B. Is property really the source of the trouble?
The suggestion that we might ameliorate copyright doctrine by
treating it more similarly to traditional property is anathema to many
commentators on copyright law, who think the problem is precisely too
much traditional property talk.20 Throughout his recent book Copyright’s
Paradox, Neil Netanel argues that ―Blackstonian‖ or ―propertarian‖
thinking—two terms he uses more or less interchangeably—are the root
cause of virtually all of copyright‘s ills.21 Netanel contrasts the vision of
copyright as a ―full-fledged property right‖ giving owners ―a broad ‗sole
and despotic dominion‘ over each and every possible use of a work‖ with
a competing view of copyright as ―a limited government grant narrowly
tailored to serve a public purpose.‖22 Commenting on this critique,