Skip to content

Creation always involves building upon something else. There is no art that doesn't reuse. And there will be less art if every reuse is taxed by the appropriator. Monopoly controls have been the exception in free societies; they have been the rule in closed societies.

— Lawrence Lessig May the Source Be With You (2001)

Another quote →

Topics

More quotes by Lawrence Lessig

We are on the cusp of this time where I can say, "I speak as a citizen of the world" without others saying, "God, what a nut."

The problem is their insane rules are now being applied to the whole world. This insanity of control is expanding as everything you do touches copyrights.

I believe it would be right for common sense to revolt against the extreme claims made today on behalf of "intellectual property."

Free Culture (2004)

We live in a world with "free" content, and this freedom is not an imperfection.

May the Source Be With You (2001)

Show me why your regulation of culture is needed. Show me how it does good. And until you can show me both, keep your lawyers away.

Free Culture (2004)

All Lawrence Lessig quotes →

You may also like

The moment the idea is admitted into society, that property is not as sacred as the law of God, and that there is not a force of law and public justice to protect it, anarchy and tyranny commence.

John Adams A Defence of the Constitutions of Government (1787)

There is no governor anywhere; you are all absolutely free. There is no restraint that cannot be escaped.

Robert Anton Wilson

When we see a great man desiring power instead of his real goal we soon recognize that he is sick, or more precisely that his attitude to his work is sick.

Martin Buber What is Man? (1938)

Of all tyrannies a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive.

C. S. Lewis God in the Dock (1970)

Attribution

Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Lawrence Lessig (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.