The Fair Use Project

The Stanford Center for Internet and Society’s “Fair Use Project” (“the 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.

Litigation

The FUP represents filmmakers, musicians, artists, writers, scholars and other content creators in a range of disputes that raise important questions concerning fair use and the limits of intellectual property rights. In doing so, it relies on a network of talented lawyers within the Center for Internet and Society, as well as attorneys in law firms and public interest organizations that are dedicated to advancing the mission of the FUP.

Counseling

The FUP provides an expanding array of assistance to content creators. It has advised prominent creators and distributors of documentary films concerning fair use, defamation, trademark infringement, and other issues relating to the appropriate bounds of free expression. While is impossible to eliminate completely the risk of a dispute, this analysis helps reduce and identify liability and litigation risks before the fact, so that informed decisions can be made.

Insurance

In conjunction with a leading insurance broker, the FUP is developing a pilot project to reduce the costs of the insurance needed to show or distribute documentary films and other creative works. By securing a nationwide network of attorneys who are willing to provide free defense to certain intellectual property claims asserted against qualifying works, the FUP has largely eliminated the cost to the insurance company of defending such claims. This approach will allow the insurance company to charge significantly reduced premiums. At the same time, it will level the playing filed by preventing IP owners from using the threat of big legal fees to force settlement involving the revision or withdrawal of creative works. With the cost of defense minimized, more content creators will stand up for their fair use rights. More fair use cases will be adjudicated, providing more clarity in the law and a more robust fair use doctrine.

As the Fair Use Project develops, and the network of attorneys expands, the FUP hopes to bring these effects to bear on an ever-increasing scale. Ultimately, we seek to not only define and expand the law, but change the way content owners approach fair use issues.