A Libertarian Critique of Intellectual Property by Butler Shaffer

Author:Butler Shaffer
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
ISBN: 978-1-61016-626-3
Publisher: Ludwig von Mises Institute
Published: 2013-12-02T16:00:00+00:00

A common response of business firms to their own reduction of competitive resiliency occasioned by increased organizational size has been to call upon the state to create and enforce standardized business practices and products, as well as to restrict entry into industries and professions.[13] The state’s creation of patent and copyright interests doesn’t, by itself, prevent innovation by others, but it does erect hurdles that often discourage research (e.g., the fear of defending a patent infringement suit, the possibility that the Patent Office might reject a subsequent application in the same product line as the previously patented creation, or the concern that one firm’s patent for preliminary research results might inhibit another firm from pursuing subsequent research). The “traditional enemies of innovation,” one observer has stated, are “inertia and vested interest,”[14] factors contributed to by the government practice of providing some inventors protection from competitors.

When the coercive powers of the state are invoked to benefit some and to restrain others, the creative processes will always suffer and, as a consequence, so will the vibrancy of a civilization. The tendency of such behavior is to restrain the liberty of individuals to act within parameters suitable to established interests. To so constrain creativity would be akin to forcing painters to confine their work to within the boundaries of paint-by-the-numbers kits. Creative behavior depends upon synthesis and cross-fertilization, processes facilitated by what Arthur Koestler referred to as “creative anarchy.”[15] The science philosopher, Paul Feyerabend, was even more forceful in his insistence upon unfettered liberty in fostering understanding. He noted that “[s]cience is an essentially anarchistic enterprise,” and that “theoretical anarchism is more humanitarian and more likely to encourage progress than its law-and-order alternatives.” He went on “there is only one principle that can be defended under all circumstances and in all stages of human development. It is the principle: anything goes.”[16] He then added that the “[p]roliferation of theories is beneficial for science, while uniformity impairs its critical power. Uniformity also endangers the free development of the individual.”[17]

As experimentation with and the resulting production of genetically uniform crops continues, intelligent minds would do well to recall such lessons from history as provided by the Irish potato famine, the destruction of Ceylonese coffee plantations, and more recent damage to American corn and grape crops. Plants that were faithful copies of their own genetic organization (i.e., clones) might have enjoyed short-term benefits, but lacked a sufficient diversity to allow them to respond effectively to blights, diseases, and other conditions to which they were unaccustomed. Perhaps a million or more deaths in Ireland have been directly or indirectly attributed to the potato crop’s genetic lack of resiliency.

The threats to human survival implicit in the structured uniformity of systems upon which life depends are enhanced by the uncertainties inherent in complexity. The study of chaos informs us that complex systems are subject to too many variable, interconnected factors to permit predictions of outcomes. As Koestler and Feyerabend have reminded us, creativity is a process that depends upon

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