Abstract
This paper examines the question whether, and to what extent, John Locke’s classic theory of property can be applied to the current debate involving intellectual property rights (IPRs) and the information commons. Organized into four main sections, Section 1 includes a brief exposition of Locke’s arguments for the just appropriation of physical objects and tangible property. In Section 2, I consider some challenges involved in extending Locke’s labor theory of property to the debate about IPRs and digital information. In Section 3, it is argued that even if the labor analogy breaks down, we should not necessarily infer that Locke’s theory has no relevance for the contemporary debate involving IPRs and the information commons. Alternatively, I argue that much of what Locke has to say about the kinds of considerations that ought to be accorded to the physical commons when appropriating objects from it – especially his proviso requiring that “enough and as good” be left for others – can also be applied to appropriations involving the information commons. Based on my reading of Locke’s proviso, I further argue that Locke would presume in favor of the information commons when competing interests (involving the rights of individual appropriators and the preservation of the commons) are at stake. In this sense, I believe that Locke offers us an adjudicative principle for evaluating the claims advanced by rival interests in the contemporary debate about IPRs and the information commons. In Section 4, I apply Locke’s proviso in my analysis of two recent copyright laws: the Copyright Term Extension Act (CTEA), and the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). I then argue that both laws violate the spirit of Locke’s proviso because they unfairly restrict the access that ordinary individuals have previously had to resources that comprise the information commons. Noting that Locke would not altogether reject copyright protection for IPRs, I conclude that Locke’s classic property theory provides a useful mechanism for adjudicating between claims about how best to ensure that individuals will be able to continue to access information in digitized form, while at the same time also allowing for that information to enjoy some form of legal protection.
Similar content being viewed by others
Abbreviations
- CTEA:
-
Copyright Term Extension Act
- DMCA:
-
Digital Millennium Copyright Act
- IPRs:
-
Intellectual Property Rights
References
L. Becker (1977) Property Rights: Philosophical Foundations Routledge and Kegan Paul London
E.A. Buchanan J. Campbell (2005) New Threats to Intellectual Freedom: The Loss of the Information Commons Through Law and Technology in the US R.A. Spinello H.T. Tavani (Eds) Intellectual Property Rights in a Networked World: Theory and Practice Idea Group Publishing Hershey, PA 225–242
J. Boyle (2006) Enclosing the Genome: What the Squabbles Over Genetic Patents Could Teach Us H.T. Tavani (Eds) Ethics, Computing, and Genomics: Moral Controversies in Computational Genomics Jones and Bartlett Sudbury, MA 249–271
J.W. Child (1997) The Moral Foundation of Intangible Property A.D. Moore (Eds) Intellectual Property: Moral, Legal, and International Dilemmas Rowman and Littlefield Lanham, MD 57–80
W. Coy. On Sharing Intellectual Properties in Global Communities. Paper presented at the 2004 Symposium of the International Center for Information Ethics, Karlsruhe, Germany, October 5, 2004. Forthcoming in J. Frühbauer, R. Capurro, and T. Hausmanninger, editors, Localizing the Internet: Ethical Issues in Intercultural Perspective, Fink Verlag, Munich (in press)
P. Drahos (1996) A Philosophy of Intellectual Property Dartmouth Publishing Aldershot, UK
F.H. Easterbrook (1990) ArticleTitleIntellectual Property is Still Property Harvard Journal of Law and Public Policy 3 110
W. Gordon and A. Drassinower. Locke and the Law. Dartmouth Publishing, Aldershot, UK (forthcoming)
D.J. Halbert (1999) Intellectual Property in the Information Age: The Politics of Expanding Ownership Rights Quorum Books Westport, CT
G. Hardin (1968) ArticleTitleThe Tragedy of the Commons Science 162 1243–1248
M.A. Heller (1998) ArticleTitleThe Tragedy of the Anticommons: Property in the Transition from Marx to Markets Harvard Law Review 111 621–688
E.C. Hettinger (1997) Justifying Intellectual Property A.D. Moore (Eds) Intellectual Property: Moral, Legal, and International Dilemmas Rowman and Littlefield Lanham, MD 17–38
K. Himma (2005) ArticleTitleInformation and Intellectual Property Protection: Evaluating the Claim that Information Wants to be Free APA Newsletter on Philosophy and Law 4 IssueID2 3–9
