Muutokset

This book examines both the evidence and the theory. Our conclusion is that creators’ property rights can be well protected in the absence of intellectual property, and that the latter does not increase either innovation or creation. They are an unnecessary evil.

This is a book about economics, not about law. Or put differently, it is not about what the law is but rather what the law should be. If you are interested in whether or not you are likely to wind up in jail for sharing your files over the internet, this is not the book for you. If you are interested in whether it is a good idea for the law to prevent you from sharing your files over the internet, then this book is for you.

Intellectual monopoly is no different in this respect. The question we address is whether it also creates social benefits commensurate with these social costs.

The U.S. Constitution allows Congress “To promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries.”^18 Our perspective on patents and copyright is a similar one: promoting the progress of science and the useful arts is a crucial ingredient of economic welfare, from solving such profound economic problems as poverty, to such mundane personal nuisances as boredom. From a social point of view, and in the view of the founding fathers, the purpose of patents and copyrights is not to enrich the few at the expense of the many. Nobody doubts that J. K. Rowling and Bill Gates have been greatly enriched by their intellectual property – nor is it surprising that they would argue in favor of it. But common sense and the