Holder System Research Articles

Property Rights and Information

Information may be contained and governed by rules of property. Patents, copyrights and trademarks are forms of intellectual property which affect not only individual behavior, but the performance of an economy or society. Property, itself, can be viewed as an information system of right holders. So conceived, it is possible to cut across traditional legal compartments and examine the performance of the property system. The patent system is supposed to encourage inventiveness, but does it? The land title system is supposed to assure efficient transfer and firm possession of land, but does it? Ultimately, a property system, however conceived, must be measured in terms of broader issues of efficiency, equitability, privacy and freedom.