[SEMW]

AFAICS we just have different priorities in what we want the terminology to do. You're prioritising the impression that the term "intellectual property" creates in a layman, i.e. that it calls to mind an analogy (with tangible property) that is in many ways misleading. I'm prioritising the technical accuracy of it as a legal term per common law definitions of proprietary right.

So I think we'll just have to agree to disagree here, based on our different sets of priorities.

(As for debts, in English law they are choses in action, and so intangible moveables. See e.g. Lord Goff's comments in Lipkin Gorman v Karpnale [1991] 2 AC 548, p. 574 at [A]. So a debt isn't quite a purely contractual right: the difference is between a claim in debt, e.g. an action for the price, and a claim for damages. The former will often allow some kind of proprietary remedy - e.g. a lien over goods if the debt is from a sale of those goods, the ability to trace your title to the debt into other people's pockets (as in Lipkin, which was a purely personal action for unjust enrichment), or in some circumstances even a full-blown constructive trust (e.g. in a Chase Manhattan v Israel-British Bank type situation). The latter never will.

That said, I did perhaps choose a bad example, as the line can be a thin one. A better example of a property right that doesn't give you a monopoly might've been be an easement. (Freehold covenants are another interesting example, as starting in the mid-19th century, they've sortof morphed from purely being personal, contractual rights into being property rights)).

[humanrebar]

I can agree to disagree, though it's worth noting that intellectual property law is currently under review in courts and legislatures worldwide. It follows that the meaning of "intellectual property" is, among other things, a significant political problem right now.