UMGC Freedom of Expression Discussion – Description
Discuss how freedom of expression and intellectual property rights might ethically conflict. In your reply, consider how your own freedom of expression might affect your privacy or personal intellectual property. Please provide examples when possible.
Freedom of expression is protected by the first amendment. The first amendment addresses and guarantees freedom concerning religion, expression, assembly and the right to petition (First Amendment, n.d.). Freedom of expression gives the right for individuals to express themselves through writing or orally to people.
Intellectual property rights are property and creations by a single person or group. It encompasses copyrights, trademarks, and patents. Freedom of expression and intellectual property ethically conflict when an individual or group conveys something that is the creative work or someone else’s without given credit where its due.
Freedom of expression may affect personal intellectual property when citing a poem or a story not originally writing by the person relaying the information. In that case the person relaying the intellectual property is expressing themselves but should give credit to the actual creator to protect their intellectual property.
An example many may remember is the copyright infringement case of Katy Perry vs. Marcus Grey. Katy Perry in 2013 released Dark Horse which was one of the years biggest hits. In 2019, Marcus Gray was initially awarded $2.78 million dollars by a court because Katy Perry allegedly used his riff and beat from his song Joyful Noise (Corporate Kaijus Clash: 15 Famous Copyright Infringement Cases, 2023).
Another example which was large in the news at the time was The Music industry vs. Napster. Millions had downloaded and used Napster’s peer-to-peer file sharing software to listen to music. However, in 2002 the software company was found guilty and had to close up shop, publicly apologize and pay up to 426 million in damages. (Corporate Kaijus Clash: 15 Famous Copyright Infringement Cases, 2023)
Corporate Kaijus Clash: 15 Famous Copyright Infringement Cases. (2023, January 19). Abou Naja Intellectual Property. https://abounaja.com/blogs/copyright-infringement-cases
Discussion 2:
Freedom of expression is the freedom for us all to express ourselves. It is the right to speak, to be heard, and to participate in political, artistic, and social life. It also includes the ‘right to know’: the right to seek, receive, and share information through any media. (ARTICLE 19, September 1, 2022) Freedom of expression is the right to ones own ideas, thoughts, and opinions protected by the First Amendment.
Intellectual property rights are the rights given to persons over the creations of their minds. They usually give the creator an exclusive right over the use of his/her creation for a certain period of time. (WTO, n.d.) Logo’s, trademarks, and images are examples of intellectual property rights.
Freedom of expression and intellectual property rights can ethically conflict if one’s expression of ideas violates someone else’s creativity. I believe an example of this would be adding wording to already completed art work and labeling as your own. If an artist has already completed a picture, adding ones own ideas to the picture could cause ethical conflict.
I believe another example would be selling “knock off” items and profiting while using someone else trademark without permission. Freedom of expression allows creativity but misuse of a trademark interfere with intellectual property rights.
What is freedom of expression?. ARTICLE 19. (2022, September 1). https://www.article19.org/what-is-freedom-of-expression/
World Trade Organization. WTO. (n.d.).
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