About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline
LOG IN
LOG IN

13 Harv. J. L. & Pub. Pol'y 775 (1990)
What Is Property

handle is hein.journals/hjlpp13 and id is 791 raw text is: WHAT IS PROPERTY?* DR. BOUDEWIJN BOUCKAERT** As this Article is intended to provide a broad context for the debate on intellectual property rights, its analysis will be lim- ited to those aspects of property that will be useful in framing the issue for further debate. Indeed, the definition of property is simultaneously simple and complex. It is simple because we can distinguish a generally accepted common-sense notion of property; that is, something that belongs to somebody in a le- gitimate way, something that is proper to somebody. It is complex because this common-sense notion is difficult to apply to particular issues, including the types of objects that can be owned, the legitimate methods for property-acquisition, and the importance of the institution of property for wealth ac- cumulation and wealth distribution. When one gets into ques- tions of that sort, the ensuing Pandora's box of crucial ethical, legal, political, and economic issues may prove to be over- whelming. The first part of this Article will be devoted to the legal no- tion of property as it was developed in the continental legal tradition. Property as a generic notion, and intellectual prop- ety as a particular species of it, are in the first place notions developed by legal science. In this way, these definitions and the legal theories related to them determine the agenda of pblitical, economic, historical, and sociological research about the accumulation and distribution of wealth and power in society. Because of particular historic circumstances,' continental legal science puts a much stronger emphasis on definitions and general principles than its Anglo-American counterpart. Conti- riental jurists at one time identified this conceptual level of * This Artide results from the adaptation of a discussion paper that was presented at the Liberty Fund Colloquium on Intellectual Property Rights on August 24-27, 1989, in Aix-en-Provence, France. The author would like to express his gratitude to the organizers of the colloquium and to the participants, whose remarks allowed the author to improve the quality of this Article considerably. Special thanks also to Mr. Tom Palmer, who suggested numerous corrections regarding use of language. Any remaining errors are entirely the responsibility of the author. ** Professor, University of Ghent Law School, and Lecturer at the Institute for Hu- mane Studies. B.A., 1971, M.A., 1971, Ph.D., 1981, University of Ghent. 1. See infra note 23.

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Short-term subscription options include 24 hours, 48 hours, or 1 week to HeinOnline.

Purchase Access

Contact us for annual subscription options:

Contact Us

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

Log In

profiles profiles most