Deviant Globalization and the Rise of Diverse Interests in the Multilateral Protection of Intellectual Property

Abstract

The combined forces of globalization and digitization have brought into the mulilateral process a multiplicity of previously under-represented interests, including most notably those of the participants and beneficiaries of “deviant globalization.” With its emphasis on trade and innovation across socio-economic levels, and its focus on unmet consumer demands, deviant globalization, also referred to as the “informal economy,” brings new understandings of the relationship between compensation, access, and distributional innovation. These new interests have already impacted the norms governing the informal digital market. They will play an increasing role in ongoing efforts to recalibrate domestic and multilateral IP norms as well. Such recalibrations will not require that the needs of intellectual property owners be ignored. They will, however, require that IP owners’ interests be balanced against the practical operating principles governing the informal economy. New distribution techniques and products will be given “elbow room” to grow. Compensatory streams for the unauthorized use of IP works will be adjusted to reflect the right of consumers and producers to ensure reasonable access to desired works. Ultimately, the interests of deviant globalization will impose a regulatory scheme on intellectual property rights based on guiding norms that place economic opportunity for all — IP owners, developing economies, and consumers — at the center of the analysis.