Download the new Landes and Posner:

The Political Economy of Intellectual Property Law, published by AEI, June 2004, the download is here, 42 pp..

Here is the summary:

This monograph seeks to explain the expansion of intellectual property law over the last half century, focusing in particular on the rapid growth that began with the 1976 Copyright Act. In so doing, it explores a fundamental, unresolved issue in the theory of regulation: why some kinds of regulation have increased dramatically over this period while others have virtually disappeared.

I have yet to read it, but obviously this will be of interest to many.

Thanks to the ever-excellent www.politicaltheory.info for the pointer.