in Fall 23

Blog Post #2

In the “Ecstasy of Influence,” Jonathan Lethem questions whether or not culture should be treated as property. Of course, we currently treat culture as the property of its creators—or more accurately its copyright owners–so that these creators can make money from their creations, which, ideally, would encourage creative expression. At the same time, though copyright laws discourage the free use of these creative works by other artists and creators. What do you think of this situation? Should culture be treated as property or not? Why or why not?