Document Type
Notes
Publication Date
2012
Language
en-US
Abstract
Contracting over information is notoriously difficult. Nearly fifty years ago, Kenneth Arrow articulated a ''.fundamental paradox" that arises when two parties try to exchange information. To complete such a transaction, the buyer of information must be able to place a value on the information. But once the seller discloses the information, the buyer can take it without paying. The conventional solution to this disclosure paradox is intellectual property. If the information is protected by a patent or a copyright then the seller can disclose the information free in the knowledge that the buyer can be enjoined against making, using, or selling it without permission. This account of information exchange forms the basis for an increasingly popular argument in favor of strong and broad intellectual property rights for the purpose of overcoming the disclosure paradox and thereby facilitating the development and commercialization of ideas.
Recommended Citation
Wendy J. Gordon & Michael J. Burstein,
Notes on Exchanging Information Without Intellectual Property
(2012).
Available at:
https://scholarship.law.bu.edu/gordon/151
Comments
Professor Gordon provided feedback to Professor Burstein on this paper, which he used for a job talk.