The Intellectual Property Bargain and Software

Abstract

In the United States, an “intellectual property bargain” underlies the concept of intellectual-property protection. This “bargain” between creators and society balances two social objectives: 1) it encourages the production and dissemination of new works and inventions (by providing economic incentives to creators), and 2) it promotes access to and use of these works and inventions.¹ Thus, the limited monopoly granted to authors by copyright and to inventors by patents is a quid-pro-quo arrangement to serve the public interest, rather than a system established primarily to guarantee income to creators. (See app. A for reviews of copyright, patent, and trade secret protections as they pertain to software.)