Copyright Law and Property Law

Property is at the core of state law since it is the exclusive power of the individual state governments to define and protect property rights within their jurisdiction. In this paper I will discuss the general connection between copyright and property generally. I will argue that property law sheds important light on copyright law and can help us cut through modern controversies in copyright law. If I am correct in this view, any judge sufficiently familiar with property law doctrines could do better than the Supreme Court of the United States in resolving a new copyright controversy.

Specifically, property law can be usefully applied to resolve fair use disputes. Of course, property law alone is not enough to resolve these problems. Courts will also have to determine what constitutes an “invasion” or an “interference” with a copyright. These are matters that turn toward economics.