New Publication by Prof. Christine Haight Farley Explores the Intersection of IP Law and Moral Judgments
July 15, 2021
A new publication is out from PIJIP's Faculty Director, Professor Christine Haight Farley. "A Research Framework on Intellectual Property and Morality" has been published in Approaches and Methodologies in Intellectual Property Research (Irene Calboli & Lilla’ Montagnani, eds.).
Abstract: This chapter surveys the scholarship that investigates the intersection of IP and morality and addresses to what extent, if any, IP law does or should reflect moral judgments. Scholars disagree about whether morality has a place in IP law. Some scholars look at IP through the lens of morality; some see only a disconnect between IP law and morality. For some, morality serves as a basis for IP rights, while others find law and morality to be so conceptually distinct as to be irreconcilable. Some see a danger in IP laws being in conflict with morality, while others view the introduction of morality as a danger. The complexity of IP scholars’ relationship to morality is matched only by the complexity of morality itself as a concern of law. The chapter organizes this area of scholarship according to the position it takes on the appropriateness of the juxtaposition, that is, are the authors moral realists or moral sceptics? Within this divide, the chapter organizes the work by the various approaches, themes, and questions that are common to these scholars.
The full text of the chapter is available here.
Professor Farley specializes in information law and teaches courses on intellectual property, contract law, advertising law, and art law. Her current research focuses on branding in the age of micro-targeted advertising and the over protection of design. For her full bio, courses, and selected works, click here.