The Economic Structure of Intellectual Property Law

by William M. Landes, Richard A. Posner

This book takes a fresh look at the most dynamic area of American law today, comprising the fields of copyright, patent, trademark, trade secrecy, publicity rights, and misappropriation. Topics range from copyright in private letters to defensive patenting of business methods, from moral rights in the visual arts to the banking of trademarks, from the impact of the court of patent appeals to the management of Mickey Mouse. The history and political science of intellectual property law, the challenge of digitization, the many statutes and judge-made doctrines, and the interplay with antitrust principles are all examined. The treatment is both positive (oriented toward understanding the law as it is) and normative (oriented to the reform of the law).

Previous analyses have tended to overlook the paradox that expanding intellectual property rights can effectively reduce the amount of new intellectual property by raising the creators' input costs. Those analyses have also failed to integrate the fields of intellectual property law. They have failed as well to integrate intellectual property law with the law of physical property, overlooking the many economic and legal-doctrinal parallels.

This book demonstrates the fundamental economic rationality of intellectual property law, but is sympathetic to critics who believe that in recent decades Congress and the courts have gone too far in the creation and protection of intellectual property rights.

Genres: Law, Economics

448 pages, Hardcover

First published November 28, 2003

About the author

William M. Landes is the Clifton R. Musser Professor of Law and Economics, Emeritus, and Senior Lecturer in Law at The University of Chicago Law School.

William Landes joined the faculty of the Law School in 1974 and was the Clifton R. Musser Professor of Law and Economics in the Law School from 1992 to 2009. Mr. Landes has written widely on the application of economics and quantitative methods to law and legal institutions, including torts, intellectual property, judicial behavior, legal decision-making, and art law. His most recent book, The Economic Structure of Intellectual Property Law (2003) with Judge Richard Posner (Senior Lecturer at the Law School), applies economic analysis to the many legal doctrines in trademark, copyright, trade secret, and patent law. Landes has been an editor of the Journal of Law and Economics (1975–1991) and the Journal of Legal Studies (1991–2000), is past president of the American Law and Economics Association, and is a member of the American Economic Association, the Mont Pelerin Society, and the Council of Economic Advisers of the American Enterprise Institute. He is also a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Reviews

[Ross · Rating 4 out of 5]

A readable collection of enhanced journal articles ("chapters") analyzing various intellectual property doctrines and whether or not they maximize social welfare.

[Kyle Brennan · Rating 5 out of 5]

The chapters on term and protection of postmodern art are particularly good.

[Văn Chương]

good