At the Intersection of Comic Books and Third World Working Conditions: Is It Time to Re-Examine the Role of Commercial Interests in the Regulation of Expression

Authors

David Kohler

Abstract

This article examines how a speaker's commercial interests factor into evaluating First Amendment protection. The author criticizes the current state of the law in the United States, which forces courts to draw categorical distinctions between commercial and noncommercial speech which are largely artificial, unwieldy, and likely unworkable. The article suggests a new approach that largely jettisons any attempt to draw broad categorical distinctions based on the underlying commercial motivation for communication and, instead, evaluates such expression in the same way that other kinds of fully protected speech are evaluated.

Recommended Citation

David Kohler, At the Intersection of Comic Books and Third World Working Conditions: Is It Time to Re-Examine the Role of Commercial Interests in the Regulation of Expression, 28 UC Law SF Comm. & Ent. L.J. 145 (2006).
Available at: https://repository.uclawsf.edu/hastings_comm_ent_law_journal/vol28/iss2/1