The Right to Repair: A Systematic Quantitative Literature Review

Abstract

In recent years the ‘Right to Repair’ (RTR) campaign has sought to protect consumers’ ability to maintain and repair the goods that they buy. The campaign is a response to mounting legal and technical restrictions placed on parts, information, access and repair of goods by manufacturers. Policymakers have begun to respond to the campaign in various jurisdictions, which has in turn spurred an increasing volume of academic analysis. The RTR field is difficult to neatly categorise however: it cuts across intellectual property, consumer and competition law, environmental sustainability, industrial design, and information technology. The spread of academic publications in the field reflects this diversity. This article presents a systematic quantitative literature review of RTR literature starting from the year 2012. It finds that in the United States, RTR literature has tended to frame it as a problem of consumer and competition law, aggravated by over-broad intellectual property protections. As the conversation made its way to Europe, these consumer protection concerns became more connected with e-waste and sustainability, while IP and competition concerns became less prominent. The reviewed literature focuses strongly on the effects of digitalisation and software mediation of control, especially the effects of anti-circumvention laws and restrictive software licenses on repair. Industries such as automobiles and agriculture have received significant attention from advocates and scholars but critical sectors like medical devices and assistive technologies remain understudied