The copyright status of internet folklore and its impact on freedom of expression

Abstract

Internet folklore has become an important tool for freedom of speech in the last few decades, but compared to folklore in the traditional sense, which is also colourful, it is composed of very heterogeneous elements, which also have different copyright status. The reasons for and effects of this diversity are manifold, and it can be seen that the creation of internet folklore and the use of its elements outside the original medium raise different issues, both from the point of view of copyright and freedom of expression. Only a part of internet folklore can be included in the traditional concept of folklore, i.e. only a certain proportion of it can be excluded from copyright protection for this reason. In consideration of its role in ensuring freedom of speech, copyright provides a number of tools, such as fair uses like parody or quotation, to ensure that the part of internet folklore that is protected by copyright not to become a barrier to expression. However, it seems that the highly complex set of rules and the specificities of the way in which internet folklore is functioning create uncertainty at several points during usage. This paper examines the reasons for this, and seek to answer the question of the impact of this uncertainty, and of the copyright perception of internet folklore in general, on freedom of speech.