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.
Copyright and Fair Use
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.
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Non-Residential Fellow
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Brett Frischmann
Affiliate ScholarBrett Frischmann’s expertise is in intellectual property and internet law. After clerking for the Honorable Fred I. Parker of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and practicing at Wilmer, Cutler & Pickering in Washington, DC, he joined the Loyola University Chicago law faculty in 2002. He has held visiting appointments at Cornell and Fordham. Read more » about Brett Frischmann
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Lauren Gelman
Non-Residential FellowLauren is an experienced attorney, frequent speaker and start-up advisor who has worked in the field of Internet law and policy since 1995. She is the founder of BlurryEdge Strategies, a legal and strategy consulting firm located in San Francisco that advises technology companies and investors on cutting-edge legal issues. Lauren previously led the Center for Internet and Society at Stanford Law School and taught at the Law School and the Department of Engineering. Read more » about Lauren Gelman
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Jennifer Granick
Director of Civil LibertiesJennifer Granick is the Director of Civil Liberties at the Stanford Center for Internet and Society. Jennifer returns to Stanford after stints as General Counsel of entertainment company Worldstar Hip Hop and as counsel with the internet boutique firm of Zwillgen PLLC. Before that, she was the Civil Liberties Director at the Electronic Frontier Foundation. Jennifer practices, speaks and writes about computer crime and security, electronic surveillance, consumer privacy, data protection, copyright, trademark and the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. Read more » about Jennifer Granick
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Plaintiff's summary judgment motion
By Colette Vogele • April 27, 2005 at 3:24 pm
In February, Plaintiffs filed a summary judgment motion on the Copyright Clause claim. The motion has been fully briefed. Here is the Government's opposition, and Plaintiff's replybriefs. Read more » about Plaintiff's summary judgment motion
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RAM Caching (1): the nature of the problem
By Yuko Noguchi • April 20, 2005 at 5:44 am
文化庁が発表した「著作権法に関する今後の検討課題」のうち、まずは2.デジタル対応の(1)デジタル化時代に対応した権利制限の見直しについてみてみましょう。
検討課題は、「キャッシング等通信過程の効率化を目的とする複製、機器内で不可避的に生じる一時的な蓄積(複製)、機器の保守・修理に伴う複製等について、権利制限を拡大することに関して検討する。」としています。
これに対応して、文化審議会著作権分科会では、ワーキングチームを立ち上げて検討を始めました。 Read more » about RAM Caching (1): the nature of the problem
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Current Main Writing Projects
By Elizabeth Townsend Gard • January 17, 2005 at 2:29 am
Book-length projects
The Making of the Great War Generation (in progress)
A comparative biography reexamining the meaning of generation, with particular attention paid to gender and those not generally included in the canonized literature (although the canonized writers are very much part of the project.) Individuals discussed include Vera Brittain, Erich Maria Remarque, Edmund Blunden, Mary Lee, Malcolm Cowley, Ezra Pound, Agatha Christie, Dorothy Sayers, R.C. Sherriff, Robert Graves, and many, many others. Read more » about Current Main Writing Projects -
Chief Judge Babcock affirms rulings by Magistrate Judge Boland
By Colette Vogele • November 15, 2004 at 4:17 pm
Chief Judge Babcock today affirmed Magistrate Judge Boland's ruling in August in which he granted in part Plaintiff's 56(f) motion and denied the government's motion for a protective order to stay discovery. The order is short and to the point.
This brings to close a rather lengthy series of motions from the summer months. Currently, we are awaiting the government's reply on its summary judgment motion, and we are working to complete discovery. Read more » about Chief Judge Babcock affirms rulings by Magistrate Judge Boland
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Golan v. Holder - Public Domain Interests' Supreme Court Amicus Brief in support of Golan
Author(s):Jennifer UrbanPublication Date:June 21, 2011Publication Type:Litigation Brief -
Golan v. Holder - Information Society Project Supreme Court Amicus Brief in support of Golan
Publication Date:June 21, 2011Publication Type:Litigation BriefBRIEF OF AMICI CURIAE, INFORMATION SOCIETY PROJECT AT YALE LAW SCHOOL PROFESSORS AND FELLOWS, IN SUPPORT OF THE PETITIONERS Read more » about Golan v. Holder - Information Society Project Supreme Court Amicus Brief in support of Golan
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Golan v. Holder - Public Knowledge Supreme Court Amicus Brief in support of Golan
Publication Date:June 21, 2011Publication Type:Litigation Brief -
Golan v. Holder - The Conductors Guild and The Music Library Association's Supreme Court Amicus Brief in support of Golan
Publication Date:June 20, 2011Publication Type:Litigation Brief
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Associated Press v. Meltwater
Meltwater News ("Meltwater") is a search engine and research tool that allows users to search for and obtain information about news items that have been made publicly available on the Internet. Read more » about Associated Press v. Meltwater
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Cariou v. Prince
We filed an amicus brief in the Second Circuit on behalf of The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts urging the appeals court to reverse a district court decision that ignored established fair use principles that many artists rely upon in creating their work. Read more » about Cariou v. Prince
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Golan v. Holder
The FUP filed this suit on behalf of a University of Denver conductor and others, challenging Congress’s restoration of copyright to works that had entered the public domain. Read more » about Golan v. Holder
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Sony v. Tenenbaum
We filed an amicus brief on behalf of the Electronic Frontier Foundation asking the First Circuit to affirm the district court’s reduced damages award in Sony v. Tenenbaum, a file-sharing case in which a jury originally ordered a college student to pay $675,000 for infringing copyright in 30 songs. Read more » about Sony v. Tenenbaum
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Christopher Sprigman on creativity without copyright
Date published:July 17, 2012 -
Music artists claim website promoted infringement
Date published:July 17, 2012By Ben Adlin
"The First Amendment concerns jump right out at you," said Julie Ahrens, associate director of Stanford Law School's Fair Use Project. "This seems to limit the ability to talk about these products or describe what they do or how they work."
