"IP permissions, i.e., copyrights, are not natural rights, they are instead government "grants" of protection"
There's no such thing as a natural right, period. They're all imaginary creations of humans.
There's no such thing as a natural right, period. They're all imaginary creations of humans.
There is a recent movement trying to redefine them as such, led by moneyed interests that would obviously stand to profit from such arguments; but legal history is very clear: IP was never conceived on the grounds of being "natural" or "innate" in any way, but as a device to sustain certain economic sectors. IP is no more natural than subsidies for carmakers are natural.
Copyright and patent are not among those. The Constitution provides that congress can grant "for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries"
"Limited times" could be defined by congress to "expire" under whatever circumstances they choose.