Matthew Butterick

{{Short description|American typographer and lawyer (born 1970)}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2015}}

{{Infobox person

| name =

| image = Matthew Butterick.jpg

| birth_name = Matthew James Butterick

| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1970|11|15}}

| birth_place = Ann Arbor, Michigan, U.S.

| occupation = Writer, Typographer, Computer Programmer

| spouse = Jessica Coffin Butterick{{Cite web|url=http://members.calbar.ca.gov/fal/Licensee/Detail/255763|title=Jessica Coffin Butterick # 255763 - Attorney Licensee Search|website=members.calbar.ca.gov|access-date=March 29, 2020|archive-date=March 29, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200329223742/http://members.calbar.ca.gov/fal/Licensee/Detail/255763|url-status=live}}{{Cite web|url=https://unitscale.com/mb/reversing-the-tide/|title=Matthew Butterick: Reversing the Tide of Declining Expectations|website=unitscale.com|access-date=July 26, 2023|archive-date=May 14, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210514195300/https://unitscale.com/mb/reversing-the-tide/|url-status=bot: unknown}}

| education = Harvard University (BA)
University of California, Los Angeles (JD)

| party =

}}

Matthew Coffin Butterick (born November 15, 1970){{cite book |last=Butrick |first=Richard Porter |date=December 1979 |title=Butrick, Butterick, Buttrick In The U.S.A., 1635-1978 |publisher=Butrick |isbn=9780960254804}}{{Cite web|url=http://members.calbar.ca.gov/fal/Licensee/Detail/250953|title=Matthew Coffin Butterick # 250953 - Attorney Licensee Search|website=members.calbar.ca.gov|access-date=July 14, 2020|archive-date=December 3, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201203051036/http://members.calbar.ca.gov/fal/Licensee/Detail/250953|url-status=live}} is an American typographer, lawyer, writer, and computer programmer. He received the 2012 Golden Pen Award from the Legal Writing Institute for his book Typography for Lawyers,{{cite web|url=http://www.lwionline.org/golden_pen_award.html|title=Golden Pen Award|last=Legal Writing Institute|access-date=March 12, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402155551/http://www.lwionline.org/golden_pen_award.html|archive-date=April 2, 2015|url-status=dead}} which started as a website in 2008{{cite web|url=http://type-ed.com/2013/09/29/matthew-butterick-practical-typography/|title=Matthew Butterick Gives Us Practicality|last=Elnar|first=Rachel|date=September 29, 2013|work=Rag Right|publisher=TypeEd|access-date=March 12, 2015|archive-date=April 2, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402104340/http://type-ed.com/2013/09/29/matthew-butterick-practical-typography/|url-status=live}} based on his experience as a practicing attorney.{{cite web|url=http://www.abajournal.com/magazine/article/looking_good/|title=Artist-Turned-Lawyer Highlights Typographic Detail in Legal Docs|last=Greenwood|first=Arin|date=May 1, 2011|work=ABA Journal|publisher=American Bar Association|access-date=March 12, 2015|archive-date=April 2, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402153404/http://www.abajournal.com/magazine/article/looking_good/|url-status=live}} He has worked for The Font Bureau and founded his own website design company, Atomic Vision (purchased by Red Hat in 1999).{{cite web|url=http://www.aiga.org/typographer-at-law-an-interview-with-matthew-butterick/|title=Typographer at Law: An Interview with Matthew Butterick|last=Heller|first=Steven|date=March 17, 2010|publisher=American Institute of Graphic Artistis|access-date=March 12, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151115152720/http://www.aiga.org/typographer-at-law-an-interview-with-matthew-butterick/|archive-date=2015-11-15}} Expanding Typography for Lawyers, Butterick published Practical Typography as a "web-based book" in July 2013.{{cite web|url=http://practicaltypography.com/economics-year-one.html|title=The economics of a web-based book: year one|last=Butterick|first=Matthew|work=Practical Typography|access-date=March 12, 2015|archive-date=March 12, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150312215346/http://practicaltypography.com/economics-year-one.html|url-status=live}}

Butterick graduated with a BA in visual and environmental studies from Harvard University. He later earned a JD at the University of California, Los Angeles and was admitted to the State Bar of California in 2007.{{cite web|url=http://practicaltypography.com/end-credits.html#bio|title=About Matthew Butterick|last=Butterick|first=Matthew|work=Practical Typography|access-date=March 12, 2015|archive-date=March 15, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150315011453/http://practicaltypography.com/end-credits.html#bio|url-status=live}}

As of November 2023, Butterick is serving as co-counsel in multiple class action lawsuits against AI companies GitHub and OpenAI (for GitHub Copilot), Stability AI (for Stable Diffusion), Midjourney, and DeviantArt.{{cite magazine |last1=Knibbs |first1=Kate |title=Meet the Lawyer Leading the Human Resistance Against AI |url=https://www.wired.com/story/matthew-butterick-ai-copyright-lawsuits-openai-meta/ |magazine=Wired |access-date=November 28, 2023 |date=November 22, 2023 |archive-date=November 28, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231128023739/https://www.wired.com/story/matthew-butterick-ai-copyright-lawsuits-openai-meta/ |url-status=live }}