Copyright = Speech

Expression eligible for copyright protection should be presumptively treated as speech for First Amendment purposes. Both copyright and the First Amendment share the goal of fostering the creation and dissemination of information. Copyright¿s authorship requirement furnishes the key link between the doctrines. This Essay examines where the two areas of law align and conflict in offering or denying protection.

Using copyright law as a guide for the First Amendment offers three benefits. First, many free speech problems can be clarified when examined through copyright¿s lens. Second, this approach makes the seeming puzzle of non-human speakers understandable. Finally, it can help end technological exceptionalism in First Amendment doctrine.