Reply #57: I'm saying that historically "unique expression" and

[tishaLA]

"individual ideas" were not the things upon which the nation was built (these are the first two sentences of your post proper). In fact, it is just the opposite: expression was supposed to be repetitive and classical republicanism always looked back to the Greeks cf. Bernard Bailyn, The Ideological Origins of the American Revolution or JGA Pocock The Machiavellian Moment.

My understanding of copyright laws differs somewhat from yours. I have always learned that copyright laws, whatever they now "protect," came about to protect publishers. They still do protect publishers, of course, but part of that protection to the capitalist market has an ancillary benefit of protecting writers.