Wireside Chat with Lawrence Lessig

On February 25th, 2010, our first Wireside Chat kicks off with a live webcast of a talk by Lawrence Lessig. Professor Lessig will deliver a talk on fair use and politics in online video from Harvard Law School in Cambridge, MA. Come in person, or tune in to a live webcast at http://openvideoalliance.org/lessig.

In conjunction with the Cambridge event, the Open Video Alliance is hosting live webcast screenings in cities around the world. Many of these screenings will be followed by special presentations. In New York, check out a curation by the ReMixed Media Festival. In Los Angeles, take part in a Critical Commons workshop. If you’re in the San Francisco Bay Area, check out a live audiovisual demonstration by Eclectic Method at Stanford Law School. For more details, or to host your own event, visit http://openvideoalliance.org/lessig.

Lessig’s talk will explore copyright in a digital age, and the importance of a doctrine like fair use. Fair use allows limited use of copyrighted material without requiring permission from the rights holders, and is essential for commentary, criticism, news reporting, remix, research, teaching and scholarship with video. As a medium, online video will be most powerful when it is fluid, like a conversation. Like the rest of the internet, online video must be designed to encourage creative expression and political participation, not just passive consumption.

Lessig is the author of the seminal Code and Other Laws of Cyberspace, and many other important works. For much of his career, Professor Lessig focused his work on law and technology, especially as it affects copyright. His current work addresses “institutional corruption” relationships which are legal, even currently ethical, but which weaken public trust in an institution. Lessig serves on the boards of Creative Commons, MAPLight, Brave New Film Foundation, Change Congress, The American Academy, Berlin, Freedom House and iCommons.org.