How would a libertarian government deal with intellectual property?

Question

In a libertarian society, the government is highly discouraged from interfering with the free market, if it is even capable of doing so. In this case, where does that leave Intellectual Property?

If IP is considered part of the NAP, how do they plan to enforce it without creating artificial monopolies?

Do libertarians agree that ideas are a property that can be owned, and if so, how would they change IP?

Possible duplicate of Is Libertarianism in favor of intellectual property rights? — , Nov 01 '17 at 20:33
libertarians doent even agree on what it means to be a libertarian — SoylentGray, Nov 01 '17 at 20:48
Suggest you edit to focus on the policies of a particular party in one particular country, otherwise its too broad — James K, Nov 02 '17 at 12:19
I'm not familiar with the "NAP" acronym, if someone can help me out. — PoloHoleSet, Nov 02 '17 at 17:18
@PoloHoleSet it means 'non-aggressoin policy' libertarians live by one basic code, he who initiates force is in the wrong - is immoral - or is doing something illegal. So as long as you don't initiate force against another person, no government can initiate force against you or yours. — Justin Beagley, Nov 02 '17 at 19:34
@JustinBeagley - Thanks. I am familiar with that, in it's original foreign policy context, but didn't want to assume it was a figurative use of the same terms. — PoloHoleSet, Nov 02 '17 at 19:50
Non-Aggression Principle is the libertarian term, and I don't know that it is the same as a non-aggression policy in foreign policy. It's an ethical stance rather than a policy choice. And it applies to things like taxes. Tax collection is aggression under NAP. — Brythan, Nov 02 '17 at 20:04

user4012 · Accepted Answer · 2017-11-01T20:41:04.180

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TL;DR: No unified viewpoint exists among libertarians.

Many are against IP.
Some are on the fence
Some support it (notably, Ayn Rand supported patents)
Some offer market based approach such as IP insurance (e.g. Tannehill)

Wikipedia answer covers some of the notable viewpoints (I know that we frown upon link only answers but I don't see a way of meaningfully doing anything short of copy/pasting entire Wiki article).

Resources:

"Libertarian perspectives on intellectual property" @ Wikipedia
"Libertarian Views of Intellectual Property: Rothbard, Tucker, Spooner, and Rand" by David S. D’Amato @ libertarianism.org" - starts out by reiterating my TL;DR and exploring some views from four sources)
"Intellectual Property and Libertarianism" by Stephan Kinsella @ Mises - Kinsella is a notable opponent of IP.
"How Should Libertarians Think About Intellectual Property?" - discussion by a gaggle of people @ reason.org TV

edited Nov 01 '17 at 20:41

answered Nov 01 '17 at 20:27

user4012

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"The insurance company would guarantee to stop the unauthorized commercial use of the invention and to fully compensate the inventor for any losses so incurred." Is Tannehill proposing that the insurance company protects the property (by force, essentially)? – Christopher King Nov 02 '17 at 00:44
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@PyRulez - good question! I was confused about that part myself to be honest. – user4012 Nov 02 '17 at 02:05
@PyRulez In the absence of government, the nature of intellectual property would ultimately be dictated by social norms. If enough individuals see a benefit to copyrights, patents and trademarks then they will voluntarily consent to them and IP insurance would be economically feasible. If not, then creation and invention will shift to focus on incremental improvement and being first to market with the foreknowledge that any invention can be quickly reverse engineered and improved upon. – Kenneth Cochran Jan 22 '18 at 16:51

How would a libertarian government deal with intellectual property?

1 Answers1

TL;DR: No unified viewpoint exists among libertarians.

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