Freedom of Expression

Freedom of Expression®: Resistance and Repression in the Age of Intellectual Property is a nice (more up-to-date) companion piece to Lawrence Lessig’s Free Culture written by University of Iowa Communications Studies Professor Kembrew McLeod.

In his book, McLeod discusses “free speech and creativity in this multimedia age — and how copyright law is being used as a tool of censorship”. There’s also a companion DVD, narrated by anti-globalization pinup girl and No Logo author Naomi Klein.

The tale of how and why McLeod took the step of trademarking the phrase “Freedom of expression” is an entertaining and worthwhile read; here’s the author’s summary of the ‘why’:

In my application to the Patent and Trademark Office, I didn’t  write: “I want to trademark ‘freedom of expression’ as an ironic comment that demonstrates how our culture has become commodified and privately owned.” I simply applied to register this trademark and let the government decide whether or not we should live in a world where someone can legally control freedom of expression®.

Amidst all the text on the book’s site is an intriguing conversation with novelist and essayist Johnathan Lethem, in which he details the experience he had in exploring the limits of the doctrine of fair use when creating the mashup essay “The Ecstasy of Influence: A Plagiarism“ which is, in itself, a highly entertaining read, replete with sources and annotations.

~ by Hugh on October 26, 2007.