Member states
of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO)
celebrate every April 26 as World IP Day.
On April 25,
Richard Epstein Distinguished Adjunct Senior Scholar at the Free State
Foundation and NYU Law Professor spoke at the Institute for Policy
Innovation's World Intellectual Property Day Forum in Washington, D.C., on the
"Rule of Law and the Net."
In early
2011, FSF published "Property, Regulatory Policy, or Hybrid? The Elusive
Status of Intellectual Property," a Perspectives from FSF
Scholars paper by Professor Epstein. That paper contains some bedrock
insights regarding intellectual property that are worthy of consideration on
World IP Day. Here's a short preview:
At the methodological level, the best way to understand intellectual property is to treat it as a part of the broader class of property relationships that embraces land, chattels, animals, and, yes, intangibles. Once the generic features of property are well understood, it becomes possible to tackle the narrower question of how to make the appropriate doctrinal and institutional adjustments that capture the distinctive features of intellectual property.
Posts
