Freedom of Expression: Resistance and Repression in the Age of Intellectual Property - Softcover

Praise for "Freedom of Expression(R)" "A very funny treatment of an increasingly serious problem: the use of intellectual property rights in ways that suppress instead of foster creativity." --William Fisher, Hale and Dorr Professor of Intellectual Property Law, Harvard University "Freedom of Expression is one of the "sharpest" weapons in the culture wars being waged over the extensive protections now accorded to intellectual property. A lively read, the book brims with humor, juicy examples, and the voices of those whose creativity is threatened and endangered. If you had any doubts about the way intellectual property is shaping popular culture, Kembrew McLeod will dispel them. The privatization of culture has found its most trenchant critic." --Rosemary Coombe, author of "The Cultural Life of Intellectual Properties" "People, this is it.... A must-read for anyone who wants to actually change the way digital culture operates." --Paul D. Miller aka. Dj Spooky that Subliminal Kid "The ability of creators to parlay their expressive efforts with technology falls within a battleground that accountants, lawyers, and lawmakers dictate with barbed boundaries. That's as impossible as owning the air itself, which Kembrew McLeod states and identifies clearly." --Chuck D, Public Enemy "Professor McLeod's book should be required reading for anyone concerned with having free speech and free press as the trademarks of Rupert Murdoch, Wall Street and the kingpins of Madison Avenue. The stakes are somewhat high -- like the future of our society." --Robert W. McChesney, author of "The Problem of the Media" "Kembrew McLeod has written a lively and funny bookabout life in the age of Intellectual Property Madness. In the spirit of Woody Guthrie himself, this book is your book." --Siva Vaidhyanathan, author of "The Anarchist in the Library" Praise for "Freedom of Expression(R) "A very funny treatment of an increasingly serious problem: the use of intellectual property rights in ways that suppress instead of foster creativity." --William Fisher, Hale and Dorr Professor of Intellectual Property Law, Harvard University "Freedom of Expression is one of the "sharpest weapons in the culture wars being waged over the extensive protections now accorded to intellectual property. A lively read, the book brims with humor, juicy examples, and the voices of those whose creativity is threatened and endangered. If you had any doubts about the way intellectual property is shaping popular culture, Kembrew McLeod will dispel them. The privatization of culture has found its most trenchant critic." --Rosemary Coombe, author of "The Cultural Life of Intellectual Properties "People, this is it.... A must-read for anyone who wants to actually change the way digital culture operates." --Paul D. Miller aka. Dj Spooky that Subliminal Kid "The ability of creators to parlay their expressive efforts with technology falls within a battleground that accountants, lawyers, and lawmakers dictate with barbed boundaries. That's as impossible as owning the air itself, which Kembrew McLeod states and identifies clearly." --Chuck D, Public Enemy "Professor McLeod's book should be required reading for anyone concerned with having free speech and free press as the trademarks of Rupert Murdoch, Wall Street and the kingpins of Madison Avenue. The stakes are somewhat high -- like the future of our society." --Robert W. McChesney, author of "The Problem of the Media "Kembrew McLeod has written a lively and funny book aboutlife in the age of Intellectual Property Madness. In the spirit of Woody Guthrie himself, this book is your book." --Siva Vaidhyanathan, author of "The Anarchist in the Library

Freedom of Expression(R) covers the ways in which intellectual property laws have been used to privatize all forms of expression--from guitar riffs and Donald Trump's "you're fired" gesture to human genes and public space--and in the process stifle creative expression. Kembrew McLeod challenges the blind embrace of privatization as it clashes against our right to free speech and shared resources. Kembrew McLeod is professor of communication studies at the University of Iowa, author of Owning Culture: Authorship, Ownership, and Intellectual Property Law, and coproducer of the documentary Copyright Criminals: This Is a Sampling Sport. Lawrence Lessig is professor of law at Stanford Law School. This book's documentary companion will be available through Media Education Foundation.