Document Type
Article
Publication Date
9-1991
Abstract
It has become fashionable to seek to formulate, or reformulate, copyright law as an expression of overarching grand theory. Perhaps the most prominent manifestation of this trend has been the recasting of copyright law in the mold of economic incentives; a more recent upstart competitor seeks to reclaim the debate by invoking the philosophical precepts of Hohfeld, Hegel and Locke. Occasionally, the literature gives us polite debates about which of the competing theoretical models is more misguided. Meanwhile, another voice in the copyright literature has been complaining that the law is remarkably unaccommodating of the actual process of creating works of authorship. The resort to grand theory does little to illuminate the reason why that should be so.
Recommended Citation
Litman, Jessica D. "Copyright as Myth." University of Pittsburgh Law Review 53, no. 1 (1991): 235-49. (Work published when author not on Michigan Law faculty.)