The End of Ownership: Personal Property in the Digital Economy
Aaron Perzanowski and Jason Schultz
Abstract
The digital economy has great potential, but it also entails risks. The notion of personal property and ownership is under threat because of the shift to digital distribution and ubiquitous embedded software. This book makes a case for the importance of ownership in the digital age. It argues that the rights associated with ownership serve critical functions of promoting cultural preservation and innovation as well as protecting consumer autonomy. Technological developments and the aggressive efforts of IP rights holders, however, are gradually eroding the concept of ownership. There has been ... More
The digital economy has great potential, but it also entails risks. The notion of personal property and ownership is under threat because of the shift to digital distribution and ubiquitous embedded software. This book makes a case for the importance of ownership in the digital age. It argues that the rights associated with ownership serve critical functions of promoting cultural preservation and innovation as well as protecting consumer autonomy. Technological developments and the aggressive efforts of IP rights holders, however, are gradually eroding the concept of ownership. There has been a disconcerting trend of courts bypassing the default rules of property law; the rights acquired by consumers through purchase are defined instead by license agreements drafted by IP rights holders or retailers. In addition to license agreements, IP rights holders also employ technological methods such as Digital Rights Management (DRM) to restrict consumer use and protect their intellectual property. The matter is made worse by online retailers’ insufficient disclosure, which frequently uses words like “buy” or “own” to offer false promises of ownership. The loss of personal property rights has serious consequence not just for individual consumers; an important institutional actor – the public library – is also struggling to deal with the shift to digital collections and the corresponding restrictions imposed by IP rights holders. In response to these threats to ownership, the book explores legal as well as technological solutions, and presents a powerful argument for informed consumer choice in the digital marketplace.
Keywords:
Ownership,
Personal property,
Intellectual property,
Digital economy,
Copyright,
Patent,
Exhaustion,
First sale,
Legal reform
Bibliographic Information
| Print publication date: 2016 |
Print ISBN-13: 9780262035019 |
| Published to MIT Press Scholarship Online: May 2017 |
DOI:10.7551/mitpress/9780262035019.001.0001 |
Authors
Affiliations are at time of print publication.
Aaron Perzanowski, author
Case Western Reserve University
Jason Schultz, author
New York University
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