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Copyright Law

: Recording Industry vs The People

Legal ethics lesson from Prof. Stephen Gillers

By Ty Rogers and Ray Beckerman

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For those of you who may think that the behavior of the RIAA lawyers is acceptable because they are lawyers and just 'doing their jobs', I present this passage from a recent talk by renowned legal ethics expert Prof. Stephen Gillers:

Do not become skilled facilitators of whatever legal goal a paying client may desire. That's not what you envisioned for yourself when you answered the question on your law school application: "Why do you want to study law?"
Practice saying no. No has moral power. It can be liberating - for you and for your client.
I would have hesitated to give this advice if I did not have eminent precedent. Elihu Root, Nobel Peace Prize laureate, Secretary of State under Theodore Roosevelt, said it better a century ago: "About half of the practice of a decent lawyer is telling would-be clients that they are damned fools and should stop."

Complete talk

Keywords: lawyer digital copyright law online internet law legal download upload peer to peer p2p file sharing filesharing music movies indie independent label freeculture creative commons pop/rock artists riaa independent mp3 cd favorite songs intellectual property portable music player

Full post as published by Recording Industry vs The People on February 25, 2009 (boomark / email).