Book Analyses Moral Dimensions Of Intellectual Property Rights

By Maëli Astruc for Intellectual Property Watch

A recent book, “The Moral Dimensions of Intellectual Property Rights,” by Seven Ang of the Nanyang Technological University of Singapore, explores the philosophical implications of moral terms included in IP rights statutes.

“The central rules of IPRs – which define the conditions of their existence or acquisition, their extent and their exercise – employ moral terms and ideas,” the author states in the first chapter. The World Trade Organization Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS), for example, contains in articles 7 and 8 terms such as ‘balance of rights and obligations’, ‘appropriate measures’, and ‘abuse of intellectual property rights’, which have moral dimensions.

Through meta-ethical theories, in particular of R.M. Hare, Ang analyses the moral dimension of various aspects of IPRs, such as their justification, their design, interpretation, exercise and reform. Equal right to freedom and well-being is “the ultimate basis for moral evaluation of our institutions,” he says.

“An implication of this right is that the IPR system must be balanced with participation rights (moral and legal) of the public to a public domain which allows individual to have access to, and use, objects of intellectual property.” Ang adds.

The book is published by Editions Edward Elgar Publishing Limited.