
Julie is the Associate Director of the Fair Use Project. She represents writers, filmmakers, musicians, and others who rely on fair use in creating their art, documentaries, scholarship, critiques, or comments. Before joining Stanford, Julie was a litigation attorney in the San Francisco office of Kirkland & Ellis LLP, where, among other matters, she was the lead attorney defending the musician and electronic composer, BT, in a copyright infringement case in the Southern District of New York. She has litigated a variety of matters in the state and federal courts of California and New York. Julie received her J.D. cum laude from the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law in 2002. She is admitted to the bars of California and New York.
Stop Censorship: The Problems With SOPA
By Julie Ahrens • November 16, 2011 at 3:13 pm
Today Congress held hearings on the latest IP legislation, the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA). We are taking part in American Censorship Day to help spread the word and stop this bill. We’ve outlined five of the most important problems with SOPA.
1. SOPA violates due process. Under SOPA, any private copyright or trademark owner can cut-off advertising and payments to any website by alleging that the operator “avoid[ed] confirming a high probability” that “a portion” of its site is being used to infringe copyrights. Advertisers and payment companies (e.g. Visa, Mastercard, and PayPal) are then required to stop doing business with that site. It seems likely that content owners (or people merely claiming to be content owners) will often succeed in shutting down websites without ever going to court. The proposed legislation also gives the Attorney General and the Justice Department the power to shut down websites before they are actually judged infringing. Courts will be able to order any Internet service provider to stop recognizing an accused site immediately upon application by the Attorney General, after an ex parte hearing. By failing to guarantee the challenged websites notice or an opportunity to be heard in court before their sites are shutdown, SOPA violates due process. Read more: Letter to Congress from over 100 law professors techdirt explains that SOPA would create the Great Firewall of America.
Read more » about Stop Censorship: The Problems With SOPASony v. Tenenbaum: Amicus Brief Urges Due Process Review of Copyright Damages Awards
By Julie Ahrens • January 5, 2011 at 1:25 pm
On Monday we filed an amicus brief on behalf of the Electronic Frontier Foundation in the Sony v. Tenenbaum case, pending in in the First Circuit Court of Appeals. Tenebaum was sued and found liable for copyright infringement for sharing 30 music files. The jury awarded the record label plaintiffs $675,000 in damages. The District Court reduced that award to $67,500, citing constitutional and fairness concerns. Read more » about Sony v. Tenenbaum: Amicus Brief Urges Due Process Review of Copyright Damages Awards
BT Wins Again: Second Circuit Affirms Summary Judgment and $175,000 Fee Award
By Julie Ahrens • November 14, 2009 at 1:23 pm
After years of litigation based on spurious allegations of copyright infringement, BT was vindicated again this week when the Second Circuit affirmed the district court’s dismissal of the case on summary judgment and the award of $175,000 in attorneys' fees to BT. Read more » about BT Wins Again: Second Circuit Affirms Summary Judgment and $175,000 Fee Award
Court Denies Savage's Motion to Dismiss
By Julie Ahrens • May 8, 2009 at 9:56 am
Michael Savage’s motion to be dismissed as a defendant in Brave New Films’ wrongful DMCA takedown lawsuit was denied by Judge Illston on April 15. As explained in earlier posts, Original Talk Radio Network, the national syndicator of Savage’s radio show, sent a takedown notice to YouTube demanding that YouTube remove BNF’s video "Michael Savage Hates Muslims." BNF’s video uses audio clips of The Michael Savage Show to criticize Savage’s overtly hostile, anti-Muslim views. Read more » about Court Denies Savage's Motion to Dismiss
The Cost of Bogus Copyright Claims: BT Wins Motion for Attorneys' Fees
By Julie Ahrens • August 12, 2008 at 4:34 pm
In a decisive victory for defendants beleaguered by baseless copyright infringement claims, U.S. District Court Judge Pauley ruled last week that Plaintiffs Ralph Vargas and Bland- Ricky Roberts must pay Defendants BT and East West Communications $175,000 in attorneys' fees and costs. The fee award follows the Court's decision last year granting Defendants' motion for summary judgment and dismissing Plaintiffs’ case in its entirety. Read more » about The Cost of Bogus Copyright Claims: BT Wins Motion for Attorneys' Fees
Pages
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
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
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
Murphy v. Millennium Radio Group, LLC, Craig Carton and Ray Rossi
We filed an amicus brief in the Third Circuit on behalf of Brave New Films urging affirmance of the district court’s finding of fair use and rejection of plaintiff’s DMCA claims. Read more » about Murphy v. Millennium Radio Group, LLC, Craig Carton and Ray Rossi
Bouchat v. Baltimore Ravens and NFL, et al.
We filed an amicus brief in the Fourth Circuit in support of the Baltimore Ravens and the NFL urging the Fourth Circuit to grant rehearing or rehearing en banc, after a divided panel ruled that the Raven’s incidental use of a copyrighted logo in historical game films was not a fair use. Read more » about Bouchat v. Baltimore Ravens and NFL, et al.
Pages
Cariou v. Prince - Amicus Brief
Amicus brief filed 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 - Amicus Brief
Golan v. Holder - Petitioners' Reply Brief
Supreme Court Reply Brief filed by Petitioners. Read more » about Golan v. Holder - Petitioners' Reply Brief
Golan v. Holder - Merits Brief
Supreme Court brief for the Petitioners. Read more » about Golan v. Holder - Merits Brief
Golan v. Holder - Reply in support of Petition for a Writ of Certiorari
Sony v. Tenenbaum - Amicus Brief
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 - Amicus Brief
Pages
'Harry Potter Lexicon' is focus Of Copyright Law And Fair Use Seminar At GVSU
Jule Ahrens, associate director of the Fair Use Project, is mentioned as a speaker at the Copyright Law and Fair Use for Creative Artists Workshop:
For RDR Books Inc., Grand Rapids author Steven Vander Ark's "The Lexicon: An Unauthorized Guide to Harry Potter Fiction and Related Materials" has been the second highest selling title in the Muskegon book publisher's 16-year history.
"It's not a blockbuster. It's a good, solid reference book," said Roger Rapoport, owner of Muskegon-based RDR Books. "It's done well. We're very happy about that."
... Read more » about 'Harry Potter Lexicon' is focus Of Copyright Law And Fair Use Seminar At GVSU
CIS Fair Use Legal Experts Answer Fair Use Questions
May 1, 2011
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. Read more » about CIS Fair Use Legal Experts Answer Fair Use Questions