. In my opinion the originator has the benefit to make money through other services or products even when their original product is in the public domain or accessible through fair use (see open source software or musicians who publish their music on the Internet). The originator always has the advantage of the first mover and being the original.

Over history IP rights were expanded as if on autopilot for its own sake and as it appears without critical review. In our time, IP rights have become more like sinecures for certain industries or rent seekers.

Like lifetime tenure, unreasonable intellectual property rights are to be seriously reformed or abolished.

Over History The Limited Time Period Became Too Long

Over history, the limited duration of such rights was extended to ridiculous length. As if rent seekers/lobbyists were successfully at work.

The limited duration of copyrights were extended from 28 years from the date of publication in 1710 to lifetime of the author plus 50 years in 1976 to lifetime plus 70 years in 1998. If the creator is a corporation, then the term is now 95 years from publication or 120 years from the date of creation, whichever is shorter. Such a long protection is sheer nonsense.

The first known patent to be granted was in 1421 in Florence for merely three years. In 1623 it became 23 years. In modern times it is somewhere between 16 and 20 years. This is not as extreme as copyrights, but a critical review is overdue.

More And More Products And Services

Were Covered By Intellectual Property Rights

Over time, it was argued that commercially significant changes in technology or new forms of useful arts made it necessary to expand intellectual property rights.

Some Historical Background

According to the Encyclopedia Britannica:

- In the beginning e.g. copyrights were granted as royal patents not to protect the author or publisher rights, but to raise government revenues and to give government control over the contents of publications.

The Founder Of The United States 

Would Be Unpleasantly Surprised

The copyright and patent concepts were both included in the U.S. Constitution. Under Article I, Section 8, Clause 8, of the Constitution, "The Congress shall have Power … To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries."

Now almost 250 years later, the Founders would probably be shocked to see what has evolved.

Flawed Thinking

Government established monopolies of any kind are never good for science and useful arts or a free market economy. Reverse engineering allows any competitor to learn about the secrets of a product or service. More competition is the way to go.