OAK LEAVES AND THE ORIGINS OF THE 1927 RADIO ACT - COMMENT

The Radio Act of 1927 was enacted so as to pre-empt the common law pro perty rights then being asserted over radio waves, thus facilitating a political equilibrium where broadcasters and regulators shared licens e rents. The Oak Leaves case of November 1926, awarding AM frequency r ights to a private broadcaster on the homesteading principle, helped m otivate Congress, steering it towards a ''public interest'' licensing law. The Twight paper, while ostensibly critiquing this now standard v iew in the law and economics literature, actually endorses it. The exi sting history stands corroborated, uncorrected.