Intellectual Property

I don't like too post class notes, but these ones are pretty useful/ good to know.

Intellectual Property

- Introduction
○ Value of intellectual properties much greater than value of media

- What is IP?
○ Any unique product of the human intellect that has commercial value
§ Books, songs, movies
§ Paintings, drawings
§ Inventions, chemicals formulas, computer programs
○ Intellectual property != physical manifestation
- Property Rights
○ Locke: The Second Treatise of Government
○ People have a right…
§ To property in their own person
§ To their own labor
§ To things they remove from nature through their labor
○ As long as…
§ Nobody claims more property than they can use
§ After someone removes something from common state, there is plenty left over
- Expanding the Argument to Intellectual Property
○ Writing a play akin to making a belt buckle
○ Belt buckle
§ Mine ore
§ Smelt it down
§ Cast it
○ Writing a play
§ "mine" words from English language
§ "Smelt" them into prose
§ "Cast" tem into a complete play
- Analogy is Imperfect
○ If Ben Jonson and William Shakespeare simultaneously write down Hamelt, who owns it?
○ If Ben "steals" the play from Will, both have it.
- Benefits of Intellectual Property Protection
○ Some people are altruistic; some are not
○ Allure of wealth can be an incentive for speculative work
○ Authors of U.S. Constitution recognized benefits to limited intellectual property protection.

- Limits to Intellectual Property Protection
○ Giving creators rights to their inventions stimulates creativity
○ Society benefits most when inventions in public domain
○ Congress has struck compromise by giving authors and inventors rights for a limited time.

- 4.3 Protection Intellectual Property
○ Confidential piece of intellectual property that gives a company a competitive advantage
○ Never expires
○ Not appropriate for all intellectual properties
○ Reverse engineering allowed
○ May be compromised when employees leave firm.

- Trade Secret
○ Confidential piece of intellectual property that gives company a competitive advantage
○ Never expires
○ Not appropriate
○ Can tell once leave firm unless signed non disclosure agreement.
- Trademark, Service Mark
○ Trademark: Identifies goods
○ Service mark: identifies services
○ Company can establish a "brand name"
○ Does not expire
○ If brand name becomes common noun, trademark may be lost
○ Companies advertise to protect their trademarks
○ Companies also protect trademarks by contacting those who misuse them.
- Patent
○ A public document that provides detailed description of invention
○ Provides owner with exclusive right to the invention
○ Owner can prevent others from making, using, or selling invention for 20 years.
○ Can get the blueprints/ w.e for it unlike trade secrets
- Copyright
○ Provides owner of an original work five rights
§ Reproduction
§ Distribution
§ Public display
§ Public performance
§ Production of derivative works

Copyright-related industries represent 5-6% of US GDP