Policy Advocacy

“Our partnership with REC allows us to reach a new generation of technology entrepreneurs here in San Diego.”

So said Art Neill, California Western's New Media Rights' (NMR) Founder and Executive Director, as he commented on NMR's latest partnership following the first in a series of REC online Advice Days held at the end of March.

“California Western law students will see firsthand the challenges these entrepreneurs face getting their businesses off the ground,” continued Neill. “Our law students will then advise on early-stage intellectual property, privacy, and other legal issues that could become critical to the viability of these businesses.”

The San Diego Miramar College REC Innovation Lab provides resources to anyone in the region who is interested in starting or scaling a business. READ MORE

We understand that the current health crisis has exerted financial strains on a lot of businesses and nonprofits, including right here in San Diego. In an effort to help businesses that are scrambling to keep their doors open, we have gathered a list of San Diego, state, and national resources available to small business owners.

As we move into times of economic uncertainty, making sure that people like creatives, journalists, startups, and everyday consumers who can't afford legal services have somewhere like New Media Rights to turn to as important as ever.⁠ READ MORE

Nevertheless Trailer from Sarah Moshman on Vimeo.

New Media Rights was proud to work on Sarah Moshman's recent documentary film, Nevertheless.

Taking a look behind the headlines of #MeToo and Time’s Up, Nevertheless follows the intimate stories of 7 individuals who have experienced sexual harassment in the workplace or school context. From a writer's assistant on a top TV show to a Tech CEO and 911 dispatcher, the film shines a light on the ways in which we can shift our culture and rebuild.

Our Executive Director Art Neill will be speaking 10am, Thursday April 16th at the 2020 California Entrepreneurship Educators Conference.  The conference is now completely virtual, and you can sign up to attend for free here! 

Art's panel will be talking about legal education for entrepreneurs, including intellectual property, privacy, contracts, and other areas that are fundamental to getting a business off the ground.

The two-day conference, free of charge, will include interviews and panel discussions featuring an international lineup of keynote speakers.

With the help of their partner, the International Council for Small Business (ICSB), the interviews and panels will be live-streamed via Zoom on April 16th and 17th, with registrants free to come and go as they please. Each day will close with a virtual social gathering!

Here's the link for the event, did we mention it's free? Hope to see you there!

https://lavincenter.sdsu.edu/programs/entrepreneurship-conference-2020

   We've put together and are adding to a list of local San Diego, as well as state and national resources for small businesses READ MORE

In a scholarly article, recently published in the University of Texas Intellectual Property Law Journal (Vol. 28, No. 1, p. 87-98, 2019), New Media Rights' Executive Director Art Neill and Staff Attorney Erika Lee consider some options for modernizing copyright registration. The Texas Intellectual Property law Journal is a top 15 ranked Intellectual Property Journal according to Washington & Lee's rankings. 

The article, Fixing Copyright Registration For Online Video Creators: The Case for Group Registration of Published Videos, considers the history of published group registration since the Copyright Act of 1976 and argues that future modernization efforts should include group registration of video. The article also posits that current options for registering videos are ineffective and cost-prohibitive for online video creators, and proposes opening a rulemaking with the Copyright Office to establish group registration of published videos (which is currently not permitted). READ MORE

New Media Rights recently teamed up with California Western's Community Law Project (CLP) to present another media and privacy law presentation, this time at Serra High School!

Assistant Director Shaun Spalding and Staff Attorney Erika Lee talked to four classes at Serra about some of the laws that control deceptive advertising online, data collection laws like the Children's Online Privacy Act, and how social media sites comply with these important laws. We also got to talk about how some artificial intelligence technologies learn from the content that people post online. READ MORE