Property, Intellectual Property, and Social Justice: Mapping the Next Frontier

Abstract

Professor Joseph Singer’s property scholarship explores the human, cultural, social, and distributive dimensions of property law. Using his body of work as a springboard, this article explores the cross-currents flowing between intellectual property and social justice. Part I examines the limitations of tangible property theory as a frame for understanding intellectual property policy. Part II distinguishes between internal, largely utilitarian, analysis of particular modes of intellectual property protection and the external interplay of intellectual property systems and broader social justice concerns. Part III explores the macro interplay of intellectual property and inequality, gender and racial inclusion, and global justice challenges, highlighting complexities, tensions, and paradoxes.

Keywords: Intellectual Property, Patent, Copyright, Trade Secret, Trademark, Social Justice