A Property Right in Self-Expression: Equality and Individualism in the Natural Law of Intellectual Property

Gordon, Wendy J.

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A Property Right in Self-Expression: Equality and Individualism in the Natural Law of Intellectual Property

Yale Law Journal, Vol. 102, No. 7, 1993

80 Pages Posted: 30 Apr 2020

See all articles by Wendy J. Gordon

Wendy J. Gordon

Boston University School of Law

Date Written: 1993

Abstract

This Article argues that a properly conceived natural-rights theory of intellectual property would provide significant protection for free speech interests. This is more than just an academic exercise. Judges have failed to use the First Amendment to provide extensive protection for free expression in intellectual property cases, in part because they mistakenly find a warrant for strong "authors' rights" in a philosophy of natural law. Natural rights theory, however, is necessarily concerned with the rights of the public as well as with the rights of those whose labors create intellectual products. When the limitations in natural law's premises are taken seriously, natural rights not only cease to be a weapon against free expression; they also become a source of affirmative protection for free speech interests.

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Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation

Gordon, Wendy J., A Property Right in Self-Expression: Equality and Individualism in the Natural Law of Intellectual Property (1993). Yale Law Journal, Vol. 102, No. 7, 1993, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3583671