The China Stealing IP Myth

[From my Webnote series]

• Various posts under the tag China-IP-theft, including—
• More of the “China is Stealing Our IP” nonsense
• All-In Podcast Concern over China and IP “Theft”
• KOL460 | Rant about the “China is Stealing Our IP” Myth
• Lacalle on China and IP “Theft”
• Libertarian and IP Answer Man: Does China have “more fierce” competition because of weaker IP law?
• “To Steal a Book is an Elegant Offense”—Chinese saying
• “IP can’t be socialistic, since the Soviet Union didn’t recognize IP law“
• Decouple Trade and IP Protection
• “Free-trade” pacts export U.S. copyright controls,  and other on IP Imperialism
• Trump’s Proclamation World Intellectual Property Day, 2025: Of course these geniuses just repeat the same nonsense about IP being “the same as” property and how infringing IP is “theft” of course they are insinuating China “steals American IP,” all of which are confused bullshit lies and distortions.
  • This Proclamation also explicitly admits that it is using tariffs and other trade negotiations to engage in IP imperialism: “Through the strategic use of tariffs, we are recentering our trade policy and securing stronger intellectual property protections in new and existing trade deals.”
• The Structural Unity of Real and Intellectual Property
• Copying, Patent Infringement, Copyright Infringement are not “Theft”, Stealing, Piracy, Plagiarism, Knocking Off, Ripping Off;
• See Kevin Duffy’s comments in Is China Guilty as Charged? | Tom Woods Show #2633, at about 19:50. Unlike most commentators, Duffy gets it right: that IP is not a legitimate property right, that IP law is unjust, and all the criticisms of China are based, in part, on the idea that China is somehow violating IP rights, and that this would be bad. It’s not, and they aren’t anyway.