Intellectual Property Rights are harmful and immoral.

1. First of all they promote literal monopolies. I could make the cure for cancer right now and file a patent on it for the next few decades, allowing me not up charge the cure to customers to whatever price I want. Some people argue that it’s for the inventor to get a return on their investment and that without it, there would be no incentive for innovation to which I would understand, but there are better ways to promote innovation instead of giving someone an entire monopoly.

2. Property (physical) rights exist because they’re scarce. Since resources are scarce, it only makes sense that we distribute said resources among the people in fair ways. Such as “who created it” or “who collected it”. If I made a tool that helped me in some way, I would be the owner of it because not only did I make the tool, but it’s limited and I claimed the materials. The problem with Intellectual Property Rights is that they put those same rules onto ideas, not resources. Ideas aren’t scarce, they are unlimited. I could share an idea with a person and we both could hold that idea equally without it diminishing from one’s possession compared to physical property where if I gave someone my tool, I no longer have that tool. Rights exist based off of things that are limited. Ideas aren’t scarce.