New Frontiers in the Philosophy of Intellectual Property

Examines the justification of patents, copyrights and trademarks in light of the political controversy over the TRIPS agreement.

Annabelle Lever (Edited by)

9781107416895, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 10 July 2014

362 pages, 1 table
22.9 x 15.2 x 1.9 cm, 0.49 kg

'… this is an excellent and thought-provoking work. Professor Lever has succeeded in putting together a collection which has the feel of a conversation rather than a set of discrete articles, found, in particular, in the way in which the contributors constantly refer to one another's work. I recommend it to anyone interested in understanding the latest work on philosophy and IP.' Francis Davey, Journal of Intellectual Property Law and Practice

Are intellectual property rights a threat to autonomy, global justice, indigenous rights, access to lifesaving knowledge and medicines? The essays in this volume examine the justification of patents, copyrights and trademarks in light of the political and moral controversy over TRIPS (the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights). Written by a distinguished international group of experts, this book draws on the latest philosophical work on autonomy, equality, property ownership and human rights in order to explore the moral, political and economic implications of property rights in ideas. Written with an interdisciplinary audience in mind, these essays introduce readers to the latest debates in the philosophy of intellectual property, whether their interests are in the restrictions that copyright places on the reproduction of music and printed words or in the morality and legality of patenting human genes, essential medicines or traditional knowledge.

Introduction Annabelle Lever
1. Autonomy, social selves and intellectual property claims John Christman
2. Corrective justice and intellectual property rights in traditional knowledge Stephen R. Munzer
3. 'The genetic code is 3.6 billion years old: it's time for a rewrite': biotech patenting in the twenty-first century Graham Dutfield
4. On the value of intellectual commons James Wilson
5. Copyright infringement as compelled speech Abraham Drassinower
6. Public reason, communication and intellectual property Laura Biron
7. 'Sharing v. free riding: the case of P2P transmission of MP3 files' Geert Demuijnck
8. 'The virtuous p(eer)' David Lametti
9. Intellectual property rights and the TRIPS agreement: an overview of ethical problems and some proposed solutions Jorn Sonderholm
10. Designing a successor to the patent as second best solution to the problem of optimum provision of good ideas Alexander Rosenberg.

Subject Areas: Intellectual property law [LNR], Law [L], Philosophy [HP]