The Fight for the Future: How People Defeated Hollywood and Saved the Internet—For Now

How did people defeat Hollywood to save the Internet? The behind-the-scenes story of the popular protests against SOPA and ACTA.

The Centre for Intellectual Property Policy welcomes Edward Lee, Professor of Law, Director of the Program in Intellectual Property Law, and Norman and Edna Freehling Scholar at IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law.

Abstract

This talk will explain how a grassroots movement involving millions of people was able to defeat money, politicians, Hollywood, and the copyright lobby, all in the name of a "free and open Internet." People used Facebook, Twitter, other social media, blogs, and websites to organize and launch protests against SOPA and ACTA, two controversial copyright proposals in the United States and European Union that many feared would lead to Internet censorship. Participants will learn how the Internet helped people fight for their Internet freedoms--and do the unthinkable in stopping powerful lobbyists and the entertainment industry in their effort to clamp down on online piracy at all costs.

About the speaker

Professor Edward Lee teaches international intellectual property law, copyright law, and trademark law. He joined IIT Chicago-Kent's faculty in 2010 as a professor of law and director of the Program in Intellectual Property Law.

His research focuses on the ways in which the Internet, technological development, and globalization challenge existing legal paradigms. He also writes extensively about the Framers' understanding of the Free Press Clause as a limit on using the Copyright Clause to restrict technologies. In addition to numerous articles, he co-authored a leading casebook with Daniel Chow titled International Intellectual Property: Problems, Cases, and Materials (West Group 2006).

Find out about his book at thefightforthefuture.com and www.facebook.com/thefightforthefuturebook

You can also follow him on twitter.com/edleeprof