From Goods to a Good Life: Intellectual Property and Global Justice
Yale University Press, 2012

Excerpt: “From Barbie to Harry Potter, the Beatles to Beyoncé, Hollywood to Bollywood, and Viagra to life-saving AIDs medications, intellectual property now dominates our culture and rules our economy and welfare. Our children grown up in a world of copyrighted characters surrounded by trademarked goods. With the advent of the World Trade Organization and its legal obligations, intellectual property also increasingly affects people across the globe, from Brazil to Bangladesh. Yet the full cultural and economic consequences of intellectual property policies are often hidden. We focus instead on the fruits of innovation—more iPods, more best sellers, more blockbuster drugs—without concern for what is being produced, by whom, and for whose benefit.”

Praise: “Madhavi Sunder’s passionate and fascinating book should be required reading for everyone concerned about the future of cultural property in our increasingly globalized world. With her deft use of examples, her rich knowledge of many world cultures, and her broad vision of how law can enhance human freedom, Sunder argues that one traditional focus of intellectual property law, economic efficiency, is too narrow. Efficiency is one important goal, but we should also consider how law affects people’s capacity to participate in cultural production, to criticize tradition, and to pursue values of autonomy and mutual recognition. Equally valuable for experts and the general public, this book will reshape the entire debate about culture as property.” — Martha Nussbaum, Law School, Philosophy Department and Divinity School, The University of Chicago