Carmack on Music IP: Compulsory Mechanical Licenses Beat Absolute Monopolies
ID_AA_Carmack · x · 2026-07-31
John Carmack shared his views on intellectual property (IP) law. He pointed out that IP laws are typically used strictly to prohibit others from using the IP, allowing owners to set whatever terms they like or simply say "no."
He suggested that the "mechanical license" for musical compositions is an interesting counterpoint. Anyone can cover a song without negotiating or even asking; they just have to pay a fixed fee to the composer for each copy sold. This is in stark contrast to the iron grip of control that IP usually provides: even if an artist personally despises someone, that person can still freely cover their song and potentially get rich doing it.
Carmack noted that while music IP has many messy aspects, this narrow and somewhat outdated area (focused on sales vs. streaming) actually seems to work pretty well.
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