Intellectual Property Law

Motivation and justification

Intellectual property law is mainly intended to encourage the creation of various intellectual goods for consumers by giving people and businesses property rights to the information and intellectual goods they create, usually for a limited period of time. Because they can then profit from them, this creates economic incentives for their creation. The intangible nature of intellectual property presents difficulties when compared with traditional property like land or goods. Unlike traditional property, intellectual property is indivisible—an unlimited number of people can "consume" an intellectual good without it being depleted. Additionally, investments in intellectual goods suffer from problems of appropriation—while a landowner can surround their land with a robust fence and hire armed guards to protect it, a producer of information or an intellectual good can usually do very little to stop their first buyer from replicating it and selling it at a lower price. Balancing rights so that they are strong enough to encourage the creation of information and intellectual goods, but not so strong that they prevent their wide use, is the primary focus of modern intellectual property law.