A Critic at Large: Is A.I. the Death of I.P.?

The copyright wars, revised and expanded.

Louis Menand

Intellectual property accounts for some or all of the wealth of at least half of the world’s fifty richest people, and it has been estimated to account for fifty-two per cent of the value of U.S. merchandise exports. I.P. is the new oil. Nations sitting on a lot of it are making money selling it to nations that have relatively little. It’s therefore in a country’s interest to protect the intellectual property of its businesses. But every right is also a prohibition. My right of ownership of some piece of intellectual property bars everyone else from using that property without my consent. I.P. rights have an economic value but a social cost. Is that cost too high? I.P. ownership comes in several legal varieties: copyrights, patents, design rights, publicity rights, and trademarks.…

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The New Yorker (Digital) - 1 Issue, January 22, 2024

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