Kinsella on Liberty Podcast, Episode 172.

This is the first of 6 lectures of my 2011 Mises Academy course “Rethinking Intellectual Property: History, Theory, and Economics” (Tuesdays, Mar. 22-April 26, 2011; discussed on the Mises Blog in Study with Kinsella Online and in Rethinking Intellectual Property: Kinsella’s Mises Academy Online Course). I’ll release the remaining lectures here in the podcast feed in upcoming days.

The slides for the first lecture of this course are provided below, as are the “suggested readings” for the course. The course and other matters are discussed in further detail here. I also include in this first of the 6 podcasts for this series an introductory video for the course followed by the audio and slides for all 6 lectures. The “suggested readings” for each lecture are appended to the end of this post. I’ll include individual audio and slides for the following podcasts in this series.

Introductory video from the Mises Blog post Kinsella Can Be Your Professor:

Lecture 1: INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY IN HISTORY

Lecture 2: OVERVIEW OF JUSTIFICATIONS FOR IP; PROPERTY, SCARCITY, AND IDEAS

Lecture 3: EXAMINING THE UTILITARIAN CASE FOR IP

Lecture 4: IP STATUTES AND TREATIES; OVERVIEW OF JUSTIFICTIONS FOR IP; PROPERTY, SCARCITY AND IDEAS; RIGHTS-BASED ARGUMENTS FOR IP: CREATION AS A SOURCE OF RIGHTS

Lecture 5: PROPERTY, SCARCITY, AND IDEAS; EXAMINING RIGHTS-BASED ARGUMENTS FOR IP



Lecture 6: THE FUTURE; INTEGRATING IP THEORY WITH AUSTRIAN ECONOMICS AND LIBERTARIAN THEORY; PROPOSED REFORMS; IMAGINING A POST-IP WORLD; THE FUTURE OF OPEN VS. CLOSED

SUGGESTED READING MATERIAL

The “suggested readings” for each lecture are appended below. The links were internal Mises Academy links so would not work here, and I had no time to add individual links for all of them, but until I find time to code in the links, most of these materials can be found on stephankinsella.com/publications, c4sif.org/resources, mises.org, hanshoppe.com/publications, or on Wikipedia or by google search. (If there is a particular link you cannot find online, email me or add to the comments, and I’ll try to find it and update the post with that link.)

Main Texts

LECTURE 1: INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY IN HISTORY

SUGGESTED READINGS

Legal Background:

AIP, pp. 9-14

Optional

Copyright Basics (US Copyright Office) URL Copyright Basics (US Copyright Office) URL

Copyright overview (LII/Cornell) URL Copyright overview (LII/Cornell) URL

Patent law overview (LII/Cornell) URL Patent law overview (LII/Cornell) URL

Patent introductory information (Ladas & Parry) URL Patent introductory information (Ladas & Parry) URL

US Patent law information (USPTO) URL US Patent law information (USPTO) URL

History:

AIM, ch. 2, pp. 33-35 (“World Before Copyright” section); ch. 3, pp. 48-51 (“World Without Patent” section).

AIP, pp. 9-14

Statute of Anne (Wikipedia) URL Statute of Anne (Wikipedia) URL

Stationers’ Company (Wikipedia) URL Stationers’ Company (Wikipedia) URL

History of patent law (Wikipedia) URL History of patent law (Wikipedia) URL

Letters Patent (Wikipedia) URL Letters Patent (Wikipedia) URL

Statute of Monopolies 1624 (Wikipedia) URL Statute of Monopolies 1624 (Wikipedia) URL

Optional

LECTURE 2: OVERVIEW OF JUSTIFICATIONS FOR IP; PROPERTY, SCARCITY, AND IDEAS

SUGGESTED READINGS

Law

Defamation (Wikipedia)–beginning to Section 5 only

Uniform Domain-Name Dispute-Resolution Policy

History

Optional

Economic and Utilitarian Arguments

AIP, pp. 19-23

Optional

AIM, ch. 7, esp. pp. 176-201

Kinsella, There’s No Such Thing as a Free Patent

Machlup, “An Economic Review of the Patent System” [pp. 19-26 et seq., et pass.]

Machlup & Edith Penrose, “The Patent Controversy in the Nineteenth Century,” pp. 7-28

Hurt & Schuchman, “ The Economic Rationale of Copyright

Deontological/Natural Rights-Based Arguments

AIP, pp. 23-28

Ayn Rand Lexicon-Patents and Copyrights URL Ayn Rand Lexicon-Patents and Copyrights URL

Ayn Rand Lexicon-Production URL Ayn Rand Lexicon-Production URL

Optional

Dale Halling, Ayn Rand on Intellectual Property URL Dale Halling, Ayn Rand on Intellectual Property URL

Kinsella, Comment to “Galambos and Other Nuts” URL Kinsella, Comment to “Galambos and Other Nuts” URL

Machlup & Edith Penrose, “The Patent Controversy in the Nineteenth Century,” pp. 7-28 URL Machlup & Edith Penrose, “The Patent Controversy in the Nineteenth Century,” pp. 7-28 URL

