#1816 IP'd to Death: How Intellectual Property Law Went from a Protection to a Weapon

Air Date: 8/19/2026

Today we trace the corporate capture of ideas themselves. What began as a brief legal incentive granting fourteen years of exclusive rights to a creation has become a system that kept a pandemic vaccine from reaching poorer countries and where entertainment conglomerates and technology giants fence off and sell our own culture back to us.

Full Show Notes

Transcript

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TOP TAKES

KP 1: Why We Should Get Rid Of Intellectual Property - Second Thought - Air Date 11-18-22

KP 2: How Patent Abuse Blocks Patient Access to Generic Drugs - PIRGvideos - Air Date 4-18-23

KP 3: YouTube's Copyright System Isn't Broken. The World's Is. Part 1 - Tom Scott - Air Date 5-23-20

KP 4: How Disney Will Control Mickey Forever - LegalEagle - Air Date 1-10-26

KP 5: We Are Being IP-ed to Death / Vicky Osterweil Part 1 - This Is Hell! - Air Date 5-27-26

KP 6: Is AI Burning The Library Of Alexandria? - Taylor Lorenz - Air Date 8-5-26

KP 7: Should We Abolish Copyright? Part 1 - Tom Nicholas - Air Date 10-2-19

(00:56:46) NOTE FROM THE EDITOR

Disney Lobbied for Walls in 1998. OpenAI Asked for Holes in 2025.

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DEEPER DIVES

(01:07:51) SECTION A: HOW WE GOT HERE

A1: The 5 Phases of Corporate IP Ownership - David Stewart - Air Date 7-8-18

A2: Amanda Kleintop on Abolishing Property Rights in Slaves During and After the US Civil War - The Gilder Lehrman Center for the Study of Slavery, Resistance, and Abolition - Air Date 1-24-22

A3: Maggie Blackhawk and K-Sue Park - Digging a Hole: The Legal Theory Podcast - Air Date 3-23-21

A4: Claire Priest - Digging a Hole: The Legal Theory Podcast - Air Date 2-16-21

A5: YouTube's Copyright System Isn't Broken. The World's Is. Part 2 - Tom Scott - Air Date 5-23-20

(01:50:20) SECTION B: WHO PROFITS, WHO PAYS

B1: A Deepfake Stole My Face and Voice | Rich Roll (Ep. 20) - Life with Machines - Air Date 5-13-25

B2: Can Artists Protect Their Work From AI? – BBC News - Air Date 6-18-23

B3: Brian Eno Explains Why AI Art Sucks - Life With Machines - Air Date 10-31-25

B4: YouTube's Fair Use Paradox - Vertex Effects - Air Date 7-18-25

B5: We Are Being IP-ed to Death / Vicky Osterweil Part 2 - This Is Hell! - Air Date 5-27-26

(02:27:53) SECTION C: THE DISNEY PLAYBOOK

C1: A Disney Monopoly Is A Problem (According To Disney's Recess) - Just Write - Air Date 11-30-19

C2: Vicky Osterweil on Disney, Intellectual Property and Storytelling Part 1 - The Final Straw Radio - Air Date 5-3-26

C3: Everyone's Wrong About John Oliver's Trademark War - LegalEagle - Air Date 8-8-26

C4: Vicky Osterweil on Disney, Intellectual Property and Storytelling Part 2 - The Final Straw Radio - Air Date 5-3-26

C5: We Are Being IP-ed to Death / Vicky Osterweil Part 3 - This Is Hell! - Air Date 5-27-26

(03:14:03) SECTION D: WHAT DO WE DO ABOUT IT

D1: Should We Abolish Copyright? Part 2 - Tom Nicholas - Air Date 10-2-19

D2: The Ethical Case Against Intellectual Property (by David Koepsell) - V for Voluntary Library - Air Date 5-17-10

Produced by Jay! Tomlinson

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