Lemley (1997)
Contents
Source Details
Lemley (1997) | |
Title: | The Economics of Improvement in Intellectual Property Law |
Author(s): | Lemley, M. A. |
Year: | 1997 |
Citation: | Lemley, M. A. (1997). The Economics of Improvement in Intellectual Property Law. Tex. L. Rev., 75, 989-1835. |
Link(s): | Definitive , Open Access |
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About the Data | |
Data Description: | This study compares how improvements were treated in 50 U.S. patent infringement cases to 80 copyright infringement cases over the period 1853 to 1996. The authors also include a literature review on the development of intellectual property rights. |
Data Type: | Secondary data |
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Cross Country Study?: | No |
Comparative Study?: | Yes |
Literature review?: | Yes |
Government or policy study?: | No |
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Abstract
A number of doctrines in modern copyright and patent law attempt to strike some balance between the rights of original developers and the rights of subsequent improvers. Both patents and copyrights are limited in duration and in scope. Each of these limitations provides some freedom of action to subsequent improvers. Improvers are free to use material that is in the public domain because the copyright or patent has expired. They are free to skirt the edges of existing intellectual property rights, for example by taking the ideas but not the expression from a copyrighted work or "designing around" the claims of a patent. However, improvers cannot always avoid the intellectual property rights of the basic work on which they wish to improve. Some improvements fall within the scope of the preexisting intellectual property right, either because of an expansive definition of that right or because economic or technical necessity requires that the improver hew closely to the work of the original creator in some basic respect. Here, the improver is at the mercy of the original intellectual property owner, unless there is some separate right that expressly allows copying for the sake of improvement.
Main Results of the Study
- Intellectual property law represents a "delicate balance" between the rights of intellectual property owners and the rights of users, among them the next generation of owners* In order to incentivise improvement in Copyright, a 'radical improvement doctrine' should be adopted, similar to the one that exists in Patents* This would incorporate some of the same cases that are covered by Fair Use, but will also cover cases not specific to fair use exceptions
Policy Implications as Stated By Author
- Public access to works is restricted by intellectual property law* Copyright rules regarding improvement should look more like analogous patent doctrines. There should be a rule of "blocking copyrights" analogous to the blocking patents doctrine that already exists, and that the "transformative use" doctrine gaining currency among the courts may, if properly applied, protect radical improvers from liability to original copyright owners even where the improvement hurts the market for the original work.
Coverage of Study
Datasets
Sample size: | 130 |
Level of aggregation: | Cases |
Period of material under study: | 1853 to 1996 |