Culture vs. Copyright question

I was confronted recently by an acquaintance of mine with the following: I (as the author) argue for the freedom of usage of work of art (any, regardless genre or medium). How about the freedom of the work´s author? If she wants to ¨protect her rights¨ and I against copyright like ¨protection¨ then her freedom is restricted!
OK, the answer seems to be obvious. But this is for me. What about you?