Read the full story at the original publication link below. Read more » about Music artists claim website promoted infringement
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The Growing Power of the Meme
Date published:June 14, 2012For the originator of a meme, legal protections are slim, and that’s the way it should be, says copyright attorney Anthony Falzone, executive director of the Fair Use Project at Stanford Law School. “If you’re the first person to do the video S- -t Girls Say, that doesn’t mean someone else can’t use the same idea with girls saying different stuff,” he says. “Just because you’re the first one to do something doesn’t mean you should be the only one to get to do it.”
Read the full publication at the original link below. Read more » about The Growing Power of the Meme
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If You've Ever Sold a Used iPod, You May Have Violated Copyright Law
Date published:June 8, 2012CIS Affiliate Scholar Marvin Ammori's latest article for The Atlantic.
The Supreme Court will soon hear a case that will affect whether you can sell your iPad -- or almost anything else -- without needing to get permission from a dozen "copyright holders." Here are some things you might have recently done that will be rendered illegal if the Supreme Court upholds the lower court decision: Read more » about If You've Ever Sold a Used iPod, You May Have Violated Copyright Law
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Protect Your Rights: Fair Use - NYC Documentary Film Festival (Past Event)
November 14, 2012IFC CenterExpected to Attend: Peter Jaszi (Glushko-Samuelson Intellectual Property Law Clinic, American University Washington College of Law), Julie Ahrens (Center for Internet & Society, Stanford Law School), Dan Satorius (moderator). Read more » about Protect Your Rights: Fair Use - NYC Documentary Film Festival
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Meet the Center for Internet and Society 2012 (Past Event)
October 17, 2012Stanford Law SchoolCome meet CIS and hear about our exciting work and ways to get involved. Read more » about Meet the Center for Internet and Society 2012
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ONA12 Law School for Digital Journalists (Past Event)
September 20, 2012Hyatt Regency, San FranciscoThe Online News Association, in conjunction with the UNC Center for Media Law & Policy, the Stanford Law School Center for Internet & Society and the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism, presents the Third Annual Law School for Digital Journalists, part of the Thursday Workshops at ONA’s 2012 Conference & Awards Banquet, Sept. 20-23. Read more » about ONA12 Law School for Digital Journalists
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Smashing the Future for Fun and Profit (Past Event)
July 25, 2012Las Vegas, NVHas it really been 15 years? Time really flies when keeping up with Moore's law is the measure. In 1997, Jeff Moss held the very first Black Hat. He gathered together some of the best hackers and security minds of the time to discuss the current state of the hack. A unique and neutral field was created in which the security community--private, public, and independent practitioners alike—could come together and exchange research, theories, and experiences with no vendor influences. That idea seems to have caught on. Jeff knew that Black Hat could serve the community best if it concentrated on finding research by some of the brightest minds of the day, and he had an uncanny knack for finding them. Read more » about Smashing the Future for Fun and Profit
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Sonia Katyal - Contrabrand: Art, Advertising and Property in the Age of Corporate Identity (Audio)
March 7, 2012
Stanford Center for Internet and Society Speakers Series Talk - Read more » about Sonia Katyal - Contrabrand: Art, Advertising and Property in the Age of Corporate Identity (Audio)
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Sonia Katyal - Contrabrand: Art, Advertising and Property in the Age of Corporate Identity (Video)
March 7, 2012
In her talk, based on her forthcoming book from Yale Press, Contrabrand: Art, Advertising and Property in the Age of Corporate Identity, Sonia Katyal will discuss the intersection of art, commercial speech, and trademark law within the First Amendment, and will show how the law has shifted in response to the constitutional challenges the branding movement has created. In her talk, Katyal will focus on the "antibranding" movement in popular art and culture, which she defines to include the expressive activities of artists and activists who direct their energies towards challenging corporate branding. The greatest threat to cultural and artistic freedom, she argues, stems not from the pervasive power of the government, but instead from the powerful reach of corporate branding over artistic and consumer response. Read more » about Sonia Katyal - Contrabrand: Art, Advertising and Property in the Age of Corporate Identity (Video)
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PROTECT IP/SOPA - 2012 STLR Symposium - First Amendent Challenges in the Digital Age (Audio)
March 1, 2012
STLR Symposium 2012 - Co-Hosted by the Center for Internet and Society Read more » about PROTECT IP/SOPA - 2012 STLR Symposium - First Amendent Challenges in the Digital Age (Audio)
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PROTECT IP/SOPA - 2012 STLR Symposium - First Amendent Challenges in the Digital Age (Video)
March 1, 2012
STLR Symposium 2012 - Co-Hosted by the Center for Internet and Society
February 10, 2012
Audio VersionModerator: Declan McCullagh, Chief Political Correspondent, CNET
Panelists:
Corynne McSherry, Intellectual Property Director, Electronic Frontier Foundation;
Mike Masnick, Editor, Techdirt Blog;
Betsy Zedek, Senior Counsel, Content Protection, Fox Group Legal
A.J. Thomas, Partner, Jenner & Block Read more » about PROTECT IP/SOPA - 2012 STLR Symposium - First Amendent Challenges in the Digital Age (Video)