Intellectual Property Rights: A Critical History

Intellectual property rights' issues now routinely make headline news whereas copyrights, patents, and such were once considered specialist concerns. May (political economy, Lancaster U.) and Sell (political science, George Washington U.) argue that such rights can even be a matter of life or death, e.g., in the case of making generic versions of AIDS drugs available. In tracing the emergence of these rights, they discuss how their relation to social norms, political philosophy and policy. The authors conclude with a discussion of the Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights agreement required of World Trade Organization members. The glossary of acronyms is helpful. Annotation ©2006 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR