Introduction

Summary

The Introduction sets out the central premise of the book: a sea change in our understanding of the human brain has deep, unexamined implications for intellectual property law. The Introduction begins to build the case for this argument by providing a brief description of the techniques used to detect the biological mechanisms attendant to different thought processes. It connects these techniques to the relevant actors whose perspectives structure the book’s three main parts: artists, audiences, and judges. Neuroscientific lessons for intellectual property law should be approached with a mixture of hope and caution. The hope comes from replacing some of the mistaken hunches about artists and audiences that have shaped intellectual property law for decades. The caution comes from a need to avoid junk science and neuroscientific theories that could do damage to the underlying aims of copyright, patent, and trademark law.