Copyright, Free Speech, and Democracy: Eldred v. Ashcroft and Its Implications for Technical Communicators

Abstract

This article explains the Constitution's intellectual property provision and its goals, then deconstructs the Supreme Court's decision in Eldred v. Ashcroft as a means to unravel the pieces in the complex relationship among the constitutional provision, the First Amendment, and copyright. The article then considers how an understanding of the relationship of these elements can be helpful for considering the positions of technical communicators as both users and producers of intellectual products.