知的所有権制度における正義の考察 : ロールズとノージックの理論を通して

Intellectual property rights have a monopoly during their validity period, which is protected by the legal system. This monopoly causes unfairness, which is also a problem of justice in the intellectual property system. In this paper, we first identify the purpose of setting up the intellectual property system, which is to promote the development of the cultural industry, and the design concept of the intellectual property system, which is based on Locke’s labor value theory, i.e., the prior intellectual property system recognizes the core position of labor value in intellectual property. Labor is human labor, which basically depends on human talents; therefore, the value of labor basically depends on human talents. Nozick believes that human talents are completely personal; thus, the labor results based on talents should also belong to individuals. This view is considered to be liberalism. The advantage of liberalism is that it stimulates individual talents to create value and then promotes the development of industry and culture. However, Rawls believes that human talents should be seen as not a personal resource, but a social resource. Therefore, the country should implement a certain degree of redistribution of the income gap caused by the value created by human talent. Rawls proposed the “principle of justice,” which embodies both the spirits of liberalism and egalitarianism. The validity period of intellectual property rights protection is based on this concept, which considers not only efficiency but also a certain degree of equality. This is the justice of the intellectual property system. The justice of intellectual property rights also shows that it is not appropriate to treat intellectual property rights as equal to property rights, which is an excessive claim for intellectual property rights.