William W. Fisher

{{short description|American lawyer}}

{{Infobox scientist

|name = William W. Fisher

|image = William Fisher 2016 01.png

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|caption = Fisher in 2016

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|nationality = American

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|fields = Intellectual property law
Legal history

|workplaces = Harvard Law School

|alma_mater = Amherst College
Harvard University

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|website = {{url|http://tfisher.org/}}

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William "Terry" W. Fisher III is the WilmerHale Professor of Intellectual Property Law at Harvard Law School and faculty director of the Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society. His primary research and teaching areas are intellectual property law and legal history.{{cite news |last1=Evans |first1=Stephen |title=Copyright: time to change the laws? |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/10118823 |access-date=October 29, 2019 |work=BBC |date=May 18, 2010}}{{cite web|url=http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2000/8/4/website-university-exchange-lawsuits-pa-trademark/|title=Website, University Exchange Lawsuits|last=DeBartolo|first=David M|date=4 August 2000|work=The Harvard Crimson|access-date=21 September 2010}}

In his book Promises to Keep: Technology, Law and the Future of Entertainment (Stanford University Press 2004), Fisher proposes replacing much of copyright and digital rights management with a government-administered reward system.{{cite news |last1=Salam |first1=Reihan |title=The Music Industry's Extortion Scheme |url=https://slate.com/culture/2008/04/the-music-industry-s-extortion-scheme.html |access-date=October 29, 2019 |work=Slate.com |date=April 25, 2008}} Under such a scheme, movies and songs would be legal to download. Authors and artists would receive compensation from the government based on how often their works were read, watched, or listened to. The system would be funded by taxes.

Fisher is one of the founders of Noank Media, a private enterprise similar in many ways to the proposal of Promises to Keep. Noank licenses and distributes digital content by collecting blanket-license revenues from internet services providers and distributing revenues to authors and artists based on the size of their audience.[http://www.noankmedia.com/people.html Noank Media web site] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120425230852/http://www.noankmedia.com/people.html |date=2012-04-25 }}. Retrieved 2011-11-16.

Fisher was among the lawyers, along with his colleague John Palfrey and the law firm of Jones Day, who represented Shepard Fairey, pro bono, in his lawsuit against the Associated Press related to the iconic Hope poster.[http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/culturemonster/2009/11/judge-rules-shepard-fairey-can-switch-lawyers-in-ap-case.html "Judge Rules Shepard Fairey Can Switch Lawyers in AP Case," Los Angeles Times, November 10, 2009]. Retrieved 2011-11-16. In 2011, he represented Yoga for the People in a copyright dispute.{{cite news |last1=Dillon |first1=Nancy |title=Traditional Hot Yoga instructor Greg Gumucio says he'll fight copyright lawsuit by yoga king Bikram Choudhury |url=https://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/traditional-hot-yoga-instructor-greg-gumucio-fight-copyright-lawsuit-yoga-king-bikram-choudhury-article-1.986409 |access-date=October 29, 2019 |work=New York Daily News |date=December 3, 2011}}

In 1976, Fisher graduated with a B.A. from Amherst College.{{cite web |title=40th Alumni Reunion Panel: Law and Politics |url=https://www.amherst.edu/alumni/events/reunion/media/2016?page=3 |publisher=Amherst College |access-date=October 29, 2019 |date=May 28, 2016}} He received a law degree and a Ph.D. in the history of American civilization from Harvard University. In 1982, he was a law clerk to Judge Harry T. Edwards of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. During the 1983-1984 Term, he served as a law clerk to U.S. Supreme Court justice Thurgood Marshall.[http://www.wipo.int/academy/en/courses/executive/bio_fisher.html WIPO]

Fisher teaches an online course on copyright law, based on the same course that he teaches at Harvard Law School.{{cite news |last1=Kantor |first1=Ira |title=Study at Harvard law? Just go online |url=https://www.bostonherald.com/2013/01/27/study-at-harvard-law-just-go-online/ |access-date=October 19, 2019 |work=Boston Herald |date=January 27, 2013}} The online course, HLS1x (also referred to as CopyrightX), was offered during Spring 2013 on the EdX platform.[https://www.edx.org/courses/HarvardX/HLS1x/2013_Spring/about Course description]