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Daniel Nazer

Non-Residential Fellow

Daniel is a Staff Attorney at the Electronic Frontier Foundation. He is part of EFF's intellectual property team and focuses on substantive patent reform. Before joining EFF, Daniel was a Residential Fellow at Stanford Law School's Center for Internet & Society where he represented writers, painters, filmmakers, and others who rely on fair use to create their art and scholarship. Read more » about Daniel Nazer

Elizabeth Townsend Gard

Affiliate Scholar

I have now been a non-resident fellow at CIS since 2004. My work currently looks at copyright duration in a comparative and international context, and with the help of my brilliant students at Tulane, we are building a software tool --the Durationator -- to make usable the past once more. We hope to have it complete and available for use sometime in the Fall 2008. Read more » about Elizabeth Townsend Gard

Colette Vogele

Non-Residential Fellow

{Please see http://CMP.LY/0/dIXwL5 for my disclosure statements.} Read more » about Colette Vogele

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Second Circuit Victory for Richard Prince and Appropriation Art

By Julie Ahrens • April 25, 2013 at 6:12 pm

Today the Second Circuit Court of Appeals issued a long-awaited decision in favor of fair use in Cariou v. Prince. Reversing the district court’s finding of infringement, the Court held that Richard Prince’s use of Patrick Cariou’s photographs in 25 of his 30 Canal Series paintings was a fair use. The decision affirms an important tradition in modern art that relies on the appropriation of existing images to create highly expressive works with new meaning. Read more » about Second Circuit Victory for Richard Prince and Appropriation Art

Fair Use Project, International Documentary Association, MPAA, and Film Independent Ask Fourth Circuit to Recognize Creators’ Interest in Repurposing Copyrighted Material for Historical Use

By Tim Greene • April 10, 2013 at 12:50 pm

Frederick Bouchat has been serially litigating against the NFL and the Baltimore Ravens organization for more than a decade. Read more » about Fair Use Project, International Documentary Association, MPAA, and Film Independent Ask Fourth Circuit to Recognize Creators’ Interest in Repurposing Copyrighted Material for Historical Use

Who owns a link? Google vs. European publishers...

By Christopher Sprigman • November 5, 2012 at 5:00 pm

We have a new post up on the Freakonomics blog about the dispute between Google and a group of European newspapers. Read more » about Who owns a link? Google vs. European publishers...

A Rosenhan Experiment for the PTO

By Daniel Nazer • March 8, 2012 at 12:49 pm

How accurate is the Patent and Trademark Office? Can its examiners tell good patents from bad? Read more » about A Rosenhan Experiment for the PTO

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Megaupload Indictment Leaves Everyone Guessing - Part 2

Author(s):

Anthony Falzone

Jennifer Granick

Publication Date:

April 6, 2012

Publication Type:

Other Writing

Daily/Journal Op/Ed

The first part of this article outlined the mechanics of the Megaupload website, and the novel questions of criminal inducement on which the government's indictment is premised. Here, we explore two more extensions of existing law on which the indictment is based, and the impact this prosecution is likely to have on Internet innovators and users alike. Read more » about Megaupload Indictment Leaves Everyone Guessing - Part 2

Megaupload.com Indictment Leaves Everyone Guessing - Part 1

Author(s):

Anthony Falzone

Jennifer Granick

Publication Date:

March 15, 2012

Publication Type:

Other Writing

Days after anti-piracy legislation stalled in Congress, the U.S. Department of Justice coordinated an unprecedented raid on the Hong Kong-based website Megaupload.com. New Zealand law enforcement agents swooped in by helicopter to arrest founder Kim Dotcom at his home outside of Auckland, and seized millions of dollars worth of art, vehicles and real estate. Six other Megaupload employees were also arrested. Meanwhile, the Justice Department seized Megaupload's domain names and the data of at least 50 million users worldwide. Read more » about Megaupload.com Indictment Leaves Everyone Guessing - Part 1

Valuing Attribution and Publication in Intellectual Property

Author(s):

Christopher Sprigman

Publication Date:

February 27, 2012

Publication Type:

Academic Writing

This is the third in a series of articles focusing on the experimental economics of intellectual property. In earlier work, we have experimentally studied the ways in which creators assign monetary value to the things that they create. That research has suggested that creators are subject to a systematic bias that leads them to overvalue their work. Read more » about Valuing Attribution and Publication in Intellectual Property

A Legitimate Interest in Promoting the Progress of Science: Constitutional Constraints on Copyright Laws

Author(s):

David Olson

Publication Date:

October 13, 2011

Publication Type:

