Copyright and Generic Entry in Book Publishing

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Reimers, Imke
• 署名单位: Northeastern University
• 刊物名称: AMERICAN ECONOMIC JOURNAL-MICROECONOMICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 1945-7669
• DOI: 10.1257/mic.20170100
• 发表日期: 2019
• 页码: 257-284
• 关键词: price-competition; product variety; pharmaceuticals; models

摘要

Taking works off copyright promotes their availability, but it also allows generic entry to dissipate producer surplus. This paper examines the effect of a copyright on the availability and price of books when incentives to create new works are not affected. Evaluating the welfare impact of the 1998 Copyright Term Extension Act, I find that a copyright significantly limits the availability of works, leading to a decrease in consumer surplus, which is significantly larger than any increases in profits to copyright holders. Without changing incentives to create new content, the copyright extension was economically inefficient.