This section covers the rights and risks associated with various types of controversial material. Despite First Amendment protections, different types of material can be regulated or restricted in different ways.

  • Hate Speech
    The First Amendment prohibits the government from banning expression under "hate speech" laws.
  • Sampling and Appropriation
    Licensing and "fair use" are both ways of legally incorporating another person's work into your own art.
  • Sexual Content
    Nudity and depictions of sexual activity in art are protected under the First Amendment, unless they are obscene.
  • Violence
    Except for highly specific incitements to violent action, violent imagery is protected under the First Amendment.