Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://hdl.handle.net/1959.3/46440

Title

The scarcity of intellectual property

Author(s)

Ciro, Tony

Abstract

It has long been argued that intellectual property is justified on a number of alternative bases. Economic, labour and spiritual theories have been advanced to justify propertising intellectual creations. The thesis of this article is that justifications used for tangible property cannot be used to support the propertising of intellectual property. Intellectual property differs to tangible property because tangible creations are physically scarce. Intellectual property does not suffer from the same scarcity problem because it makes use of a plentiful commodity in the form of information. Intellectual property becomes scarce because of artificial constraints which are imposed by a legal framework that restricts access to public dissemination and use of the intellectual work that is created. It is, therefore, argued that justifications used to support the propertising of tangible property cannot be used to justify the propertising of intangible creations. Instead, an explanation founded upon the creation and protection of investor value can be advanced to explain, but not justify, the enforcement of intellectual property rights as they currently exist.

Publication type

Journal article

Source

The Journal of Information, Law and Technology (JILT), no. 1 (2005)

Publication year

2005

Keyword(s)

ACCC;  Australian Competition and Consumer Commission;  Commercial information;  Government secrets;  Intellectual property;  Market instrumentalism;  Pareto equilibrium;  Personality theory;  Resource allocations;  Trade secrets

Publisher

University of Warwick

ISSN

1361-4169

Publisher URL

http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/law/elj/jilt/

Peer reviewed