Libertarians agree on most things, but there are a few ideas that aren’t settled among some circles. One topic in particular is intellectual property. Through the years, I have given my best deontological and consequentialist arguments as to why property rights should not be assigned to ideas. And I’m not sure how much headway I’ve actually made with people.
But the other day, something occurred to me and I found a new way to show why intellectual property is damaging to the creation of wealth among everyone.
It’s amazing how some of the best arguments for any of the various topics in libertarianism and economics are the ones that use empirical evidence that’s often smacking us in the face.
I now have a one-word reason for being against intellection property: memes. Memes have become a huge part of our world, and while some people lament their often low brow nature, they are excellent methods of delivering punchy arguments or points. Sometimes they exist purely for entertainment. Either way, seeing a meme go viral is something to behold.
The original picture, words, et al are often not intended to become a meme, yet the internet grabs ahold of them and it takes on a whole new life of its own. But memes don’t simply get shared, they get modified (I love modifying the Brainlet Wojak meme and putting them on mugs; anyone with an internet connection can contribute to the literally infinite versions of a meme. Memes are modified and combined; the creativity of everyone who sees it is unleashed. The best ones get shared the most.
We have a pleasantly free market in the meme world. While it can be the case that someone may wave around their copyright or trademark, people generally create and share their memes without the fetters of the state. As a result, the supply of memes is unfathomably big with varieties to suit everyone’s taste. People even can make money either directly or indirectly from memes.
But what would happen if people claimed intellectual property over their memes? Would you expect the memes to be as plentiful or as good? It’s not as though the meme creators would likely be able to profit much from their creations if they could claim their memes as property. It’s the virality of the meme that creates the most profit potential.
Try to imagine a world where explicit permission to use a meme was required to protect yourself from being sued. Would it be worth the time or effort? Would people create products that used memes as content? If intellectual property laws “protected” memes, would the book Freedom Through Memedom by Mance Rayder exist? Would his second book, The Kids Are Not Alright, which also uses memes, exist?
I have a feeling that a lot of intellectual property supporters take all of this for granted, but it’s important to think through the consequences of your proposals through. Fortunately, memes have become such a part of our daily lives that taking them away might be what finally cause people to stop everything and take a stand against the government.
Hmm, maybe the state should try to regulate memes away…
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