Intellectual Property Law systems exist to benefit not only individual right-holders, but public as a whole. However, different nations place varying weight on the importance of IP Law and its role in society. The gamut of attitudes towards IP Law ranges from those countries believing in its importance for economy and science, to those not introducing any in order to make medicine and materials freely available to all. In this session, we will look at the effects of culture on the enforcement of IP Law, as well as the moral justifications and criticisms of intellectual property.

Reading:

Bryan W Husted, ‘The Impact of National Culture on Software Piracy’ (2000) 26(3) Journal of Business Ethics 197. Available at <https://link.springer.com/article/10.1023/A:1006250203828>

Amanda Budde-Sung, ‘The Invisible Meets the Intangible: Culture’s Impact on Intellectual Property Protection’ (2013) 117(2) Journal of Business Ethics 345. Available at

<https://www.jstor.org/stable/42001853?seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents>

Giancarlo Frosio, ‘Re-Imagining Digital Copyright Through the Power of Imitation: Lessons from Confucius and Plato’ (2018) 5(1) Peking University Transnational Law Review 55. Available at

<https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3094316>

Additional Reading:

Naomi Mezey, ‘Law as Culture’ (2001) 13 Yale Journal of Law & the Humanities 35. Available at

<https://heinonline.org/HOL/Page?handle=hein.journals/tlr69&div=57&g_sent=1&casa_token=zUle4 djA_lcAAAAA:mwdYAlSwmi1bg2lqWlM0WzIzsRu_mw2DpExqKjeCb5I0Ep73l5fFTM08pHi4zrenrpdkVtk&collection=journals>

John Carroll, ‘Intellectual Property Rights in the Middle East: A Cultural Perspective’ (2001) 11 Fordham Intellectual Property, Media & Entertainment Law Journal 555. Available at

<https://heinonline.org/HOL/Page?handle=hein.journals/frdipm11&div=27&g_sent=1&casa_token=6 lgqqa_QVOEAAAAA:BRqn9G810Swc-IL9zxwrQBH1Jzd7N2B4WGNnvihRuPttbjKrDVWGFo058FHLFpxy6ZwJyI0&collection=journals>

William P Alford, ‘Don’t Stop Thinking About…Yesterday – Why There Was No Indigenous Counterpart to Intellectual Property Law in Imperial China’ (1993) 7 Journal of Chinese Law 3. Available at

<https://heinonline.org/HOL/Page?collection=journals&handle=hein.journals/colas7&id=14&men_ta b=srchresults>

T Aplin and J Davis, Intellectual Property Law: Text, Cases and Materials 3rd ed (OUP, 2017); or L. Bently and B. Sherman, Intellectual Property Law 5^th ed (OUP, 2018)