Fighting the Fair Use Fight

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Lauren Barack -- School Library Journal, 9/16/2008 10:47:00 AM

The Right to Write Fund, which recently helped to defend the The Harry Potter Lexicon writer Steve Vander Ark, signed on yet another advocate in its nascent cause to support creative artists and their rights to “fair use.”
The Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University announced that its Citizen Media Law Project (CMLP) will open up its archives of subpoenas, lawsuits, and other legal documents to the fledgling nonprofit, while its director, David Ardia, will join the Fund’s board of directors. 
“We are seeing far too many important works being scuttled because of baseless legal threats directed at creative artists by copyright holders who object to the use or criticism of their work,” Ardia said in a release. “The Right to Write Fund in conjunction with the Citizen Media Law Project will give creative artists a place to go for legal guidance and support.”
The Right to Write Fund launched earlier this month, immediately following a decision in federal court that Vander Ark had infringed on J. K. Rowling’s copyright when attempting to publish his online encyclopedia of Harry Potter in print form.
Besides offering research materials relating to free speech and copyright fair use concerns, the group will also act as a clearinghouse, and help arrange pro bono legal help along with raising money for expert witnesses, travel, and copying costs for writers, filmmakers, professors, recording artists, and publishers who face legal threats in this continuously shifting media terrain. “It’s important that they know they have a place to turn,” Ardia said.