Author: Radu USZKAI
Abstract : The purpose of the following study is that of providing a critical anal‑
ysis of Intellectual Property (IP), with a closer look on copyright, in the context
of human rights. My main conjecture is the following : the legal infrastructure
stemming from the implications of copyrights which states created has nega‑
tive consequences if we have a closer look at some human rights specified by
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). For example, copyrights
are, in my view, incompatible with the human rights which specify that (1) hu‑
man beings have a right to freely take part in the cultural and scientific life of
the communities which they inhabit and (2) human beings have a right to own
property. My main hypothesis is the following : if copyrights are, in fact, more
difficult to ground from a moral perspective, then this considerations must
trump the provision of the 27th article of the UDHR, which states that creators,
be they artists or researchers, have a human right to have their moral and mate‑
rial interests protected with regard to their intellectual products, if this amounts
to a justification for a copyright.
Keywords : intellectual property, globalization, human rights, copyright, patents.
REFERENCES
Alchian, Armen and Demsetz, Harold. 1973. „The Property Rights Paradigm“.
The Journal of Economic History 33(1) : 16‑27Biron, Laura. 2010. „Two
Challenges to the Idea of Intellectual Property“. The Monist 93(3) : 382‑394.
Bjerkoe, Richard and Sorbo, Anders.2010. The Norwegian Music Industry
in the Age of Digitalization. Available online : www.espen.com/the‑
sis‑bjerkoe‑sorbo.pdf .
Cernea, Mihail‑Valentin and Uszkai, Radu. 2012. „The Clash between Global
Justice and Pharmaceutical Patents. A Critical Analysis”. Public Reason
4(1‑2) : 301‑312
Chartier, Roger. 2002. „Property & Privilege in the Republic of Letters“.
Daedalus 131 (2) : 60‑66.
DiCola, Peter. 2013. „Money from music : Survey evidence on musician’s
revenue and lessons about Copyright incentives“. Arizona Law Review 55
(13‑1) : 1‑70.
Hesse, Carla. 1990. „Enlightenment Epistemology and the Laws of Authorship
in Revolutionary France, 1777 – 1793“. Representations 30(4) : 109‑137.
Hesse, Carla. 2002. „The Rise of Intellectual Property, 700 B.C. ‑ A.D. 2000 :
an idea in the balance „. Daedalus 131(2) : 26‑45.
Hettinger, Edwin C.. 1989. „Justfying Intellectual Property“. Philosophy and
Public Affairs 18(1) : 31‑52.
Kinsella, Stephen. 2001. „Against Intellectual Property“. Journal of Libertarian
Studies 15(2) : 1‑53.
Landes, Willliam M. and Posner, Richard A., The Economic Structure of
Intellectual Property Law. Cambridge : Harvard University Press.
Locke, John. 1988[1689]. Two treatise of Government. Cambridge : Cambridge
University Press .
May, Christopher and Sell, Susan K. 2006. Intellectual Property Rights. A crit‑
ical History. London : Lynne Rienner Publisher.
Menell, Peter S. 2000. „Intellectual Property : General Theories“, in Bouckaert,
Boudewijn and Geest, de Gerrit(eds). Encyclopedia of Law & Economics. vol.
II. Cheltenham : Edward Elgar Publishing..
Merges, Robert. 2011. Justifying Intellectual Property. London : Harvard
University Press.
Oberholzer‑Gee,Felix and Strumpf, Koleman. 2010. „File‑Sharing and
Copyright“. In Lerner, Josh and Stern, Scott (eds). Innovation Policy and
the Economy vol. 10. Chicago : University of Chicago Press.
Palmer, Tom. 1990. „Are Patents and Copyright morally justified ? The
Philosophy of Property Rights and Ideal objects“. Harvard Journal of Law
& Public Policy 3 :817‑875.
Spinello, Richard A. 2011. „A Case for Intellectual Property Rights“. Ethics
and Information Technology 13 : 277‑281.
Spinello, Richard A. 2003. „The Future of Intellectual Property“. Ethics and
Information Technology 5 : 1‑16.
Spinello, Richard A., Bottis, Maria. 2009. A Defense of Intellectual Property
Rights. Cheltenham : Edward Elgar Publishing.
Wilson, James. 2010. „Ontology and the Regulation of Inteletctual Property“.
The Monist 93(3) : 393‑427.
Wreen, Michael. 2010. „The Ontology of Intellectual Property“. The Monist.
93(3) : 433‑449.