2. The Normative Objectives of Intellectual Property Laws
Learning Objectives: Unit 2
Upon completion of unit 2, you should be able to:
- Recall the articulated justifications for intellectual property.
- Explain the articulated justifications for intellectual property.
- Identify counterarguments to these justifications for intellectual property.
- Apply these justifications to factual scenarios.
- Recall the primary constitutional basis for copyright and patent law.
Many of the core concepts underlying intellectual property laws are not new. To the contrary: there are numerous articulations of these concepts in the historical record. We will focus on some of the most well-known. Two theories, in particular, have direct ties to our own Constitutional foundation for intellectual property law: natural or moral rights theory and utilitarian theory. Later on, we will discuss two additional theories that intersect with intellectual property law: personhood and social justice.
The reading assignment for today consists of excerpts from the writings of John Locke, Jeremy Bentham, Thomas Jefferson, and James Madison, along with the Patent and Copyright Clause of the United States Constitution[1]. As you read these materials, ask yourself the following questions:
- How would you articulate each primary source writer’s reasoning in sixty seconds?
- What are the parallels between the four primary source writers?
- What concepts underlie each writing?
- What issues arise when these concepts are applied to creative intangibles?
- How do these conceptions of property manifest in the Patent and Copyright clause?
- What is the meaning of “Science” in the Patent and Copyright clause? Of “useful Arts”? Of “Authors and Inventors”? Of “Writings”? “Discoveries?”
- Article I, Section 8, Clause 8 ↵
