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I don't see why. They are Libertarians (American style). There is nothing in US Libertarianism that is against copyrights. Can you elaborate about what part yo

I don't see why. They are Libertarians (American style). There is nothing in US Libertarianism that is against copyrights. Can you elaborate about what part you find surprising? Copyrights are an extension of property rights, which US Libertarians consider very important.

nextparadigms 15y ago
I don't think "Intellectual Property" is like physical property at all, but that's a whole other discussion. I believe copyrights have seen (been pushed by lobbyists) as property rights only in the past few decades.
- AndyNemmity 15y ago
  I'm not arguing for or against it, I am only clarifying there's nothing surprising as it's consistent with their beliefs as I understand them.
- tzs 15y ago
  That's not correct. IP has been viewed as a property right for approximately 200 years. It goes back to classical libertarian theories of property, and how a person has a natural right to the fruits of his labor. Well, that's in the US, where our legal philosophy was strongly influenced by Locke. In Europe, their intellectual property philosophy was more shaped by Hegel, and the idea that the creations of your mind are an extension of your personality, and so for someone to use your creations without permission would be a violation of your personalty. Those who prefer to analyze from an economic viewpoint rather than a philosophical viewpoint also have long considered IP a form of property--because that's the whole point of IP economically in a free market system. For a free market to work with a good, that good needs to have certain attributes. Goods that are non-rivalrous and non-excludible, like intellectual goods, do not work with a free market. In order to try to make the free market work to determine the allocation of resources to production of intellectual goods, we use the law to artificially give intellectual goods those aspects of real property that free markets need.
Gormo 15y ago
Copyright is a topic of intense dispute and discussion among libertarians, especially regarding whether it fits the mold of property at all. Your generalization isn't really accurate.

nextparadigms 15y ago

I don't think "Intellectual Property" is like physical property at all, but that's a whole other discussion. I believe copyrights have seen (been pushed by lobbyists) as property rights only in the past few decades.

AndyNemmity 15y ago
I'm not arguing for or against it, I am only clarifying there's nothing surprising as it's consistent with their beliefs as I understand them.
tzs 15y ago
That's not correct. IP has been viewed as a property right for approximately 200 years. It goes back to classical libertarian theories of property, and how a person has a natural right to the fruits of his labor. Well, that's in the US, where our legal philosophy was strongly influenced by Locke. In Europe, their intellectual property philosophy was more shaped by Hegel, and the idea that the creations of your mind are an extension of your personality, and so for someone to use your creations without permission would be a violation of your personalty. Those who prefer to analyze from an economic viewpoint rather than a philosophical viewpoint also have long considered IP a form of property--because that's the whole point of IP economically in a free market system. For a free market to work with a good, that good needs to have certain attributes. Goods that are non-rivalrous and non-excludible, like intellectual goods, do not work with a free market. In order to try to make the free market work to determine the allocation of resources to production of intellectual goods, we use the law to artificially give intellectual goods those aspects of real property that free markets need.

Gormo 15y ago

Copyright is a topic of intense dispute and discussion among libertarians, especially regarding whether it fits the mold of property at all. Your generalization isn't really accurate.