---
title: Harvard professor challenging copyright enforcement protocol
description: <p>Harvard University professor Lawrence Lessig will soon find a functional application for his academic and legal knowledge as he goes on the offensive against an Australian music publisher which issued a takedown request regarding one of his lectures posted on YouTube.</p>
---

# [![Innovation Asset Group](https://www.innovation-asset.com/hubfs/Image/Decipher-Logo.png)](https://www.innovation-asset.com/)

- [Decipher®](https://www.innovation-asset.com/products-decipher)
- [Services](https://www.innovation-asset.com/products/professional-services-0)
- [Resources](https://www.innovation-asset.com/resources)
- [Blog](https://www.innovation-asset.com/blog)
- [About Us](https://www.innovation-asset.com/about)
- [Contact Us](https://www.innovation-asset.com/contact)

# Innovation Asset Blog

# Harvard professor challenging copyright enforcement protocol

by [Peter Ackerman](https://www.innovation-asset.com/blog/author/peter-ackerman)

Harvard Law School professor Lawrence Lessig is one of today's preeminent thinkers in the field of digital copyright enforcement. Now his academic and legal knowledge will be put to practical use as Lessig goes on the offensive against an Australian music publisher which previously issued a takedown request regarding one of the professor's lectures posted on YouTube.

According to the Boston Business Journal, Lessig's lecture actually took place in 2010 but was not uploaded online until earlier this summer. His presentation highlighted several clips containing samples of the song "Lisztomania" performed by French band Phoenix as a means of illustrating a point on media theory. Australia's Liberation Music label, which holds the rights to "Lisztomania," promptly issued a [request to have the lecture removed](http://www.bizjournals.com/boston/blog/mass_roundup/2013/08/lessig-files-suit-over-youtube-takedown.html) from the website on account of infringement.

With assistance from advocates from the Electronic Frontier Foundation, Lessig has now pushed back with a suit suggesting that Liberation Music stifled his rights to free speech and that the audio samples contained in the lecture are defensible under fair-use doctrines.

While experts are unsure if Lessig will prevail in this instance, the exercise could reinvigorate copyright enforcement debates. According to The Boston Globe, critics insist that the barriers to filing content takedown requests remain [far too low](http://www.bostonglobe.com/business/2013/08/26/harvard-law-professor-sues-record-company-over-phoenix-lisztomania/jqYkgFaXSgGpd2hL2zsXsK/story.html) and could have a chilling effect on valid creative expressions.

![Peter Ackerman](https://www.innovation-asset.com/hubfs/blog_images/Peter%5B5926%5D.jpeg)

### [Peter Ackerman](https://www.innovation-asset.com/blog/author/peter-ackerman)

Founder & CEO, Innovation Asset Group, Inc.

[August 27, 2013](https://www.innovation-asset.com/blog/harvard-professor-challenging-copyright-enforcement-protocol)

### Subscribe to Email Updates

### Introducing Decipher®

### Categories

- [Intellectual Property Management (459)](https://www.innovation-asset.com/blog/topic/intellectual-property-management)
- [Commercialization and Licensing (210)](https://www.innovation-asset.com/blog/topic/commercialization-and-licensing)
- [Invention Disclosure (201)](https://www.innovation-asset.com/blog/topic/invention-disclosure)
- [Innovation Strategy (20)](https://www.innovation-asset.com/blog/topic/innovation-strategy)
- [Ideas for Good (6)](https://www.innovation-asset.com/blog/topic/ideas-for-good)
- [Innovation Team (3)](https://www.innovation-asset.com/blog/topic/innovation-team)

### News Archives

- [January 2013 (26)](https://www.innovation-asset.com/blog/archive/2013/01)
- [September 2012 (25)](https://www.innovation-asset.com/blog/archive/2012/09)
- [October 2012 (22)](https://www.innovation-asset.com/blog/archive/2012/10)
- [November 2012 (22)](https://www.innovation-asset.com/blog/archive/2012/11)
- [November 2010 (21)](https://www.innovation-asset.com/blog/archive/2010/11)
- [February 2011 (21)](https://www.innovation-asset.com/blog/archive/2011/02)
- [July 2012 (21)](https://www.innovation-asset.com/blog/archive/2012/07)
- [December 2012 (21)](https://www.innovation-asset.com/blog/archive/2012/12)
- [January 2012 (20)](https://www.innovation-asset.com/blog/archive/2012/01)
- [March 2012 (20)](https://www.innovation-asset.com/blog/archive/2012/03)

##### Portland, Oregon USA

##### © Innovation Asset Group, Inc.

##### [Privacy Policy](https://www.innovation-asset.com/privacy-policy/) | [Terms & Conditions](https://www.innovation-asset.com/terms-and-conditions/) | [Contact Us](https://www.innovation-asset.com/contact/)

- <https://www.linkedin.com/company/innovation-asset-group_2>
- <https://twitter.com/InnovationAsset>

![](https://www.conversionruler.com/bin/tracker.php?siteid=7009&nojs=1)