If nature has made any one thing less susceptible than all others of exclusive property, it is the action of the thinking power called an idea, which an individual may exclusively possess as long as he keeps it to himself; but the moment it is divulged, it forces itself into the possession of every one, and the receiver cannot dispossess himself of it.
Its peculiar character, too, is that no one possesses the less, because
every other possesses the whole of it.
He who receives an idea from me, receives instruction himself without lessening mine; as he who lights his taper at mine, receives light without darkening me.
That ideas should freely spread from one to another over the globe, for the moral and mutual instruction of man, and improvement of his condition, seems to have been peculiarly and benevolently designed by nature, when she made them, like fire, expansible over all space, without lessening their density in any point, and like the air in which we breathe, move, and have our physical being, incapable of confinement or exclusive appropriation.
Inventions then cannot, in nature, be a subject of property.
Thomas Jefferson
against every form of tyranny over the mind of man. Thomas Jefferson |
Further information about anti-copyright will be forthcoming. In the meantime, check out the following:
- Are Patents and Copyrights Morally Justified? The Philosophy of Property Rights and Ideal Objects by Tom G. Palmer (PDF file another version)
- Intellectual Property: A Non-Posnerian Law and Economics Approach by Tom G. Palmer (PDF file)
- Against Intellectual Property by N. Stephan Kinsella (PDF file)
- Do Patents and Copyrights Undermine Private Property? Yes by N. Stephan Kinsella
- Theres No Such Thing As A Free Patent by N. Stephan Kinsella
- Palmer on Patents by N. Stephan Kinsella
- Intellectual Property A Libertarian Critique by Kevin Carson (PDF file)
- How Intellectual Property Impedes Competition by Kevin Carson
- Copyright Communism? by Kevin Carson
- The War on Copyright Nazism by Kevin Carson
- How Digital Copyright Treats Consumers Like Enemies by Kevin Carson
- Intellectual Property versus Real Property by Sheldon Richman
- A Book That Changes Everything by Jeff Tucker
- What Is Your Attitude Toward IP? by Jeff Tucker
- Authors: Beware of Copyright by Jeff Tucker
- Against Intellectual Monopoly by Michele Boldrin & David K. Levine
- Intellectual Property Page by Michele Boldrin & David K. Levine
- Intellectual Privilege: Copyright, Common Law, and the Common Good by Tom W. Bell
- Copy Fighting by Tom W. Bell
- Escape from Copyright by Tom W. Bell
- Modern-day Protectionism by Vedad Krehic
- The Future of Copyright (Cato Unbound debate)
- J. L. Bryans Intellectual Property Theft Not Just For Disney Any More
- Patents and Copyrights: Do the Benefits Exceed the Costs? by Julio H. Cole (PDF file)
- Would the Absence of Copyright Laws Significantly Affect the Quality and Quantity of Intellectual Output? by Julio H. Cole
- Government and Microsoft: A Libertarian View on Monopolies by François-René Rideau
- Patents Are an Economic Absurdity by François-René Rideau
- End-Seller License by François-René Rideau
- Wealth and Power Imbalances in Society: The Legacy of Patents and Copyrights by Adam Knott
- Is Intellectual Property the Key to Success? by Jeff Tucker
- Copywrongs by Samuel E. Konkin III
- Intellectual Property in the AAAS Community
- Right to Create
- Intellectual Property: Copyright and Patent in Liberty by Wendy McElroy
- Tuckers Big Four: Patents by Kevin A. Carson
- Copyright, Comics, and Compulsory Licensing by Barry Deutsch
- Three Stages of Invention by Nicholas Snow
- Copyright Contradictions in Scholarly Publishing by John Willinsky
- Stealing Music by Rainbough Phillips
- Become an Online Publisher by Gary North
- My First Love Is In the Public Domain by Eugene Weixel
- Bridgeman Art Library v. Corel Corp.
- Anarchism and Copyright by Benjamin Tucker
- The Libertarian Case Against Intellectual Property Rights by Roderick T. Long
- Thoughtcrime by Roderick T. Long
- Owning Ideas Means Owning People by Roderick T. Long
- Copyrights and Contracts by Roderick T. Long
- No Pity, No Praise by Roderick T. Long
- No Pity, No Praise, Part 2 by Roderick T. Long
- This Mind Is Your Mind by Roderick T. Long
- The Open-Source Society and Its Enemies by Roderick T. Long
- A Plea for Public Property by Roderick T. Long
- Patents Kill by Charles W. Johnson
- Patents Kill, Part 2 by Charles W. Johnson
- Libertarians for Protectionism by Charles W. Johnson
- Copyleft and Copyright: The Prospects for Liberty by Charles W. Johnson
- Information About Copyleft by Charles W. Johnson
- The Industrial Radicals Copyleft Policy
- Information about the No Problem, Bugroff License by John Carter
Dont forget to contribute to The Industrial Radicals upcoming copyright issue!