About IP Justice

Founded in 2002, IP Justice is an international civil liberties organization that promotes the public interest and human rights in technology laws and policies.  We focus on important tech issues such as Internet freedom, innovation policy, and balanced intellectual property rights.

IP Justice participates in a number of international law and Internet policy venues which impact digital rights including the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), the UN World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), the UN Internet Governance Forum (IGF), and other international treaty and trade agreements addressing Internet policy and intellectual property rights.  IP Justice has held an accredited consultative status with ECOSOC, the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations, since 2003.

IP Justice is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization, so donations in the U.S. are 100% tax-deductible.

IP Justice is based in San Fransisco, California, USA.

IP Justice’s mission is to:

  • Advise policy makers around the world on the impacts of intellectual property rules on traditional rights and innovation;
  • Build international coalitions and networks between independent organizations working to protect freedom of expression;
  • Promote laws and technologies which encourage further creativity and innovation, and fairly compensate creators;
  • Raise global public awareness on the threat to individual freedoms posed by expanding legal rights and technological restrictions to control intellectual property;
  • Encourage individuals worldwide to advocate for balanced intellectual property laws that preserve traditional consumer rights such as private copying, the public domain, fair use, and reverse engineering.

Principles of IP Justice

1. We reserve the right to control our individual experience of intellectual property.

We are entitled to decide on which device, computer, or operating system we wish to experience our music, movies, books or games. This includes a right to “tinker” or reverse engineer media, allowing us to take it apart and adapt it to our own individual needs.

Technology empowers us with greater control over the ideas we consume. We do not violate copyright by skipping over commercials, muting offensive language, or watching movies on a homemade DVD player. Copyright law grants authors the right to control public performances, but when we are in the privacy of our own homes, using the media we lawfully acquired and the equipment we own, that private experience belongs exclusively to us.

2. Creators deserve to be compensated.

Creators deserve to be rewarded for their contributions to society. Technology provides us with new opportunities to directly enrich the artists who inspire us, without having to rely upon movie and recording companies, who themselves often fail to pay the creators. We will compensate artists who entertain and enlighten us with their art and who respect our rights to use intellectual property. Exploring new business models that harness the properties of digital technology will further our shared goal of properly compensating creators.

3. We reserve our right to make private copies of lawfully acquired intellectual property.

We are entitled to make personal noncommercial copies of the music, eBooks, and videos that we own. Sometimes called “Fair Use” or “Fair Dealing,” this doctrine permits unauthorized copying for socially beneficial purposes like education or personal use.

We maintain the right to “time shift” or copy our media in order to enjoy it at a more convenient time; or “space shift” to move it to a new device or location; or “format shift” to convert it into a format that is compatible with our own needs. We also reserve our rights to make back-up copies or to archive our digital media collections the same as with our analogue recordings in the past.

4. Technology and information that enable the exercise of rights should be lawful.

Technology that helps us to exercise our lawful rights must also remain lawful if our rights are to have meaning in a digital world. Discussing information that describes how technology works must also remain lawful if we are to live up to our promise of protecting freedom of expression.

Technologies that are capable of substantial non-infringing uses should remain lawful in order to preserve consumer rights, innovation and competition. Absent any illegal intent on our part, we should not be held liable for the infringing activity of others who are beyond our control and benefit.

5. “Copy Rights” come with “Copy Responsibilities.”

The public grants intellectual property rights to authors, temporarily, in exchange for certain rights that are reserved. Using technology to deny another party’s rights under the copyright bargain is not fair. If copyright holders wish to take advantage of the benefits of copyright protection, they must live up to the accompanying responsibilities, like dedication to the public domain and enabling private copying.
Support IP Justice

Support IP Justice

IP Justice is an international civil liberties organization. Please support our work and join or donate today and help advance our goals of promoting more balanced global intellectual property laws and protecting freedom of expression and innovation.
Support IP Justice