Why support New Media Rights?
New Media Rights is one of the largest providers of free and nominal fee legal services to internet users, creators, nonprofits and small businesses in the nation. As a non-profit organization we rely on the community to support our work. A small portion of our income is earned and the remainder comes from donations. We are grateful to the donors who partner with us to ensure critical free and affordable legal services for creators and consumers exist.
If you are interested in supporting New Media Rights, please contact Executive Director Art Neill at 619-591-8870 or email art@newmediarights.org
New Media Rights Provides Programs in Three Major Areas
1. Providing Legal Services to Underserved Internet users, Creators, and Entrepreneurs.
New Media Rights offers free and nominal fee one-to-one legal services to internet users, creators, and entrepreneurs all over the United States. This in-depth assistance focuses on internet, intellectual property, privacy, and media law inquires.
New Media Rights has provided direct legal services to over 1000 clients. We offer one-on-one legal services daily to those for whom the market offers no assistance.
For more on our direct legal services, visit our Services page.
For more stories and details on our work to help internet users, creators, and entrepreneurs visit our Stories page.
2. Empowering Internet users, Creators, and Entrepreneurs Through Education
Our direct legal services help us better understand trending issues regionally and nationally. This informs our highly useful and relevant guides. Our online educational resources are visited over 300,000 times a year. We publish freely accessible and openly licensed written and video legal guides on our website. For more on our guides, visit our guides page. We also provide dozens of in-person educational workshops to hundreds of artists, creators, and innovators every year.
3. Improving the law for Internet Users, Creators, and Entrepreneurs Through Policy Work
Our direct legal services also inform our comments, testimony, and participation in proceedings at national and statewide regulatory agencies including the Federal Communications Commission and Copyright Office. This policy work improves the law for internet users, creators, and entrepreneurs who often lack a seat at the table in such proceedings. For more on our policy work, visit our policy page.
The power to create and share instantly and online is limited by a seemingly insurmountable responsibility: individuals must somehow find a way to navigate the same complicated maze of laws that the traditional, corporate media companies spend millions of dollars to comply with. By providing free and nominal fee legal services, empowerment through educational resources, and public interest participation at the FCC and Copyright Office, NMR provides a unique set of critical services on a variety of topics including: copyright, freedom of speech, privacy, contracts, and online consumer disputes.
Acknowledging Key Supporters
We are proud to acknowledge the foundations and government entities that help us achieve our mission. Here we highlight the support of two important groups:
- California Consumer Protection Foundation
Partnering with New Media Rights to provide copyright, privacy, and freedom of speech related direct legal services, educational resources, and policy advocacy.
- City of San Diego, Office of Small Business
Partnering to provide direct legal services, and educational workshops to technology and media startups within the City of San Diego.
- Rose Foundation
Partnering to provide direct legal services and educational resources to businesses and consumers regarding privacy and advertising law.
- Grant for the Web (COIL, Mozilla, Creative Commons)
Partnering to provide direct legal services to projects and organizations pursuing new methods of web monetization.
Responsible Fund Management
New Media Rights is dedicated to ensuring that the millions of people creating and sharing online have quality legal assistance, and are empowered to understand and exercise their rights online. We have built a unique, beneficial, and efficient organization with a small staff and modest budget. We have successfully fulfilled the requirements of all the grants we have received in the past. We have sophisticated data management systems to track and report our progress toward requirements under grants, and we partner with our fiscal sponsor, California Western School of Law’s Business Office, to ensure detailed and substantial financial oversight.
Each year we provide the equivalent of over $500,000 in legal services to clients who would otherwise be unable to afford legal representation. Our dedicated team is lean, providing legal services on over 400 legal matters a year, and reaching over 300,000 individuals through education, on a modest budget. We have received grants and operating funds from a variety of foundations and government entities, ranging from $18,200 to $400,000.
New Media Rights is an independently funded program of California Western School of Law, a nonprofit 501(c)3. Both organizations are located in San Diego, California.
Many questions you have may be answered by our frequently asked questions page.
