Since no one is excluded from creating a copyright or patent, I don't think it is accurate to call it a "special privilege..." Having intellectual property rights and how they are enforced (or not) are two different things, and the fact that there are IP rights is the only thing that stops large companies from stripping away the value created by individuals at will, reducing us all to share croppers at best. I think of all the song royalties that were ripped off from the originators of the Blues and the only saving grace was when the copyright laws were enforced to enable them to get some money to survive in old age...