Abolish IP Law, Save the Economy

Two economists at Washington University in St. Louis say they know how to revive the economy -- and it doesn't involve a single bailout. Their proposal is to abolish patent and copyright law. These laws serve only to discourage innovation and prevent inventions from entering the marketplace, they contend.

The two economists, Michele Boldrin and David K. Levine, recently published a book, "Against Intellectual Monopoly," in which they make their case for eliminating patent and copyright laws. "So-called intellectual property is in fact an 'intellectual monopoly' that hinders rather than helps the competitive free market regime that has delivered wealth and innovation to our doorsteps," says the book's description. In a Washington University news item about the book, Levine says:

From a public policy view, we'd ideally like to eliminate patent and copyright laws altogether. There's plenty of protection for inventors and plenty of protection and opportunities to make money for creators. It's not that we see this as some sort of charitable act that people are going to invent and create things without earning money. Evidence shows very strongly there are lots of ways to make money without patents and copyright.

While the two professors -- who also contribute to the blog Against Monopoly -- would eliminate existing patent and copyright laws, they would not have us go without laws of any kind. Instead, they would urge Congress to grant patents only to those capable of proving that:

• Their invention has social value
• A patent is not likely to block even more valuable innovations
• The innovation would not be cost-effective absent a patent

According to the news item from Washington University, the authors acknowledge that Congress is unlikely to adopt such drastic reform, so as a next-best option, they propose an incremental approach to gradually reduce the scope of patents, regulation and licensing.

Posted by Robert J. Ambrogi on March 13, 2009 at 02:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Comments

Be a plumber said...

Sure - and then let the Europeans and the Chinese steal every good idea developed by Americans, patent it under their systems and then sue american businesses for using the inventions or ideas without paying THEM royalties or fees. These professors have been buried in the library a little too long.

Reply March 13, 2009 at 04:07 PM

bikey said...

No, they wouldn't meet the novelty requirement. This is a great idea. It would release innovative and creative juices that have been bottled up for decades. The problem is, this is the only real hegemony the US has left (aside from all those marvy weapons they've been designing to rule the world), so more than abandonment of IP, a fundamental change of attitude would be necessary. There's the rub.

Reply March 14, 2009 at 07:29 PM

Brett Owens said...

Echoing the 1st comment here - realize that "patent trolls" are becoming an increasing hindrance to the innovation process.

But is the best solution really to mimic China, where intellectual property theft is a huge problem?

Reply March 14, 2009 at 08:29 PM

ZZ said...

Why don't the two professors release their book into the public domain so that others can profit by copying it?

Or do they like copyright law only when it serves to protect their own interests? I thought there were lots of ways to make money without copyright.

Reply March 15, 2009 at 04:24 PM

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