임마누엘 칸트의 정치적 자유와 저작권

Immanuel Kant said that author’s right is an indivisible and inalienable right, an expression and communication of personality of a human being to the public. Kant’s insight was very different from the British tradition that viewed copyright as a property right. It can be said that Kant viewed copyright as an indivisible and inalienable right as an expression of personality in order to obtain political freedom. Property provides freedom, but in order to acquire property rights, one had to be politically free. In the era in which Kant lived, property rights provided political freedom. In order to be political freedom, it was also important to communicate with others. Kant considered freedom of the press (the freedom of the pen) to be a “guardian of human rights” because without freedom of the press, one cannot acquire one’s own rights for him/her self. Therefore, Kant’s thought instituted copyright as a means and instrument to protect freedom of the press, ultimately freedom of the human being. In Korea, Kant’s philosophy of copyright is usually introduced only as personality theory, which states that it is inseparable from personality and is an expression of personality. However, Kant's copyright philosophy developed completely differently from the copyright philosophy of the common law, which viewed copyright as a property right. Kant’s philosophy can be seen as a reflection of the political situation in Germany, and said that his philosophy caused forming the copyright philosophy of the European continent. In this study, I examine the political situation of the German Empire in the late 18th century, when Kant was active, and the background that led Kant to argue for copyright as an inalienable right based on personality that never be inalienable, and study the significance of Kant's copyright philosophy as a political institution to protect the political beliefs and freedom of human beings.