Lawrence Lessig
Lawrence (Larry) Lessig is the Roy L. Furman Professor of Law at Harvard University and directs Harvard's Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics. He is also the co-founder of Creative Commons—a nonprofit that enables public permission to share and use creative work. Lessig previously was professor of law at the University of Chicago and at Stanford University, where he founded the Stanford Center for Internet and Society. Lessig received bachelor's degrees in economics and in management from the University of Pennsylvania, a master's in philosophy from Cambridge University and a J.D. from Yale University. In 2014, Lessig started a super PAC, Mayday PAC, which aimed "to help elect lawmakers of both parties who support proposals to diminish the influence of big donors."[1]
Career
Lawrence Lessig received his J.D. in 1989 from Yale Law School. He was a clerk for Judge Richard Posner in the United States Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit from 1989 to 1990 and for Justice Antonin Scalia in the United States Supreme Court from 1990 to 1991. Lessig has been a professor of law at the University of Chicago, Stanford University and Harvard University.[2] In addition, Lessig is the author of five books, including Republic, Lost: How Money Corrupts Congress—and a Plan to Stop It.[3]
Lessig has also been a member of a number of boards for nonprofit organizations, including:
- Sunlight Foundation
- Creative Commons
- MAPLight.org
Political activism
Copyright activism
In 2001, Lawrence Lessig co-founded Creative Commons, a nonprofit group that developed licenses for creative work that allow creators to specify the uses of their creations by the public. In 2012, Lessig commented that Creative Commons began as a way to start a movement on "the idea of giving people a simple way to affirm that they don’t believe in either extreme of perfect control or no rights."[4] In 2008, Lessig wrote "In Defense of Piracy" for The Wall Street Journal. His article called for copyright reform based on the practicalities of making copies and remixing media in the digital age. One of Lessig's suggestions was to "deregulate amateur remix" so that amateur creativity would not be subject copyright law. Lessig wrote: "Before the 20th century, this culture flourished. The 21st century could see its return. Digital technologies have democratized the ability to create and re-create the culture around us. Where the creativity is an amateur remix, the law should leave it alone. It should deregulate amateur remix."[5]
Mayday PAC
- See also: Mayday PAC
In 2014, Lessig and former George W. Bush advisor Mark McKinnon started Mayday PAC, a super PAC designed "to recruit Americans across the country to help convince members of Congress to be the leaders they were elected to be – by supporting fundamental reform of the way campaigns are funded."[6] The group's tactic was to raise money for grassroots organizing: "Instead of pushing for new restrictions on contributions, they are advocating proposals to spur more giving by small donors, in the hope of diluting the influence of big ones." Lessig's unofficial slogan for the group, according to The New York Times, was "embrace the irony."[1]
Presidential campaign, 2016
On August 11, 2015, Lessig announced that he had formed an exploratory committee to consider entering the Democratic primary for the 2016 presidential election. Lessig announced on Huffington Post that he was considering running for president in order to pass legislation that would "create a mandate to demand equality for citizens." Lessig called his potential run using the "presidency as referendum" and vowed that if his referendum for equality passed he "would resign, and the elected Vice President would become President."[7] Speaking to The Washington Post about his focus on campaign finance, Lessig said, "It’s not like the one issue I care about is way off to the corner and nothing else is important to me. Everything is important to me -- from Wall Street to climate change to the debt -- all of those are tied to this particular problem."[8]
On November 2, 2015, Lessig announced that he was ending his campaign.[9]
Media
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 The New York Times, "Spending Big to Fight Big Donors in Campaigns," July 28, 2014
- ↑ Lawrence Lessig, "CV," accessed August 11, 2015
- ↑ Lawrence Lessig, "Republic, Lost," accessed August 11, 2015
- ↑ Governance Across Borders, "10 Years of Creative Commons: An Interview with Co-Founder Lawrence Lessig," December 18, 2012
- ↑ The Wall Street Journal, "In Defense of Piracy," October 11, 2008
- ↑ Mayday PAC, "The Plan," accessed August 11, 2015
- ↑ Huffington Post, "Why I Want to Run," August 11, 2015
- ↑ The Washington Post, "Lawrence Lessig wants to run for president — in a most unconventional way," August 11, 2015
- ↑ Politico, "Lessig drops out of presidential race," November 2, 2015