On Cowbells in Rock Anthems (and Property in IP): A Review of Justifying Intellectual Property

The author is going to start this Article with two confessions. First, when he was fourteen, his favorite rock song was (Don't Fear) The Reaper, by Blue Oyster Cult. Second, one of his favorite Saturday Night Live (SNL) sketches is from the 2000 season, "Behind the Music: Blue Oyster Cult." The sketch is a tribute in memory of Gene Frenkle, the member of Blue Oyster Cult who played the cowbell on (Don't Fear) The Reaper. The SNL sketch purports to explain how the cowbell made it onto the studio recording. He makes these confessions to explain his general reaction to intellectual property (IP) law and scholarship. He is a property scholar, and when he looks at intellectual property he sees it shot through with property concepts and policies. When he heard (Don't Fear) The Reaper, Bruce Dickinson had to have more cowbell; when he read IP scholarship, he gotta have more property.