Intellectual Property

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Property

Tangible property originally referred to land but now refers to any physical object that a person can own.

As property becomes less physical we should view it as a relation between the owner, the object and users.

$X$ (as the property owner of $Y$) can control $Y$ relative to persons $A,B,C$ and so forth.
If a person owns a certain object, then this person can control who has access to that object and how it is used.
- They could exclude another person from using it and could grant another person unlimited access to it.
Ownership claims involving intellectual objects (involving IP) are both similar to and different from ownership of tangible objects.

Tangible objects are exclusionary in nature.
- If a person owns a specific physical object, then another person cannot, and vice versa.
The sense of scarcity that applies to tangible objects, which often causes competition and rivalry, need not exist for intellectual objects.
- For example, there are practical limitations to the number of physical objects that one can own.
- There are also limitations (natural and political) to the amount of land that can be owned.

Intellectual objects represent creative works and inventions. They are manifestations or expressions of ideas.

Intellectual objects, such as software programs, are non-exclusionary.
- If a person makes a copy of a word-processing program that resides in another person’s computer, then both persons can possess copies of the same word-processing program.
Intellectual objects can be easily reproduced.
- Countless copies of a software program can be produced – each at a relatively low cost.

Legally, one cannot own an idea in the same sense that one can own a physical object.
Governments do not grant ownership rights to individuals for ideas per-se.
Legal protection is given only to the tangible expression of an idea that is creative or original.

Labour Theory

Argues that a property right is a “natural right” and that property rights can be justified by the labour or “toil” that one invests in cultivating land or in creating a work of art.
Utilitarian Theory

Argues that property rights are not natural rights but rather artificial rights created by the state. Property rights are granted to individuals and to corporations because they result in greater social utility overall.
Personality Theory

Argues that a property right is a “moral right” and that property rights are justified not because of labour or social utility but because creative works express the personalities of the authors that create them.

Copyright (for music, art, film, literary works and broadcasts).
Patent (for inventions and processes).
Trademark (for word, name phrase, or symbol that identify a product or service; a “brand identity”).
Design (for what a product looks like).
Trade Secret (for information used in the operation of a business or other enterprise, e.g. a formula, a chemical compound, a blueprint)

Intellectual Property Act 2014
Data Protection Act 1998
Computer Misuse Act 1990
Electronic Commerce (EC Directive) Regulations 2002
Others:
- Freedom of Information Act, 2000
- Disability Discrimination Act, 1995