The Center for Internet and Society at Stanford Law School is a leader in the study of the law and policy around the Internet and other emerging technologies.
A healthy copyright system must balance the need to provide strong economic incentives through exclusive rights with the need to protect important public interests like free speech and expression. Fair use is foundational to that balance. It's role is to prevent copyright from stifling the creativity it is supposed to foster, and from imposing other burdens that would inhibit rather than promote the creation and spread of knowledge and learning.
The Fair Use Project (FUP) was founded in 2006 to provide legal support to a range of projects designed to clarify, and extend, the boundaries of fair use in order to enhance creative freedom and protect important public rights. It is the only organization in the country dedicated specifically to providing free and comprehensive legal representation to authors, filmmakers, artists, musicians and other content creators who face unmerited copyright claims, or other improper restrictions on their expressive interests. The FUP has litigated important cases across the country, and in the Supreme Court of the United States, and worked with scores of filmmakers and other content creators to secure the unimpeded release of their work.
By Center for Internet and Society • October 9, 2012 at 8:53 am
We are happy to announce the new 2012-2014 CIS Affiliates. The new affiliates are the following: Read more » about CIS Affiliates 2012-2014 Announced
By Jennifer Granick • August 7, 2012 at 9:54 am
Last week, the U.S. Department of Justice's (DOJ) criminal prosecution of British citizen Richard O'Dwyer for operating a site called TVShack hit what ought to be a major stumbling block. TVShack allows users to link to other computer servers that host television shows and movies. Clicking on the link will allow the user to watch those videos from those sites in a frame on TVShack. Read more » about TVShack Extradition Case Tumbling as Seventh Circuit Holds Linking/Streaming is Lawful
By Daniel Nazer • July 19, 2012 at 4:44 pm
Once again, political campaign videos are being censored by copyright law. This time, Mitt Romney is the victim. Read more » about How Copyright Law Censors Campaigns
By Zohar Efroni • June 29, 2012 at 7:39 am
Anyone who has ever attended law school in the United States knows what legal clinics are about. In recent years, clinical work with students in law school settings has been gaining momentum worldwide. Law faculties in Europe, Southeast Asia, South America, Africa, India, Japan and Israel (to name a few) already incorporate clinical activities within the fabric of their more traditional curriculum. Some observers even speak of the emergence of a global movement. And yet, there is still a lot of work to be done. Even in Europe, some folks would assume that “legal clinics” are places where sick laws are being admitted to find cure to their maladies… In Germany, where I currently practice and teach, none of the few clinics around focuses on technology or Internet law. Read more » about The Humboldt Internet Law Clinic Launched
For more information please visit STLR's website. Read more » about Copyright in the Digital Age - 16th Annual Stanford Technology Law Review Symposium
Please join us as we gather to remember Aaron Swartz on the evening of Thursday, January 24th.Four Factors In Search Of a Question: Anchoring Fair Use to Free Expression and Social Value Read more » about Four Factors In Search Of a Question: Anchoring Fair Use to Free Expression and Social Value
During late 2011 and January 2012, millions of people protested the passage of the controversial copyright bill the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) in Congress. The protests culminated in the largest online protest in the history of the Internet, with web giant Wikipedia and thousands of other websites going black in a day of self-censorship. In a few short months, the protesters achieved something remarkable: they defeated money, politicians, Hollywood, and the copyright lobby, all in the name of a “free and open Internet.” This talk with Professor Edward Lee, explains these grassroots movements as a form of popular constitutionalism. Courts didn't define speech rights. People did. And, in the end, it was the people's view of free speech that carried the day. Read more » about CIS Speaker Series - Stopping SOPA: Copyright, Free Speech, and Popular Constitutionalism
April 23, 2012
A talk show on KZSU-FM, Stanford, 90.1 FM, hosted by Read more » about Jennifer Holt - Hearsay Culture - Show #160 - KZSU-FM
April 23, 2012
An evening conversation with CIS Executive Director of the Fair Use Project Anthony Falzone and Congressman Darrell Issa where they will discuss topics about SOPA, PIPA and internet freedom. Read more » about SOPA, PIPA and Internet Freedom - Where Do We Go From Here? Audio
April 23, 2012
An evening conversation with CIS Executive Director of the Fair Use Project Anthony Falzone and Congressman Darrell Issa where they will discuss topics about SOPA, PIPA and internet freedom. Read more » about SOPA, PIPA and Internet Freedom - Where Do We Go From Here? Video
March 16, 2012
A talk show on KZSU-FM, Stanford, 90.1 FM, hosted by CIS Affiliate Scholar David S. Levine. The show includes guests and focuses on the intersection of technology and society. How is our world impacted by the great technological changes taking place? Each week, a different sphere is explored. This week, David interviews Prof. Julie Cohen of Georgetown Law, author of the book Configuring the Networked Self. For more information, please go to http://hearsayculture.com. Read more » about Julie Cohen - Hearsay Culture - Show #159 - KZSU-FM
