[TeeDub]

>"I don't think America surpassing Britain in any category was solely due to copyright laws."

This may be incorrect, at least for one category (literature). There's actually some really interesting lit that argues that lax/nonexistent copyright laws of the revolutionary period are the reason that the publishing industry ever took off in America. And these same laws, it could be argued, are how American literature got its start. (Sorry, this is skeevy, but I can't remember the title of the book that articulates this argument for the life of me... Will post it if it comes to me.)

As to your second argument: Are there other aspects of Japanese society that could influence their innovation that go beyond intellectual property? I'm not going to deny that IP protections could play a role in innovation, but I could certainly imagine two countries with identical IP regimes having RADICALLY different levels of innovation. (Education, culture, etc could all create positive impacts on innovation... and these effects may even outweigh any effect produced by an IP regime.)

Are there any metrics for innovation as a whole? This would be an interesting thing to look into...

[hdevalence]

I don't know if this is the book you're thinking of, but "Against Intellectual Monopoly" by Michele Boldrin and David Levine has such arguments.

It's a very interesting book -- I'd recommend it to anyone interested in the subject, whatever their position.

[westicle]

So very refreshing to see a response to a (self-acknowledged) lack of citation which is helpful and advances the discussion rather than snarky or negative.

I very much appreciate the high quality of discourse hn makes possible (despite the fact that the actual quality varies wildly).