Eur J Law Econ (2014) 37:357–359 DOI 10.1007/s10657-012-9306-7 BOOK REVIEW

Book review Ju¨rgen G. Backhaus

Published online: 22 January 2012 Ó Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2012

Heijo Ruijsenaars (ed.), Character Merchandising in Europe, London/The Hague/ New York: Kluwer Law International, 2003. Lisa N. Takeyama, Wendy J. Gordon, Ruth Towse (eds.), Developments in the Economics of Copyright. Research and Analysis, Cheltenham, UK/Northampton, MA, USA: Edward Elgar, 2005. Ruth Towse (ed.), Copyright in the Cultural Industries, Cheltenham, UK/ Northampton, MA, USA: Edward Elgar, 2002. Ruth Towse, Creativity, Incentive and Reward. An Economic Analysis of Copyright and Culture in the Information Age, Cheltenham, UK/Northampton, MA, USA: Edward Elgar, 2001. Michael A. Einhorn, Media, Technology and Copyright. Integrating Law and Econnomics, Cheltenham, UK/Northampton, MA, USA: Edward Elgar, 2004. Dina Kallay, The Law and Economics of Antitrust and Intellectual Property. An Austrian Approach, Cheltenham, UK/Northampton, MA, USA: Edward Elgar, 2004. Roger D. Blair, Thomas F. Cotter, Intellectual Property. Economic and Legal Dimensions of Rights and Remedies, New York: Cambridge University Press, 2005. What do Goethe’s Faust, champagne, Braunschweig liverwurst and Thalidomide have in common with Tempo and Kleenex tissues? The books reviewed in this multiple review provide answers in multiple directions. In 1995, the International Association for the Protection of Intellectual Property after conducting a workshop in 1992, published a resolution on the legal aspects of merchandising in Europe. Character Merchandising in Europe essentially collects seventeen country aspects by practicing lawyers with impressive academic credentials and sometimes J. G. Backhaus (&) Erfurt, Germany e-mail: [email protected]

123

358

Eur J Law Econ (2014) 37:357–359

also academic affiliations. There is no attempt at an explicit law and economics analysis. The cover promises: ‘‘This is the first and only in depth analysis of this nascent but far reaching field of legal practice and as such it is of unique value not only to practitioners in entertainment and sports law but to company lawyers in virtually any enterprise’’. Competent presentation: Yes —analysis? No. Developments in the Economics of Copyright collects nine different essays related by what the title suggests and little else. ‘‘Both economists and legal scholars are applying their analytical skills to a broad range of theoretical and applied areas.’’ (p. xix). Here follows the table of contents: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9.

Should economics play a role in copyright law and policy? Risk sharing and the distribution of copyright collective income MP3s and copyright collectives: a cure worse than the disease? Peer-to-peer, piracy and the copyright law: implications for consumers and artists ‘Fair use’ as policy instrument Towards a differentiated products theory of copyright Private appropriability and sharing of knowledge: convergence or contradiction? The opposite tragedy of the creative commons IMS Health or the question whether copyright still deserves a specific approach in a market economy? The basics matter: at the periphery of intellectual property

Copyright in the Cultural Industries offers sixteen studies in ‘‘publishing, broadcasting (television and radio), film and video, multimedia and the music business.’’ The Dutch macro-economist turned politician unexpectedly found himself in the office of Dutch state secretary for culture. In this capacity, he defines the field as eightfold: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.

Must or can the original concept of copyright remain in effect or has it had its day? Does the copyright structure, in its present form, take sufficient account of technological developments? What impact will technical protection measures have and what impact should they have? What should be the government’s role in exercising and enforcing copyrights? What role doe we see for libraries, broadcasting, corporations, research and educational institutes in relation to copyright? How does consumer privacy tie in with copyright? Must record companies, publishers, book and CD shops stay in business or can or must authors themselves exercise their copyright in direct relation to the consumer? All the preceding questions implicitly prompt the following question, which is equally valid: Is copyright wrongfully safeguarding the interests of information producers to an increasing extent, rather than protecting the interests of information producers to an increasing extent, rather than protecting the interests of the individual author as originally intended? Professor Hugenholtz has highlighted this very point.

123

Eur J Law Econ (2014) 37:357–359

359

The state secretary, a veteran of the generation 68, tried to close the popular House Doorn, the last residence of Emperor William II, which the kingdom had confiscated after William’s death. He thus proved that even this innocuous office can be used by a determined ideologue to stir substantial controversy. Creativity, Incentive and Reward collects eight essays by Ruth Towse written over a span of 12 years. In these essays, she draws on her experience as an economics teacher and longtime editor of the Journal of Cultural Economics. Add to this her marriage to Mark Blaug and you can appreciate the strong brew she can draw on. The different cultural policies of the UK and the Netherlands provide a wonderful backdrop for conclusions for cultural policy. Media, Technology and Copyright is firmly grounded in the law and economics tradition. Einhorn is an American economic consultant who—since he also testifies in American courts—takes an explicit American perspective and thus complements Ruijsenaar’s European country reports. Twenty-two pages of bibliography attest to a thorough grounding of Dina Kallay not just in law and economics, but also in the Austrian tradition. The author combines teaching at Bar Ilan University with practicing law in Tel Aviv. Finally, Blair and Cotter’s book is a highly successful cooperation between an economist and a lawyer, both teaching at the University of Florida. In seven substantive chapters they even show how to calculate damages for infringements of intellectual property rights.

123