Although copyrights and patents are merely special instances of the principle of voluntary contract, tracing their application from buyer to buyer and in various situations can present a significant problem. To assist in solving this problem, many creators need a method of registering such intellectual rights. Although patents and copyrights are now usually registered through an office of the United States government, in the free market they could also be registered through reputable private agencies—somewhat similar to today's ASCAP (American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers), a private organization licensing the performance rights to musical works.

One advantage of the free-market system is that it would provide creators with the means to obtain protection of their rights in many cases where they must now lobby legislators to recognize those rights. For instance, under the present system, if film-makers wish to protect their products from unauthorized colorization and other forms of computer manipulation, they must seek special laws to that effect. In a society in which the right of contract was held as an inviolate principle, in contrast, no political consensus or intervention would be required, since any film-maker could restrict future users from applying these and other modifications to his or her works by means of contractual conditions.