> Why is IP justified? From an economic point of view, by trying to prevent something like the tragedy of the commons. Since everyone can make copies if there

> Why is IP justified? From an economic point of view, by trying to prevent something like the tragedy of the commons. Since everyone can make copies if there is no ownership, the majority of authors have no incentive to make their works public. And since authors can figure this out before starting to work, there's less production of works than beneficial. In other words: Nobody would have spend the money to make movies like Lords of the Rings, or whatever you fancy. The free market argument applies in a world with ownership, too: Those who paid the price for a work are assumed to be better off, otherwise they wouldn't have agreed to the bargain. If they would want works without ownership, they can always assemble, throw their money into one pot, and have works made for them. Since they don't do this, an average, the incentive of having works with no ownership can't be that great. You got to admit that every author is the possessor of his work, even in a world without ownership, since he possesses the first copy. So, the question is: How can you make him publish his copy?