Thorstein Veblen on The Beginning of Ownership

I had a conversation this afternoon in which I speculated, wildly and at great length, about how artists (in Western traditions) identify their creations with themselves and about how. further, this identification may have led large numbers of them to mistake the purposes of copyright law.  Then, this evening, I came across this essay by Thorstein Veblen on "The Beginning of Ownership".  Most interesting.  

I'm not sure how much of the ethnology he relies on holds up, a century later.  I certainly would not argue that his arguments be accepted without a considerable