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The Knockoff Economy approaches the question of incentives and innovation in a wholly new way--by exploring creative fields where copying is generally legal, such as fashion, food, and even professional football. By uncovering these important but rarely studied industries, Raustiala and Sprigman reveal a nuanced and fascinating relationship between imitation and innovation. In some creative fields, copying is kept in check through informal industry norms enforced by private sanctions. In others, the freedom to copy actually promotes creativity. High fashion gave rise to the very term "knockoff," yet the freedom to imitate great designs only makes the fashion cycle run faster--and forces the fashion industry to be even more creative.
Raustiala and Sprigman carry their analysis from food to font design to football plays to finance, examining how and why each of these vibrant industries remains innovative even when imitation is common. There is an important thread that ties all these instances together--successful creative industries can evolve to the point where they become inoculated against--and even profit from--a world of free and easy copying. And there are important lessons here for copyright-focused industries, like music and film, that have struggled as digital technologies have made copying increasingly widespread and difficult to stop.
Raustiala and Sprigman's arguments have been making headlines in The New Yorker, the New York Times, the Financial Times, the Boston Globe, Le Monde, and at the Freakonomics blog, where they are regular contributors. By looking where few had looked before--at markets that fall outside normal IP law--The Knockoff Economy opens up fascinating creative worlds. And it demonstrates that not only is a great deal of innovation possible without intellectual property, but that intellectual property's absence is sometimes better for innovation.
Chapter 1: Introduction Chapter 2: Knockoffs & Fashion Victims Chapter 3: Cuisine, Copying, & Creativity Chapter 4: Comedy & Copyright Chapter 5: Football, Fonts, Finance, & Feist Chapter 6: Conclusion Chapter 7: Epilogue: The Future is Now-Music as a Low-IP Industry
Anonymous
Posted March 8, 2013
An excellent read if you're contemplating starting your own business to understand the mentality out there and perhaps avoid social moray and social media mistakes. The different types of businesses analyzed provide a working example for just about all audiences, making the material relatable. For example, if you're not a sports fan, then that chapter may pass right over your head, but you'll connect with the fashion section, etc. Though written by lawyers, it's a book about the theoretical process, not a book outlining the legalities of the system although it references the law to make several points. Terminology is nicely defined thus providing an introductory education and overview of how the system works.
These fellas should do a sequel in which their focus is measuring and comparing both paid for and free PR tools from Facebook to LinkedIn to Twitter, etc. These forms of social media are also referenced but I bet they would make a fascinating study given the format used to analyze knockoff industries in our present day society.
Anonymous
Posted February 14, 2013
When you typed this was long ago
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.What do a pair of intellectual property lawyers have to say about the
practice of “knocking off” or copying the creations of another person?
Plenty, and, surprisingly, it is not all bad. Kal Raustiala and
Christopher Sprigman take readers through industries based on individual
creativity, like fashion, food and comedy, to examine how they regulate
copying. The authors report that the presence of imitators can encourage
increased innovation. getAbstract finds this an interesting and
entertaining read and recommends its memorable anecdotes to creative
people who might want to share them with others – with the proper
attribution, of course.
Overview
From the shopping mall to the corner bistro, knockoffs are everywhere in today's marketplace. Conventional wisdom holds that copying kills creativity, and that laws that protect against copies are essential to innovation--and economic success. But are copyrights and patents always necessary? In The Knockoff Economy, Kal Raustiala and Christopher Sprigman provocatively argue that creativity can not only survive in the face of copying, but can thrive.
The Knockoff Economy ...