# Against Intellectual Monopoly by Michele Boldrin and David K. Levine

3 Hacker News commenters recommended Against Intellectual Monopoly by Michele Boldrin and David K. Levine and 1 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 3 of 13 months.

**Verdict:** Recommended as a scholarly, rigorous academic case against copyright and patents, though one critic finds the authors push a narrative and dense reading.

## Why people recommend it

- Rigorous academic case against patents and copyright (2 comments): "A scholarly and far more rigorous argument against copyright and patents can be found in Against Intellectual Monopoly" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49912457)) "great academic (but very digest) book titled "Against Intellectual Monopoly"" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49358762))
- Shaped commenters' thinking on intellectual property (1 comments): "The book "against intellectual monopoly" has shaped a lot of my thinking on this topic" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48763480))

## What people warn about

- Authors push a narrative over facts (1 comments): "the authors have a narrative they are trying to push and they don't let inconvenient things like facts or history get in the way" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48766712))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [Capital in the Twenty-First Century by Thomas Piketty](https://hackerapproved.com/p/capital-in-the-twenty-first-century.md): 12 recommend
- [Why Nations Fail by Daron Acemoglu and James Robinson](https://hackerapproved.com/p/why-nations-fail.md): 9 recommend
- [Progress and Poverty by Henry George](https://hackerapproved.com/p/progress-and-poverty.md): 6 recommend
- [Free to Choose by Milton Friedman](https://hackerapproved.com/p/free-to-choose.md): 5 recommend
- [Imperialism, the Highest Stage of Capitalism by Vladimir Lenin](https://hackerapproved.com/p/imperialism-the-highest-stage-of-capitalism.md): 5 recommend

## Where to get it

- [See price on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/dp/0521127262?tag=hackerapprove-20) (affiliate link)
- [Bookshop.org](https://bookshop.org/a/130825/9780521127264) (affiliate link)

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Against Intellectual Monopoly by Michele Boldrin and David K. Levine", https://hackerapproved.com/p/against-intellectual-monopoly/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).