Academic

Legal Theory Bookworm

By Lawrence Solum

The Legal Theory Bookworm recommends Intellectual Property and Theories of Justice edited by by Axel Gosseries, Alain Strowel, & Alain Marciano.  Here is a description:

In this volume, fourteen philosophers, economists and legal scholars and one computer scientist address various facets of the same question: under which conditions (if any) can intellectual property rights be fair? This general question unfolds in a variety of others: What are the parallels and differences between intellectual and real property? Are libertarian theories especially sympathetic to IP rights? Should Rawlsian support copyright? How can a concern for incentives be taken into account by each of the main theories of justice? What?s exactly wrong with free-riding, when dealing with non-rival goods? This requires a close examination of a variety of specific issues such as peer-to-peer file sharing, access to vital medicines, the interaction between copyright and freedom of expression, patents on genes, etc. It also involves bringing together state-of-the-art knowledge on legal, economic and technical issues with the most advanced state of our normative theories.

Here is a list of chapters:

• How (Un)fair is Intellectual Property?; A.Gosseries
• Lockean Justifications of Intellectual Property; D.Attas
• Are Rawlsians Entitled to Monopoly Rights?; S.Dumitru
• Access to vs. Exclusion from Knowledge: Intellectual Property, Efficiency and Social Justice; G.B.Ramello
• The Incentives Argument for Intellectual Property Protection; S.V.Shiffrin
  When Property is Something Else: Understanding Intellectual Property Through the Lens of Regulatory Justice; S.Ghosh
• Liberty and the Rejection of Strong Intellectual Property Rights; J.Trerise
  Is P2P Sharing of MP3 Files an Objectionable Form of Free-riding?; G.Demuijnck
• Copyright and Freedom of Expression: A Philosophical Map; A.Couto
  Free Software, Proprietary Software and Linguistic Justice; G.Falquet & F.Grin
• How Efficient is the Patent System? A General Appraisal and an Application to the Pharmaceutical Sector; P.Belleflamme
• Patents on Drugs ? The Wrong Prescription?; P.Dietsch
• Is It Ethical To Patent Human Genes?; A.Lever

And from the blurbs:

'This book of readings on intellectual property is unusual in three respects: the international cast of the contributors, the widening of the focus of analysis to include not only law and economics but also philosophy, and the decision to examine both theoretical questions and concrete practical questions. Most important is the high quality of the contributions. They not only are of high intellectual quality, but they are lucid and well written; and the introduction is a model of clarity.' - Richard A. Posner, US Court of Appeal, Seventh Circuit

'Dramatically strengthened and globalized, intellectual property rules are shaping the evolution of whole sectors of the world economy: technology, pharmaceuticals, agriculture, publishing, and entertainment. The world's most powerful corporations and governments are therefore fighting intensely over the design of these rules. The present collection highlights the main moral issues raised by intellectual property rights. It discusses these issues at the level of principle, and also in a series of focused moral analyses of the most pressing innovation-access dilemmas and of various reform ideas. An excellent introduction to a complex, shifting, and very important moral terrain.' - Thomas Pogge, Leitner Professor of Philosophy and International Affairs Yale University Description

Highly recommended.

Full post as published by Legal Theory Blog on November 29, 2008 (boomark / email).