Portal:Freedom of speech/Selected article/19

Freedom of Expression® is a book about freedom of speech issues with respect to concepts of intellectual property, written by Kembrew McLeod. The paperback edition includes a foreword by Lawrence Lessig. The book was first published in 2005 by Doubleday as Freedom of Expression®: Overzealous Copyright Bozos and Other Enemies of Creativity, and in 2007 by University of Minnesota Press as Freedom of Expression®: Resistance and Repression in the Age of Intellectual Property. The author recounts a history of the usage of counter-cultural artistry, illegal art, and the use of copyrighted works in art as a form of fair use and creative expression. The book encourages the reader to continue such usages, in art and other forms of creative expression. The book received a positive reception, and Kembrew McLeod was recognized by the Intellectual Freedom Round Table of the American Library Association with the Eli M. Oboler Memorial Award, which honors the "best published work in the area of intellectual freedom." A review in The American Scholar noted, "Kembrew McLeod ... delivers a lively, personal account of the ways intellectual property messes with people--and how he messes with intellectual property." American Book Review characterized the work as "a clever compendium of examples" for those familiar with its subject matter. The Journal of Popular Culture characterized the book as "an informative, thought-provoking, and occasionally laugh-out-loud funny examination of specific ways the privatization of ideas suppresses creativity in contemporary culture." Publishers Weekly noted that McLeod's views echo prior comments about intellectual property by academics including Lawrence Lessig.