Property outlaws : how squatters, pirates, and protesters improve the law of ownership

__Property Outlaws__ puts forth the intriguingly counterintuitive proposition that, in the case of both tangible and intellectual property law, disobedience can often lead to an improvement in legal regulation. The authors argue that in property law there is a tension between the competing demands of stability and dynamism, but its tendency is to become static and fall out of step with the needs of society. The authors employ wide-ranging examples of the behaviors of “property outlaws”—the trespasser, squatter, pirate, or file-sharer—to show how specific behaviors have induced legal innovation. They also delineate the similarities between the actions of property outlaws in the spheres of tangible and intellectual property. An important conclusion of the book is that a dynamic between the activities of “property outlaws” and legal innovation should be cultivated in order to maintain this avenue of legal reform. Contents 5 Preface 7 Introduction 11 Part I. Foundations 33 Chapter 1. Why Property Outlaws? 33 Chapter 2. Property And Intellectual Property 46 Part II. Property Outlaws And Intellectual Property Altlaws 65 Chapter 3. Acquisitive Outlaws: The Pioneers 65 Chapter 4. Expressive Outlaws: Civil Rights Sit-Ins 74 Chapter 5. Property Outlaws And Property Altlaws 81 Chapter 6. Acquisitive Altlaws: The Treatment Action Campaign, Patents, And Public Health 100 Chapter 7. Expressive Altlaws: Copyright And The New Liberation Of Information 119 Part III. Responding To Property Outlaws 135 Chapter 8. Two Perspectives On Property Outlaws 135 Chapter 9. Responding To Property Outlaws 153 Part IV. Responding To Intellectual Property Altlaws 179 Chapter 10. The Informational Value Of Intellectual Property Disobedience 179 Chapter 11. Responding To Acquisitive Altlaws 193 Chapter 12. Responding To Expressive Altlaws 218 Conclusion 237 Notes 251 Index 295 "Property Outlaws puts forth the intriguingly counterintuitive proposition that, in the case of both tangible and intellectual property law, disobedience can often lead to an improvement in legal regulation. The authors argue that in property law there is a tension between the competing demands of stability and dynamism, but its tendency is to become static and fall out of step with the needs of society." "The authors employ wide-ranging examples of the behaviors of "property outlaws"--The trespasser, squatter, pirate, or file-sharer -- to show how specific behaviors have induced legal innovation. They also delineate the similarities between the actions of property outlaws in the spheres of tangible and intellectual property. An important conclusion of the book is that a dynamic between the activities of "property outlaws" and legal innovation should be cultivated in order to maintain this avenue of legal reform."--Jacket

Property Outlaws puts forth the intriguingly counterintuitive proposition that, in the case of both tangible and intellectual property law, disobedience can often lead to an improvement in legal regulation. The authors argue that in property law there is a tension between the competing demands of stability and dynamism, but its tendency is to become static and fall out of step with the needs of society.