Understanding intellectual property
1. An overview
Peter Drahos
In part one of his talk, Peter Drahos briefly discusses property in general and its importance for how societies function before examining so-called 'intellectual property rights', which include patent, trademark and copyright laws. He reflects on their benefits and costs, their justifications and their impact on societies, including conferring the private power of taxation. Finally, he uses the example of copyright to amplify his arguments that we should be sceptical about having more of them and, indeed, would benefit from having less.
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The running order for the video is as follows:
Introduction. 0 - 1 minute 54 seconds
Part 1. Questions about intellectual property: 1 min 54 sec - 4 min 15 sec
Part 2. What are intellectual property rights?: 4 min 15 sec - 15 min 37 sec
Part 3. Justifications for intellectual property: 15 min 37 sec - end
(Published 2014)
Further reading
ARTICLES
Peter Drahos (2011): 'Patents, practical ethics and scientists', Prometheus, 29:3,
345-352. Available here.
Peter Drahos (2012): 'The US, China and the G-77 in the era of responsive patentability', Queen Mary Journal of Intellectual Property, Vol. 2 No. 4, pp. 315–328. Available here.
BOOKS
See books by Peter Drahos listed in the column on the right. A Philosophy of Intellectual Property, is available as a free download here and Indigenous People's Innovation: Intellectual Property Pathways to Development is available as a free download here
Carlos M Correa (2000): Intellectual Property Rights, the WTO and Developing Countries - The TRIPS Agreement and Policy Options, Zed Books, London and Third World Network, Penang.
Graham Dutfield (2003): Intellectual Property Rights and the Life Sciences Industries - A Twenthieth Century History, Ashgate, Aldershot and Burlington
Christopher May and Susan K Sell (2006): Intellectual Property Rights - A Critical History, Lynne Rienner, Boulder and London.
Links
iprsonline.org was an internet portal on Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) and Sustainable Development run by the International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development (ICTSD) in Geneva, which unfortunately closed in 2018. It contained a selection of relevant online documents and resources related to IPRs and sustainable development, some of which can be found here. One major resource that came out of a joint UNCTAD-ICTSD project is the Resource Book on TRIPS and Development, CUP, 2005, which is also available as a free download here.
Intellectual Property Watch provides a news service about IPRs across the world.
The South Centre follows developments in IPRs from a developing countries perspective.
In the first half of this interview on the Real News Network in April 2018 Peter explains both how China has been pushed into accepting IP rules by the USA and in the second half explains more broadly why he feels this is a mistake and why 'intellectual property fundamentally contributes to inequality'.
Peter Drahos is Professor of Law and Governmance in the Department of Law at the European University Institute, in Florence, Italy; an Emeritus Professor in the Regulatory Institutions Network at the Australian National University, Canberra and holds a Chair in Intellectual Property at Queen Mary, University of London. He is a member of the Academy of Social Sciences in Australia.
He holds degrees in law, politics and philosophy and is admitted as a barrister and solicitor. He has published widely on a variety of topics including contract, legal philosophy, telecommunications, intellectual property, trade negotiations, international business regulation, indigenous people and intellectual property, energy governance and climate change.
His publications include A Philosophy of Intellectual Property, Dartmouth (1996) and now as free download); Global Business Regulation (with John Braithwaite), Cambridge University Press, 2000; Information Feudalism: Who Controls the Knowledge Economy? (with John Braithwaite), Earthscan (2002); Global Intellectual Property Rights: Knowledge, Access and Development (with Ruth Mayne), Macmillan, 2002; The Global Governance of Knowledge: Patent Offices and Their Clients, Cambridge University Press, 2010; Intellectual Property, Indigenous People and Their Knowledge, Cambridge University Press, 2014; and Indigenous People's Innovation: Intellectual Property Pathways to Development (ed with Susy Frankel), ANU Press, 2012, available as free download; and Regulatory Theory: Foundations and Applications, (ed), ANU Press, 2017 available as free download.
Global Business Regulation was awarded the Hart Socio-Legal Studies Book Prize for 2000, the American Sociological Association’s Prize in the Sociology of Law 2002 and the Grawemeyer Award in Ideas Improving World Order, 2004.
Follow-up
If you want to arrange for follow-up discussions for a class with Peter Drahos via the internet – over Skype or some other service - please contact him.
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