All of the assigned readings are available online through the links in the syllabus, below. In addition, most of the readings are available in two printed volumes, available (for $10 apiece) from Amazon through the following links: Volume 1; Volume 2.
I. Origins of Rights to Land (3 classes)
- Johnson v. M’Intosh, 21 U.S. 543 (1823):
- Historical Background (recorded lecture, 31 min.) (format options: Vimeo stream; Vimeo download; mp4)
- Locke, The Second Treatise of Government, chapter 5 (1689)
- Peter Schworm, “Boston, City of Savers,” Boston Globe, Jan. 19, 2019
- Harold Demsetz, Toward a Theory of Property Rights,” The American Economic Review 57 (1967): 347
II. Controlling Land Use (6 classes)
A. Introduction
B. Nuisance
- Middlesex Co. v. McCue, 149 Mass. 103 (1889)
- Arkansas Release Guidance Foundation v. Needler, 252 Ark. 194 (1972)
- Boomer v. Atlantic Cement Co., 26 N.Y.2d 9 (1970)
- Spur Industries v. Del. E. Webb Development Co., 494 P.2d 700 (Ariz. 1972)
C. Light and Air
- Prah v. Maretti, 108 Wis. 223 (1982)
- Adrienne Rich, “Dreams Before Waking,” in Your Native Land, Your Life (1982)
D. Trespass
- Campbell v. Race, 7 Cush. 408 (Mass. 1851)
- Morris Cohen, “Property and Sovereignty,” 13 Cornell L.Q. 8, (1927), pages 11-14
- State v. Shack, 58 N.J. 297 (1971)
- Title II of the Civil Rights Act of 1964
E. Zoning
- Lecture: Layers of Law
- Village of Euclid v. Ambler Realty, 272 U.S. 365 (1926)
- Stoyanoff v. Berkeley, 458 S.W.2d 305 (1970)
- Robert Ellickson, “Zoning and the Cost of Housing: Evidence from Silicon Valley, Greater New Haven, and Greater Austin” (2020), pages 1-31, 87-97
III. Subdividing Rights (6 classes)
A. The Estate System
- Lecture: Freehold Estates and Future Interests
- Problem Set #1 (handout)
- Johnson v. Whiton, 159 Mass. 424 (1893)
- White v. Brown, 559 S.W.2d 938 (Tenn. 1977)
- Melms v. Pabst Brewing Co., 104 Wis. 7 (1899)
- Mahrenholz v. County Board of School Trustees, 93 Ill. App. 3d 366 (1981)
B. Concurrent Interests
- Lecture: The Common-Law System and Community Property
- Problem Set #2 (handout)
- Sawada v. Endo, 561 P.2d 1291 (Hawaii 1977)
C. Landlords and Tenants
- Lecture: Nonfreehold Estates
- Problem Set #3 (handout)
- Hilder v. St. Peter, 144 Vt. 150 (1984)
- Perspectives:
- The Fair Housing Act, 42 U.S.C. secs. 3601-3631 (1984)
D. Nonpossessory Interests
- Lecture: Easements, Covenants, and Equitable Servitudes
- Catalogue of Nonpossessory Interests
- Problem Set #4 (handout)
- Shelley v. Kraemer, 334 U.S. 1 (1948)
IV. Transferring Rights (6 classes)
A. Sales
B. Gifts
C. Death
- Mass. General Laws, ch. 190B, article II (2012)
- Maria Cramer, “A Patriarch Leaves No Will, and the Home He Meant for His Cambridge Family May Be Lost,” Boston Globe, February 7, 2019
- “Pet Care: Where There’s a Will,” Boston Globe, Jan. 5, 2011
D. Adverse Possession
- Summit Veterinary Services v. Tindle (Court of Appeals of Iowa 2017)
- DeeDee Correll, “This land is now their land — so a judge rules,” LA Times, Dec. 3, 2007
- South Norwalk Lodge, No. 709, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks v. Palco Hats, 100 A.2d 735 (Ct. 1953)
- O’Keeffe v. Snyder, 83 N.J. 478 (1980)
V. Rights to Water (2 classes)
- Evans v. Merriweather, 4 Ill. 492 (1842)
- Coffin v. Left Hand Ditch Co., 6 Colo. 443 (1882)
- Ben Ryder Howe, “Wall Street Eyes Billions in the Colorado’s Water,” New York Times, January 3, 2021
- Jolls, Sunstein, and Thaler, A Behavioral Approach to Law and Economics, pp. 1471-1489
VI. Rights to Animals (2 classes)
VII. Rights to People (2 classes)
VIII. Rights to Information (4 classes)
A. Health Data
B. Traditional Knowledge
IX. Rights to Innovations (4 classes)
A. Fictional Characters
- Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer v. American Honda Motor Co., 900 F. Supp. 1287 (C.D. Cal. 1995)
- DC Comics v. Towle, 802 F.3d 1012 (9th Cir. 2015)
- Wendt v. Host Int’l, Inc., 125 F.3d 806 (CA9 1997)
B. Software
- Lecture: The History of Intellectual Property Protection for Software
- Alice Corp. v. CLS Bank (SCOTUS 2014)
- Oracle v. Google (SCOTUS 2021)