|
Yes, the government enforces the right a corporation to deny you the right to say something provided it's something that they have protected by copyright. Same goes for things in which an individual holds copyright.
What if I came over to your house and threw a blowout party, raiding your fridge and liquor cabinet in the process? Could I claim my "right to assemble" as justification for throwing a party at your house without your permission? For taking your booze without your permission? For eating your food without your permission?
Of course not. So why should it be any different with intellectual property? Why should "free speech" be justification for taking something which I have originally written (or invented), and therefore belongs to me?
I understand you were trying to make a point, but I don't see how copyright of intellectual property limits your right to free speech any more than laws against trespassing on private property limit your right to assemble.
The short version of my rant is this: The first amendment places limits on the powers of the government, not on the exercise of the property rights of the citizens.
__________________
"We must have waffles. We must all have waffles, forthwith. Oh, we must think.
We must all have waffles and think, each and every one of us to the very best of his ability."
-- Professor Goldthwait Higginson Dorr, Ph.D.
|