Copyright and Freedom of Expression: a Philosophical Map

Copyright law has an ambiguous relation with freedom of expression. On the one hand, copyright law protects the free expression of creators by ensuring that they reap the benefits of their own work. Without the existence of copyright law, any creator would fear the appropriation of her work by others. Copyright allows artists to express themselves without worrying about the potential reproduction of their words, art or music.1 On the other hand, as is often noted, copyright law restricts the form that expression might take by forbidding the free use of copyrighted materials. In a rapidly changing environment with new technologies, it is not only the enforcement of copyright that has been put into question but also its moral legitimacy (Davies, 2002, p. 32). The conflict between freedom of expression and copyright raises a number of important normative issues. Not all of them can be addressed in this chapter. In particular, I will not address here the important normative issues raised by the direct copyright control that some corporations assert over the use of cultural and intellectual works.2