PERSONALITY THEORY

personality theory. Intellectual property. A rationalization of intellectual-property laws, esp. copyright, drawing on the philosophy of G.W.F. Hegel, holding that personal expression is a form of self-actualization that gives the creator inalienable moral rights in the creations. • As a way of analyzing intellectual-property rights, personality theory takes the point of view of the individual inventor, author, or artist rather than that of society as a whole. Cf. LOCKEAN LABOR THEORY; UTILITARIANISM.

[Blacks Law 8th]