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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Published Works
By Elizabeth Townsend Gard • September 24, 2004 at 10:34 am
Published Works
Legal and Policy Responses to the Disappearing "Teacher Exception" or Copyright Ownership in the 21st Century University, 4 MINN. INTELL. PROP. REV. 209 (2003) (available at mipr.umn.edu/archive/v4n2/townsend.pdf)
This article expores the historical changes in the presumption that teacher's own their copyrighted materials. It also gives specific suggestions on how teachers can retain copyright, if that is something they are concerned about. Read more » about Published Works
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Inside Digital Media - digital music issues
By Yuko Noguchi • April 3, 2004 at 11:16 pm
Regarding digital music issues, there is a website with a series of very good audio interviews, called Inside Digital Media. It includes interviews with people from RIAA, Apple regarding iTune and iPod, MusicMatch, Microsoft, among others. Read more » about Inside Digital Media - digital music issues
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Digital Hollywood conference
By Yuko Noguchi • April 3, 2004 at 3:16 am
3月29日から31日にかけて、Digital Hollywoodというカンファレンスに出席してきました。ハリウッドのお膝元で開催されるだけあって、映画・音楽・放送などの関係者、技術サイドの関係者などが集まり、パネルで意見交換をすると共に、新しい技術やビジネスの話題で盛り上がるなど、なかなか楽しく、かつ勉強になるイベントです。 実は、昨年も出席したのですが、今年、印象的だったのは、音楽業界の人たちが、オンラインビジネス成功1周年、を大きく掲げていたことです。AppleのiTuneが米国で本格的に立ち上がったのが2003年4月、その後今までに5000万曲がダウンロードされたと報告されています。 Read more » about Digital Hollywood conference
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Prof. Nakayama's article
By Yuko Noguchi • March 11, 2004 at 1:22 pm
中山教授が、8日の記事で、知的財産国家戦略の議論が、結論を急ぎすぎており、学会や消費者の意見をも考慮した充分な検討を欠いていると指摘されています。
権利の創設や制度改革などは、一度行うともとに戻すのは至難の業です。改革することは素晴らしいことですが、きちんとした議論のうえ、バランスのとれた制度を、という中山教授のご意見は非常に重要だと思います。 Read more » about Prof. Nakayama's article
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Golan v. Holder - Respondents Brief
Publication Date:August 11, 2011Publication Type:Litigation BriefSupreme Court brief for the Respondents. Read more » about Golan v. Holder - Respondents Brief
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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 - Heartland Angels, Inc. Supreme Court Amicus Brief in support of Golan
Publication Date:June 21, 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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Internet memes: copyright licensing in an IP minefield
Date published:March 1, 2013"“A lot of his own original expression went into making that poster, notwithstanding the fact that he used an AP photograph as a reference,” says Julie Ahrens, director of copyright and fair use in Stanford Law School’s Center for Internet and Society, and a member of the Fair Use Project." Read more » about Internet memes: copyright licensing in an IP minefield
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Why the Rick Ross Case May Change Hip Hop
Date published:February 12, 2013"According to Julie Ahrens, director of Copyright and Fair Use at Stanford University's Center for Internet and Society, that's because such bandied-about issues as fair use, parody, and obscenity don't figure neatly with the suit and the parties involved." Read more » about Why the Rick Ross Case May Change Hip Hop
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Podcasters Prepare for War Against ‘Podcast Patent’ Owner Personal Audio
Date published:February 12, 2013"“We think Personal Audio's podcasting claims are a classic example of an over-broad software patent,” EFF staff attorney Daniel Nazer wrote in an email to Backstage." Read more » about Podcasters Prepare for War Against ‘Podcast Patent’ Owner Personal Audio
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Anonymous Plays Games With U.S. Sites
Date published:January 28, 2013"Kerr's proposals have been picked up and refined by the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), in what calls "Aaron's Law." The group's suggestions have also been endorsed by Jennifer Granick, the director of civil liberties at the Stanford Center for Internet and Society, who described Kerr's initial efforts as "necessary but not sufficient."" Read more » about Anonymous Plays Games With U.S. Sites
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Searching for a Middle Ground: Can We Stop Online Piracy While Still Protecting Speech? (Past Event)
April 12, 2012UNC School of LawCIS Affiliate Scholar David Levine will be speaking on a panel at UNC about online privacy. Read more » about Searching for a Middle Ground: Can We Stop Online Piracy While Still Protecting Speech?
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Transformation, Copyright, and the Right of Publicity in the Digital Age (Past Event)
April 11, 2012Cogswell Polytechnical CollegeCopyright Law and Fair Use with Daniel Nazer, CIS Resident Fellow Read more » about Transformation, Copyright, and the Right of Publicity in the Digital Age
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SOPA, PIPA and Internet Freedom Where Do We Go From Here? (Past Event)
April 9, 2012Stanford Law SchoolJoin us for 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?
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Screening of Our Summer In Tehran (Past Event)
April 3, 2012UC BerkeleyWatch a screening of Documentary Film Program participant, Our Summer in Tehran. Read more » about Screening of Our Summer In Tehran
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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)