Classical Liberalism and Intellectual Property Rights
Abstract
Classical liberal thought exhibits a uniform commitment to property rights as the foundation for a market economy. Yet classical liberal commentators exhibit divergent views concerning intellectual property rights and, in particular, whether those rights principally operate as a constructive tool for earning returns on innovation or an opportunistic tool for securing monopoly rents. These divergent positions reflect different historical and conceptual understandings of intellectual property rights and the institutions through which those rights are implemented. This chapter shows that these views rely largely on conceptual arguments and can be enriched by empirical and historical evidence showing how intellectual property rights promote the disruptive process of innovative entrepreneurship that the Austrian branch of classical liberalism identifies as the engine of a market economy.