Academic Writing

The Supreme Court certified two questions in Golan v. Holder: (1) Does section 514 of the Uruguay Round Agreements Act (“URAA”) violate the Progress Clause of the Constitution? (2) Does the URAA violate the First Amendment? This Essay argues that section 514 violates the Progress Clause’s requirement that copyright laws “promote the Progress of Science.” This is because the statute bequeaths copyright status without in return achieving any net increase in the creation or dissemination of creative works. Read more » about A Legitimate Interest in Promoting the Progress of Science: Constitutional Constraints on Copyright Laws

First Amendment Based Copyright Misuse

Author(s):

David Olson

Publication Date:

March 24, 2010

Publication Type:

Academic Writing

Comment: AP win in copyright ruling could put search startups at risk

Date published:

March 22, 2013

Mlex

“What I find troubling about it is that she keeps distinguishing Meltwater versus ‘legitimate’ online search tools, but it’s not really clear what that definition is,” Julie Ahrens, director of copyright and fair use for the Stanford Law School’s Center for Internet & Society, told MLex in an interview Friday.

Download PDF of Mlex article. Read more » about Comment: AP win in copyright ruling could put search startups at risk

Will Disney Let You See This Movie?

Date published:

January 23, 2013

Slate

Randy Moore’s dark drama Escape From Tomorrow premiered this week at the Sundance Film Festival and quickly became one of the most buzzed-about oddities in Park City, Utah. Reviews have been mixed but unquestionably intriguing. There’s a chance, though, that the rest of us won’t be able to form our own opinions: Escape From Tomorrow was filmed without permission on location at Disney’s theme parks in Orlando, Fla., and Anaheim, Calif., and it unabashedly incorporates the familiar logos, characters, and theme-park images in a perverse dramatic narrative. Read more » about Will Disney Let You See This Movie?

DVR Protections Invoked to Pause Associated Press

Date published:

January 22, 2013

Courthouse News Service

The AP's argument is "unfounded and dangerous to innovation," according to the brief authored by Julie Ahrens, of Stanford Law School's Center for Internet & Society. Read more » about DVR Protections Invoked to Pause Associated Press

Apple vs. Samsung: Is Copying Theft or Innovation?

Date published:

September 4, 2012

Los Angeles Times

Apple vs. Samsung

Date published:

August 29, 2012

http://www.wnyc.org/shows/bl/2012/aug/28/apple-vs-samsung/

Chris Sprigman, professor of law at the University of Virginia, co-author of The Knockoff Economy: How Imitation Sparks Innovation,and CIS Affiliate Scholar discusses what Apple's latest victory against Samsung means for technological innovation in the future. Read more » about Apple vs. Samsung

Can You Trademark Your Pot?

Date published:

August 27, 2012

TechDirt

Kal 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?

Copyright Vs. Creativity

Date published:

August 24, 2012

Inc.

Publicity rights up in the air

Date published:

July 23, 2012

National Law Journal

The 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

If You've Ever Sold a Used iPod, You May Have Violated Copyright Law

Date published:

June 8, 2012

The Atlantic

CIS 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

Copyfraud: Techdirt Book Club Selection For April, Part Two

Date published:

April 11, 2012

TechDirt

Anthony Falzone suggests that the defendants’ decision not to assert fair use may have been strategic: “Combs and his label can afford to pay for samples. Many aspiring artists and their fledgling labels—the next generation of would-be moguls hungry to unseat Diddy—cannot.” Read more » about Copyfraud: Techdirt Book Club Selection For April, Part Two

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Copyright and the Public Domain After Golan (Past Event)

March 1, 2012

Live Webinar

Golan v. Holder involves a challenge to the constitutionality of the 1994 Uruguay Round Agreements Act (URAA), which restored copyright in foreign works previously in the public domain under U.S. copyright law. The plaintiffs in the case have challenged the URAA as contravening both the "limited times" requirement and the First Amendment. In October 2011, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the case and is expected to issue a ruling before June 2012. Read more » about Copyright and the Public Domain After Golan

Meet the Center for Internet and Society (Past Event)

October 11, 2011

Stanford Law School

Learn about the Center for Internet and Society. Come meet CIS and hear about our exciting work and ways to get involved. Learn about the Fair Use Project, Consumer Privacy Project, and more. Lunch will be provided. RSVP for this free event today. Read more » about Meet the Center for Internet and Society

1/31: Lawrence Lessig: Final Free Cuture Talk (Past Event)

January 31, 2008

Creative Commons founder and Stanford professor Lawrence Lessig is giving his final presentation on Free Culture, Copyright and the future of ideas.

After 10 years of enlightening and inspiring audiences around the world with multi-media presentations that inspired the Free Culture movement, Professor Lessig is moving on from the copyright debate and setting his sites on corruption in Washington. Read more » about 1/31: Lawrence Lessig: Final Free Cuture Talk

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