Copyright and Positive Freedom: Kantian and Jewish Thought on Authorial Rights and Duties

Copyright and Positive Freedom: Kantian and Jewish Thought on Authorial Rights and Duties, 63(4) J. COPYRIGHT SOC'Y U.S.A. 551 (Fall, 2016)

22 Pages Posted: 2 Jun 2017

See all articles by Kim Treiger-Bar-Am

Kim Treiger-Bar-Am

College of Law and Business; Reichman University - Interdisciplinary Center (IDC) Herzliyah - Radzyner School of Law

Date Written: 2016

Abstract

What can Kantian philosophy and Jewish thought contribute to our understanding of authorial rights and duties? Kant's support for protection of the autonomy of expression of authors and Judaism's for the creative freedom of authors – so-called primary and subsequent authors who make transformative use of prior works. The freedom put forth in those theoretical systems is a positive freedom. Positive freedom is, in both Kantian and Jewish thought, the capacity for morality, from which ensue one's right of respect, and also the duty to respect others. Positive freedom for authors underscores authorial rights as well as authorial duties of respect. When copyright is understood as positive freedom it is both deontological and with a telos of respect, thus bridging elements in the discord presumed between the instrumental Anglo-American copyright model and the deontological Continental droit d'auteur system.

Keywords: copyright, Kant, Judaism, jurisprudence, freedom, right, duty, dignity, respect

Suggested Citation

Treiger-Bar-Am, Kim and Treiger-Bar-Am, Kim, Copyright and Positive Freedom: Kantian and Jewish Thought on Authorial Rights and Duties (2016). Copyright and Positive Freedom: Kantian and Jewish Thought on Authorial Rights and Duties, 63(4) J. COPYRIGHT SOC'Y U.S.A. 551 (Fall, 2016), Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2977143

Kim Treiger-Bar-Am (Contact Author)

Reichman University - Interdisciplinary Center (IDC) Herzliyah - Radzyner School of Law ( email )

P.O. Box 167
Herzliya, 46150
Israel

College of Law and Business ( email )

Faculty of Law
Israel

Do you have negative results from your research you’d like to share?

Paper statistics

Downloads
49
Abstract Views
607
PlumX Metrics