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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High-Profile Litigation Over Use of Embedded Open Source Software in Germany
By Zohar Efroni • June 20, 2011 at 3:01 pm
In a press release from today the Free Software Foundation Europe announces the opening of the court proceedings in the litigation between a maker of DSL routers and a maker of filtering software designed to protecting children from objectionable material on the Internet. Read more » about High-Profile Litigation Over Use of Embedded Open Source Software in Germany
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Supreme Court Takes Up Scholars' Rights
By Elaine Adolfo • May 31, 2011 at 10:17 am
Anthony Falzone, Executive Director of the Fair Use Project and a Lecturer in Law at Stanford Law School, is quoted in the Chronicle of Higher Education in its story "Supreme Court Takes Up Scholars' Rights."
When Lawrence Golan picks up his baton here at the University of Denver, the musicians in his student orchestra see a genial conductor who corrects their mistakes without raising his voice in frustration. Read more » about Supreme Court Takes Up Scholars' Rights
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Article on Online Advertising and Privacy in the May issue of Communications of the ACM
By Stuart Soffer • May 11, 2011 at 9:10 pm
The May 2011 issue of Communications of the ACM has a Viewpoint article entitled, "Economic and Business Dimensions: Online Advertising, Behavioral Targeting, and Privacy", written by Avi Goldfarb (U Toronto) and Catherine Tucker (MIT).
Also in this issue is an article by Tim Wu (CIS/SLS must have heard it last week) on "Law and Technology: Bell labs and Centralized Innovation." Read more » about Article on Online Advertising and Privacy in the May issue of Communications of the ACM
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CIS Fair Use Legal Experts Answer Fair Use Questions About YouTube
By Elaine Adolfo • May 3, 2011 at 4:04 pm
On April 21, 2011, YouTube invited the public to ask our CIS Fair Use experts questions regarding fair use.
Anthony Falzone, Executive Director of the Fair Use Project, and Julie Ahrens, Associate Director of the Fair Use Project, answer a selection of questions in this YouTube video.
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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 -
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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Fairey v. The Associated Press
We represented visual artist Shepard Fairey in connection with the AP’s claim that his iconic “Hope” poster in support of President Obama’s campaign infringes the AP’s copyrights. We represented Fairey because we believe his artistic transformation of a news photograph to convey a political message fell within the protection of the fair use doctrine and presented an important example of why fair use is essential for free expression. Read more » about Fairey v. The Associated Press
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Shloss v. Estate of Joyce
After the Estate of James Joyce refused to allow a scholar to quote Joyce in her book, we successfully defended her right under the fair use doctrine to use the quotes she needed to illustrate her scholarship. After we prevailed in the case, the Estate paid $240,000 of our client’s legal fees. Read more » about Shloss v. Estate of Joyce
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Brave New Films v. Savage
After Original Talk Radio Network, the nationwide distributor of Michael Savage’s radio show, issued a takedown notice against a video critical of Savage’s portrayal of Muslims, we filed a lawsuit that convinced the company to withdraw its objections to our client’s film. Read more » about Brave New Films v. Savage
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Salinger v. Colting, et al.
We filed an amicus brief on behalf of a group of library associations and others asking the Second Circuit to reverse a lower court’s injunction of the publication of 60 Years Later: Coming through the Rye an unauthorized story based on J.D. Salinger’s in Catcher In The Rye. Read more » about Salinger v. Colting, et al.
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Can You Trademark Your Pot?
Date published:August 27, 2012Kal Raustiala and Chris Sprigman, continuing their excellent blogging (soon to be in book form) about markets succeeding in absence of intellectual property, have taken a look at the question of whether or not different brands of marijuana can be covered by trademark. With the increasing legality of medical marijuana, it's not uncommon for different strands to get their own brands. However, as the two note, plant varieties cannot be trademarked, but you can build a brand on top of one. Read more » about Can You Trademark Your Pot?
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Copyright Vs. Creativity
Date published:August 24, 2012 -
Publicity rights up in the air
Date published:July 23, 2012The current crop of cases are an important opportunity for an appellate standard, said Julie Ahrens, an attorney and associate director of the Fair Use Project at Stanford Law School. Ahrens filed an amicus brief supporting Electronic Arts in the Hart case on behalf of three nonprofit organizations, including the Digital Media Law Project, and 10 individual law professors. "We're looking for a clear, predictable rule that limits the application of publicity rights and protects free speech rights," Ahrens said.
Read the full story at the original publication link below. Read more » about Publicity rights up in the air
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Christopher Sprigman on creativity without copyright
Date published:July 17, 2012
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2/10: CIS Speaker Series - Andrew McLaughlin: How To Get A Job in Tech Policy (Past Event)
February 10, 2011Stanford Law SchoolAndrew is a lawyer (Harvard '94) who has worked as Deputy Chief Technology Officer of the U.S. in the Obama White House, Director of Global Public Policy at Google, Vice President and Chief Policy Officer at ICANN, Senior Fellow at the Berkman Center, and as a member of the litigation team that successfully challenged the Communications Decency Act before the Supreme Court in 1997.Please RSVP for this free event. Read more » about 2/10: CIS Speaker Series - Andrew McLaughlin: How To Get A Job in Tech Policy
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5/19: EFF Geek Reading with Cory Doctorow (Past Event)
May 19, 2010San FranciscoJoin EFF for a fundraising event featuring award-winning writer Cory Doctorow. Cory will be reading from his newly released novel, For the Win. This is his first visit to the Bay Area in over a year, so don't miss your opportunity to hear him read from his ground-breaking new work. Read more » about 5/19: EFF Geek Reading with Cory Doctorow
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5/6: Legal Frontiers in Digital Media (Past Event)
May 6, 2010Stanford Law SchoolFor more information and to register for this event please visit: http://mlrc-digitallaw.stanford.edu/
A joint conference of:
• Media Law Resource Center
• Stanford Law School Center for Internet & Society
• John S. Knight Journalism Fellowships at StanfordThis intensive two-day event is designed for lawyers and Web publishing professionals responsible for sorting out the emerging legal issues surrounding the distribution of content on digital platforms. Read more » about 5/6: Legal Frontiers in Digital Media
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2/25: Wireside Chat with Lawrence Lessig (featuring Eclectic Method) (Past Event)
February 25, 2010Stanford Law SchoolThe Open Video Alliance is teaming up with the Harvard Berkman Center to deliver a global webcast of a talk by Lawrence Lessig. It's happening February 25th from 6:00 to 7:30 EST, live from Cambridge, MA. Along with the Cambridge event, OVA is hosting live webcast screenings around the world with special guests. The event hosted by the Stanford Fair Use Project will feature a live VJ mashup with Eclectic Method. Read more » about 2/25: Wireside Chat with Lawrence Lessig (featuring Eclectic Method)
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SOPA, PIPA and Internet Freedom - Where Do We Go From Here? Video
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
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Julie Cohen - Hearsay Culture - Show #159 - KZSU-FM
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
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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)