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"When Bias is Bipartisan: Teaching About the Democratic Process in an Intellectual Property Law Republic"

Abstract:
This essay asserts that intellectual property law courses offer law professors the opportunity to teach subject areas rich with complicated statutory and court-made doctrines about which students do not usually have strong or extensively delineated moral views, giving everyone in the classroom a refreshing break from the traditional partisanship of political party politics. It explains that the politics of intellectual property law are somewhat insulated from traditional political party divisions, and as a result, learning copyright law, patent law and trademark law can give students the opportunity to think through complex issues with few concerns about political "bias," leading to more open minded grappling with contextual issues of fairness, rights balancing, and social welfare than may be possible with other controversial legal topics.

Downloadable here!

Posted by Ann Bartow on April 3, 2008 9:04 AM |

Comments

Not to be facetious, but why don't you use the word "rent seeking" in the keywords section of the abstract? You write that "intellectual property can’t even exist, no less be protected for the benefit of its owners, without substantial amounts of government regulation and intervention in the marketplace." That admission fits really neatly within the concept of rent seeking behavior. Legislative acts such as the DMCA are classic examples of rent seeking behavior by firms. The fact that libertarians and marxists both abhor rent seekers underscores your central point about insulation from traditional party divisions.

Posted by: Jardinero1 [TypeKey Profile Page] | April 3, 2008 9:31 AM

The essay is part of a symposium issue on "Teaching Intellectual Property Law," so my focus was on teaching concerns, rather than IP doctrine or theory per se. You can find detailed analysis of "rent seeking" and related concepts in many works of IP scholarship, especially those with a "law and economics" bent. You might go to SSRN and check out articles by Suzanna Scotchmer, among others, if you are interested.

Posted by: Ann Bartow [TypeKey Profile Page] | April 3, 2008 9:56 AM

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