J. Hughes (1997) The Philosophy of Intellectual Property A.D. Moore (Eds) Intellectual Property: Moral, Legal, and International Dilemmas Rowman and Littlefield Lanham, MD 107–178
K. Kimppa (2005) Intellectual Property Rights in Software – Justifiable From a Liberalist Position?: Free Software Foundation’s Position in Comparison to John Locke’s Concept of Property R.A. Spinello H.T. Tavani (Eds) Intellectual Property Rights in a Networked World: Theory and Practice Idea Group Publishing Hershey, PA 67–82
J. Locke (1690) Two Treatises of Civil Government Everyman’s Library (1924) London
M.C. McFarland (2004) Intellectual Property, Information, and the Common Good R.A. Spinello H.T. Tavani (Eds) Readings in Cyber Ethics EditionNumber2 Jones and Bartlett Sudbury, MA 294–3004
T. Mautner (1982) ArticleTitleLocke on Original Appropriation American Philosophical Quarterly 19 259–270
A.D. Moore (1997) Toward a Lockean Theory of Intellectual Property A.D. Moore (Eds) Intellectual Property: Moral, Legal, and International Dilemmas Rowman and Littlefield Lanham, MD 81–103
A.D. Moore (2001) Intellectual Property and Information Control: Philosophic Foundations and Contemporary Issues Transaction Publishers New Brunswick, NJ
A.D. Moore (2006) Intellectual Property, Genetic information, and Gene-Enhancement Techniques H.T. Tavani (Eds) Ethics, Computing, and Genomics: Moral Controversies in Computational Genomics Jones and Bartlett Sudbury, MA 193–207
R. Nozick (1974) Anarchy, State, and Utopia Basic Books New York
H. Onsrud (1998) The Tragedy of the Information Commons D.R.F. Taylor (Eds) Policy Issues in Modern Cartography Pergamon Oxford 141–158
T.G. Palmer (1997) Intellectual Property: A Non-Posnerian Law and Economics Approach A.D. Moore (Eds) Intellectual Property: Moral, Legal, and International Dilemmas Rowman and Littlefield Lanham, MD 179–224
M. Rose (1993) Authors and Owners: The Invention of Copyright Harvard University Press Cambridge, MA
M.J. Scanlan (2005) Locke and Intellectual Property Rights R.A. Spinello H.T. Tavani (Eds) Intellectual Property Rights in a Networked World: Theory and Practice Idea Group Publishing Hershey, PA 83–98
R.A. Spinello H.T. Tavani (2004) Intellectual Property in Cyberspace R.A. Spinello H.T. Tavani (Eds) Readings in CyberEthics EditionNumber2 Jones and Bartlett Publishers Sudbury, MA 247–252
R.A. Spinello H.T. Tavani (2005) Intellectual Property Rights: From Theory to Practical Implementation R.A. Spinello H.T. Tavani (Eds) Intellectual Property Rights in a Networked World: Theory and Practice Idea Group Publishing Hershey, PA 1–65
H.T. Tavani (2002) ArticleTitleInformation Wants to Be Shared: An Alternative Framework for Approaching Intellectual Property Disputes in an Information Age Catholic Library World 73 IssueID2 94–104
H.T. Tavani (2004a) Ethics and Technology: Ethical Issues in an Age of Information and Communication Technology John Wiley and Sons Hoboken, NJ
H.T. Tavani (2004b) ArticleTitleBalancing Intellectual Property Rights and the Intellectual Commons: A Lockean Analysis Journal of Information and Communication in Ethics and Society 2 IssueIDSupplement S5–S14
H.T. Tavani (2005a) Recent Copyright Protection Schemes: Implications for Sharing Digital Information R.A. Spinello H.T. Tavani (Eds) Intellectual Property Rights in a Networked World: Theory and Practice Idea Group Publishing Hershey, PA 182–204
H.T. Tavani (2005b) ArticleTitleApplying Locke’s Theory of Property to the Contemporary Debate on Intellectual Property Rights Involving Digital Information APA Newsletter on Philosophy and Law 4 IssueID2 9–16
H.T. Tavani (2006) Intellectual Property Rights and Genetic/Genomic Information H.T. Tavani (Eds) Ethics, Computing, and Genomics: Moral Controversies in Computational Genomics Jones and Bartlett Sudbury, MA 183–191
J. Waldron (1979) ArticleTitleEnough and as Good Left for Others Philosophical Quarterly 29 319–328
J. Waldron (1983) ArticleTitleTwo Worries About Mixing One’s Labor Philosophical Quarterly 33 37–40
C. Wolf (1995) ArticleTitleContemporary Property Rights, Lockean Provisos, and the Interests of Future Generations Ethics 105 791–818 Occurrence Handle10.1086/293753
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Tavani, H.T. Locke, Intellectual Property Rights, and the Information Commons. Ethics Inf Technol 7, 87–97 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10676-005-4584-1
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10676-005-4584-1