In brief, Information Property is:
In slightly more detail, Information Property is a new textbook suitable for an IP survey course. Based on the course materials I have used for over a decade, it emphasizes conceptual clarity and provides a systematic overview of the field.
This is a textbook, not a casebook. While there are a few case excerpts—selected for their quotability or as representative examples of fact-intensive analyses—most of the book consists of straightforward explanations of key IP doctrines. It is designed to be accessible to both law and non-law students. It can be used as the textbook for a course, for self-study, or as supplementary readings.
The book is focused on IP concepts: the recurring patterns that lawyers, courts, and scholars use to explain how IP law works. Understanding the concepts helps predict how doctrines will play out in new cases, and helps marshal the best arguments for and against a result.
I have tried to include a wider range of IP fields and related areas than is typical. The topics include:
I have imposed a highly standardized structure to bring out the similarities and differences between different forms of IP. Each subfield is divided into sections on:
It contains over 80 problems and approximately 500 images. The problems, which focus on how IP concepts play out in real life, range from simple doctrinal questions to thorny client counseling matters. The illustrations include patent drawings, registered trademarks, allegedly infringing photographs, and much more. The PDF version also includes numerous hyperlinks to additional resources, such as the full text of every referenced patent and samples of the works in music copyight cases.
While it is structured as a teaching text, Information Property is also a monograph in disguise. It presents a sustained argument—starting in the title—about what intellectual property is and how its doctrines work. I argue that IP consists of private rights to prevent other people from using information, and look systematically at the conceptual and practical problems that any scheme to control the use of information through private-law mechanisms must confront.
Last but not least, the book is freely available. It can be downloaded it as a free PDF and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license. I am happy to make the LaTeX sources available to anyone who wants. In addition, I have made paperback (black-and-white) and hardcover (full-color) versions available for sale at cost through Lulu.
I plan to revise and extend the book over the years to come. Your comments are welcome, especially any corrections of the many errors that I’m sure it still contains.