In 1963, Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered his famous I Have a Dream speech. Thirty years later his son registered the words I Have a Dream as a trademark and successfully blocked attempts to reproduce these four words. Exploring the complex intersection between creativity and commerce, Hyde raises the question of how our shared store of art and knowledge might be made compatible with our desire to copyright everything, and questions whether the fruits of creative labour can or should be privately owned, especially in the digital age. Common As Air is a stirring call-to-arms about how we might concretely legislate for a cultural commons that would simultaneously allow for financial reward and protection from monopoly.
