The economic structure of intellectual property law
by William M. Landes · first published 2003
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3HN commenters
2011–2020first – last mentioned
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…skeptical of many legal developments, but not doctrinaire or absolutist. Digital technology didn't take the economic theory of property by surprise. See Information Rules, or even Landes and Posner's The Economic Structure of Intellectual Property Law. The latter goes light on software and the Internet, but covers all the same dimensions of marginal cost, prior work, and so on, in analysis of other domains. Cost savings with digital technology didn't…
on “License Zero: Comments on “The Truth Is Paywalled but the Lies Are Free”” ↗…means well proven that having IP at all is overall beneficial. So rather than saying we definitely need it, it is quite possible we would be better off with none. What do Landes and Posner say? (in 'The economic structure of intellectual property law'; Landes, Posner; 2003. Conclusion, p422, s3.) "Economic analysis has come up short of providing either theoretical or empirical grounds for assessing the overall effect of intellectual property law…
on “Berlin's new Pirate Party might be here to stay” ↗…Landes & Posner say? "Economic analysis has come up short of providing either theoretical or empirical grounds for assessing the overall effect of intellectual property law on economic welfare." -- 'The economic structure of intellectual property law'; Landes, Posner; 2003. Conclusion, p422, s3. That means we do not know whether it does good overall. Hard to quite believe? Well there it is.
on “End Piracy, Not Liberty – Google” ↗…(see: the standard economic model of it). If it is badly calibrated, the net effect is negative. And the current state of economic knowledge is that no-one knows whether it is set correctly (see: 'The economic structure of intellectual property law'; Landes, Posner; 2003. Conclusion, p422, s3.). When there is a whole big system, of various obvious costs, and you do not even know the net effect is positive, the sensible thing is to stop doing it…
on “New study affirms that fewer copyright restrictions benefit the economy” ↗As Landes and Posner say in 'The economic structure of intellectual property law' (Conclusion, p422, s3) (2003): "Economic analysis has come up short of providing either theoretical or empirical grounds for assessing the overall effect of intellectual property law on economic welfare."…
on “Popcorn Time – Watch torrent movies instantly” ↗…good quote for you: "Economic analysis has come up short of providing either theoretical or empirical grounds for assessing the overall effect of intellectual property law on economic welfare." -- 'The economic structure of intellectual property law'; Landes, Posner; 2003. (Conclusion, p422, s3.) Landes and Posner are the accepted orthodox authority on the subject, and even they are telling us that we do not even know if copyright is doing any good.
on “Intellectual Property Rights Same Advantages As Barbed Wire?” ↗…plenty of things have nothing to do with it. And it is quite possible it is not vital to any part of the economy. Economic research has not been able to determine the value of IP (see, for example: 'The economic structure of intellectual property law'; Landes, Posner; 2003. Conclusion, p422, s3.). That means, as far as anyone knows, we might actually be better off without it. That might be surprising, but there you are. If there were no, or much…
on “Why Spotify can never be profitable: The secret demands of record labels” ↗…themselves later say: "Economic analysis has come up short of providing either theoretical or empirical grounds for assessing the overall effect of intellectual property law on economic welfare." -- 'The economic structure of intellectual property law'; Landes, Posner; 2003. Conclusion, p422, s3. That is, to spell it out, we do not know if intellectual monopoly law is doing any good at all. This is easy to see for oneself: there must be, and obviously…
on “Google-An update to our search algorithms - Copyright Related” ↗…credibility, it was to establish myself as "not a shill for Microsoft." Every F100 company has done bad things with patents. How's this: I've been a student of patent law since the late 90s. I've read "The Economic Structure of Intellectual Property Law" cover to cover. The patent system is a huge fucking mess and we need reform. I used to have pretty idealistic opinions about how to handle patent trolls until I started dealing with the ugly and expensive…
on “Azure Intellectual Property Advantage” ↗