Madison on the Football as an IP Object

Michael J. Madison, University of Pittsburgh School of Law, has posted The Football as Intellectual Property Object, which is forthcoming in A History of Intellectual Property in 50 Objects, edited by Dan Hunter and Claudy Op Den Kamp (Cambridge University Press).

Soccer Match, 1928 (NYPL)

The histories of technology and culture are filled with innovations that emerged and took root by being shared widely, only to be succeeded by eras of growth framed by intellectual property. The Internet is a modern example. The football, also known as the pelota, ballon, bola, balón, and soccer ball, is another, older, and broader one. The football lies at the core of football. Intersections between the football and intellectual property law are relatively few in number, but the football supplies a focal object through which the great themes of intellectual property have shaped the game: origins; innovation and standardization; and relationships among law and rules, on the one hand, and the organization of society, culture, and the economy, on the other.