Reply #12: It's the idea that parts of our culture can be owned, traded, sold... [View All]

[Deep13]

...and kept from the public. It may pertain more to trademarks than to copyright, but as matters of intellectual property, they are related concepts. Owning parts of the English language stifles free speech because it prevents others from making similar expressions however they got them. Try opening a Scottish food restaurant and calling it MacDonald's and you will see what I mean. These corporations program the popular culture and then make sure no one but them can use what are essentially cultural references.