IP Laws

With a little perserverance you can get things done
Without the blind adherence that has conquered some
--Corey Hart

One argument for intellectual property laws is that, without them, innovation would be curtailed. But doesn't this position--that patents, copyrights, etc. need legal protection--admit the opposite? That, absent legal protection, these ideas will form and/or be put to use elsewhere?

In fact, there seems a strong argument for the opposite proposition: The stronger the intellectual property regime, the lower the innovation.