Frischmann, Brett --- "Infrastructure theory and IP" [2019] ELECD 1950; in Depoorter, Ben; Menell, Peter; Schwartz, David (eds), "Research Handbook on the Economics of Intellectual Property Law" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2019) 551

Book Title: Research Handbook on the Economics of Intellectual Property Law

Editor(s): Depoorter, Ben; Menell, Peter; Schwartz, David

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

Section: Chapter 21

Section Title: Infrastructure theory and IP

Author(s): Frischmann, Brett

Number of pages: 30

Abstract/Description:

This chapter explores how infrastructure theory applies to cultural-intellectual resources. It begins with a summary of infrastructure theory and then discusses how the theory applies to intellectual-cultural resources. Applying the theory reveals a series of demand-side complications for conventional law and economic theories of intellectual property and related governance institutions. These complications arise vividly in modern debates about intellectual property rules that exclude certain subject matter or otherwise limit the scope of intellectual property rights and sustain commons (public access). The entry is an adaptation of ‘Intellectual Infrastructure,’ chapter 12 of Frischmann (2012).