Earlier this month, The American Law Institute (ALI), an organization that was founded in 1923 and works to clarify, modernize, and improve the law, approved and adopted its latest Restatement, addressing copyright law. Like its other Restatements, the ALI’s Restatement of the Law, Copyright is meant to provide guidance for judges in a complex area of law where important concepts have been defined by courts rather than by statute. ALI restatements are citable by courts as sources of objective guidance on the meaning of the law.
The Restatement of Law, Copyright was authored by legal scholars in a rigorous consultative process. Reporters of the Restatement include lead reporter Christopher Jon Sprigman, Professor of Law at New York University School of Law; Daniel J. Gervais, Professor of Law at Vanderbilt University Law School; Lydia Pallas Loren, Professor of Law at Lewis & Clark Law School; R. Anthony Reese, Professor of Law at University of California, Irvine School of Law, and Molly Van Houweling, Professor of Law at University of California, Berkeley School of Law. Drafts of the Restatement were reviewed by advisors and liaisons drawn from the copyright community, including judges, litigators, professors, and government agency representatives. Re:Create Executive Director Brandon Butler was among the advisors to the Restatement. Members of the ALI also provide feedback on drafts and must vote to endorse each draft in its final form.
As an advisor, Brandon applauds the Restatement Reporters for their diligent work on the Restatement and the ALI Membership for its unanimous approval of the final draft. This fair and even-handed explanation of the law will help to protect a balanced copyright framework that recognizes fair use and benefits creators and all stakeholders in the copyright system. The complexity of copyright law can leave judges at the mercy of clever litigators as they look for right answers in novel factual situations. The Restatement will be a useful ally to judges caught in the crossfire of the copyright wars.
Learn more about the recent Restatement and the approval process from this interview between Lead Reporter Christopher Jon Sprigman and Brian L. Frye, University of Kentucky Spears-Gilbert Professor of Law.