In 1998, university professor Kembrew McLeod successfully trademarked the phrase "freedom of expression" as an experiment of startling comment on the way that intellectual property law restricts creativity and expression of ideas. This film explores the battles being waged in courts, classrooms, museums, film studios, and the Internet over control of cultural commons. Based on McLeod's book of the same title, Freedom of Expression charts the many successful attempts to push back this assault by overzealous copyright holders.