Intellectual property is recognized worldwide. As the US's recent standoff with China demonstrates, intellectual property is not a concept which has worldwide acceptance. Indeed, a major foreign policy objective of the United States has been to force other nations to comply with its own intellectual property agenda - an unwelcome form of intellectual imperialism which is all too frequently ignored by watchdog groups. Without intellectual property, no one will produce original work. Given that intellectual property law made its debut in 1623, we may correctly consider any work produced before this time to dispell the myth.
Intellectual property is necessary to create incentives for the production of original works.
This intellectual property myth has become the mantra of IP supporters. Often repeated, never questioned, the idea that creativity depends on a government granted monopoly needs no justification in the minds of most IP boosters. Consider, for instance, the software industry. Free for years from the limitations of intellectual property, the industry flourished, becoming by all accounts one of the most creative of environments in the modern world. Even if people DID create works without intellectual property protections, the quality of these works would be substandard.