Two of the great University of Chicago professors have teamed up again. Professor Bill Landes and 7th Circuit Judge Richard Posner’s newest work is titled The Political Economy of Intellectual Property Law.
This monograph seeks to explain the expansion of intellectual property law over the last half century, focusing in particular on the rapid growth that began with the 1976 Copyright Act. In so doing, it explores a fundamental, unresolved issue in the theory of regulation: why some kinds of regulation have increased dramatically over this period while others have virtually disappeared.
Read about Posner’s recent stint as a patent law judge here.