Greg Perkins, Don’t Steal This Article! URL Greg Perkins, Don’t Steal This Article! URL

Kinsella, Objectivists: “All Property is Intellectual Property” URL Kinsella, Objectivists: “All Property is Intellectual Property” URL

Kinsella, Inventors are Like Unto … GODS … URL Kinsella, Inventors are Like Unto … GODS … URL

Hurt & Schuchman, “The Economic Rationale of Copyright” URL Hurt & Schuchman, “The Economic Rationale of Copyright” URL

Property, Scarcity, Ideas

Optional

LECTURE 3: EXAMINING THE UTILITARIAN CASE FOR IP

SUGGESTED READINGS

***Note: Use same readings as for Lecture 2 starting with “History”–PLUS the new material re patent trolls linked below***

Law

Patent Troll email response Page Patent Troll email response Page

Hidden from students: Patent Troll email response URL Hidden from students: Patent Troll email response URL

Patent Trolls and Empirical Thinking URL Patent Trolls and Empirical Thinking URL

Facebook Threatened by a Non-Patent Troll URL Facebook Threatened by a Non-Patent Troll URL

OUTRAGE OF THE WEEK

Once Again, the Copyright/Trademark Tail Tries to Wag the Internet Dog Once Again, the Copyright/Trademark Tail Tries to Wag the Internet Dog

LECTURE 4: IP STATUTES AND TREATIES; OVERVIEW OF JUSTIFICTIONS FOR IP; PROPERTY, SCARCITY AND IDEAS; RIGHTS-BASED ARGUMENTS FOR IP: CREATION AS A SOURCE OF RIGHTS

SUGGESTED READINGS

***Note: Use same readings as for Lecture 2 starting with “Economic and Utilitarian Arguments”–PLUS the new material linked below***

Recent News & Outrages

Outrages: See following recent C4SIF entries: Hershey Claims Ownership of Orange, Brown and Tan Candy Wrappings; UK High Court Ruling Implies Headlines Are Copyright; Universities attacking high schools over trademarks; EFF rescues ASL Ally’s sign-langu URL Outrages: See following recent C4SIF entries: Hershey Claims Ownership of Orange, Brown and Tan Candy Wrappings; UK High Court Ruling Implies Headlines Are Copyright; Universities attacking high schools over trademarks; EFF rescues ASL Ally’s sign-langu URL

Law

Photography and the law URL Photography and the law URL

Key IP Statutes and Treaties Key IP Statutes and Treaties

LECTURE 5: PROPERTY, SCARCITY, AND IDEAS; EXAMINING RIGHTS-BASED ARGUMENTS FOR IP

SUGGESTED READINGS

***read the material from Week 2 starting with “Deontological/Natural Rights-Based Arguments”***

LECTURE 6: THE FUTURE; INTEGRATING IP THEORY WITH AUSTRIAN ECONOMICS AND LIBERTARIAN THEORY;

PROPOSED REFORMS; IMAGINING A POST-IP WORLD; THE FUTURE OF OPEN VS. CLOSED

SUGGESTED READINGS

Outrages of the Week/Recent News

See recent postings on C4SIF.org (since Dec. 8) URL See recent postings on C4SIF.org (since Dec. 8) URL

Austrian Economics and IP

Kinsella, “Mises on Intellectual Property“ URL Kinsella, “Mises on Intellectual Property“ URL

Hayek and Rothbard references in “Other Publications and Resources” section URL Hayek and Rothbard references in “Other Publications and Resources” section URL

Libertarianism and IP

A Libertarian Theory of Contract: Title Transfer, Binding Promises, and Inalienability, pp. 30-33 URL A Libertarian Theory of Contract: Title Transfer, Binding Promises, and Inalienability, pp. 30-33 URL

Kinsella, “Locke on IP; Mises, Rothbard, and Rand on Creation, Production, and “Rearranging”” URL Kinsella, “Locke on IP; Mises, Rothbard, and Rand on Creation, Production, and “Rearranging”” URL

IP as Contract

AIP, pp. 45-55 (IP as Contract)

Reputation, Trademark, and Communication

Kinsella, “Reply to Van Dun: Non-Aggression and Title Transfer,” pp. 59-63 URL Kinsella, “Reply to Van Dun: Non-Aggression and Title Transfer,” pp. 59-63 URL

Proposed Reforms

Kinsella, “Reducing the Cost of IP Law,” URL Kinsella, “Reducing the Cost of IP Law,” URL

Innovation in a Post-IP World

Kinsella, “Innovations that Thrive without IP URL Kinsella, “Innovations that Thrive without IP URL

Kinsella, “Funding for Creation and Innovation in an IP-Free World ” URL Kinsella, “Funding for Creation and Innovation in an IP-Free World ” URL

Kinsella, “The Creator-Endorsed Mark as an Alternative to Copyright” URL Kinsella, “The Creator-Endorsed Mark as an Alternative to Copyright” URL

OPTIONAL