Intellectual Property: Bastard Child of the Gatekeepers

**This interview with patent attorney Stephan Kinsella and accompanying show notes was originally published on the Musicpreneur.com podcast in March 2017 You’re probably going to disagree with what is said in this episode. In fact, it could very well make you angry. But, as Bob Dylan said, “The times, they are a changin’.” It’s an issue that I’ve wrestled with over the years and have finally come to the conclusion that Intellectual Property (IP) is detrimental to progress and innovation. While on the surface it appears to protect the rights of content creators to profit from their content, the reality is that the only people who really profit are the “gate keepers” and those who hang out near “the gates”. I’ve tried to take a “back door” approach with this issue before, thinking that people would somehow be persuaded to see my point of view without actually telling them my point of view. Not surprisingly, the results of that approach weren’t encouraging. I’ve decided to just come right out and say it. Intellectual Property is Horrible The fact of the matter is that just about every way of thinking that was considered set in stone a short time ago is suddenly up for debate once again. What are the origins of IP? How did it become de facto conventional knowledge in modern society? Is it really the only legalized monopoly in existence? Enter my guest for this episode, Stephan Kinsella. He’s been a patent attorney in Houston, TX for nearly 30 years. He’s the author of Against Intellectual Property as well as a pamphlet titled, Doing Business Without Intellectual Property.  In this discussion, we discuss why intellectual property (IP) is a hindrance to progress and innovation for musicians, and how MusicPreneur’s can navigate the oftentimes confusing waters of IP. Here's what you'll hear in this episode: IP is not compatible with traditional view of property. World of scarcity – one person can use at a time Austrian Economics Mises: Human Action Act: Human has conce