People have been publishing their work for thousands of years before IP even existed. We don't know if the system we have is the best one we could have, I doubt it though.
We can come up with new models that compensate creators more directly. We can also come up with models that don't involve effectively killing any ability to build upon existing culture in the time-scale of a human life.
What came before isn't how it has to be, except that the interest that profit from the current system want it to remain so.
Then you have guilds, trade marks, potter's marks, royal warrants, etc... all "IP" protections of their days.
Would open-source license violations be possible to penalize if not for intellectual property laws?