Precisely! It's supposed to be a compromise between "no IP" (where IP is copyrights, patents, trademarks, etc...) and some sort of permanent and ironclad possession of works and ideas. I believe the balance has tilted too far in favor of the producers of IP, and that it should be shifted back the other way, but not eliminated.

In a more general sense, the problem is "provisioning of public goods":

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_good

Creating property where none naturally exists is one solution, but there are others (some good, some bad, depends on the type of good).