Intellectual property (IP) rights are attacked by libertarians and leftists, who fail to understand that IP rights are fundamental property rights. As Ayn Rand recognized, all property rights refer to "a man's right to the product of his mind," regardless of whether the value is created in a farm, an invention or a book. IP rights are essential to a free society with a flourishing free market in which the government secures everyone's rights to life, liberty, and property.