Authors Alliance promotes authorship for the public good by supporting authors who write to be read. We embrace the unprecedented potential digital networks have for the creation and distribution of knowledge and culture. We represent the interests of authors who want to harness this potential to share their creations more broadly in order to serve the public good.
Unfortunately, authors face many barriers that prevent the full realization of this potential to enhance public access to knowledge and creativity. Authors who are eager to share their existing works may discover that those works are out of print, un-digitized, and subject to copyrights signed away long before the digital age. Authors who are eager to share new works may feel torn between publication outlets that maximize public access and others that restrict access but provide important value in terms of peer review, prestige, or monetary reward. Authors may also struggle to understand how to navigate fair use and the rights clearance process in order to lawfully build on existing works.
The mission of Authors Alliance is to further the public interest in facilitating widespread access to works of authorship by assisting and representing authors who want to disseminate knowledge and products of the imagination broadly. We provide information and tools designed to help authors better understand and manage key legal, technological, and institutional aspects of authorship in the digital age. We are also a voice for authors in discussions about public and institutional policies that might promote or inhibit the broad dissemination they seek.
Board of Directors
Pamela Samuelson is a Professor of Law and Information at the University of California, Berkeley and a Co-Director of the Berkeley Center for Law & Technology.
Thomas Leonard is University Librarian Emeritus and a Professor of Journalism Emeritus at the University of California, Berkeley. He has served as the President of the Association of Research Libraries and as an Associate Editor of American National Biography.
Molly Van Houweling is a Professor of Law and a Co-Director of the Berkeley Center for Law & Technology at the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law. She was a founding staff member and formerly served on the Board of Directors of Creative Commons.
Carla Hesse is a Professor of History and Dean of Social Sciences at the University of California, Berkeley. A fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences since 2009, she is a specialist in modern European History and the history of communication.
Advisory Board Members
danah boyd
Principal Researcher at Microsoft Research, Research Assistant Professor in Media, Culture, and Communication at New York University, and Fellow at the Berkman Center for Internet and Society
CORY DOCTOROW
fiction writer, activist, blogger, and journalist
MICHAEL EISEN
Professor of Genetics, Genomics, and Development at UC Berkeley and PLOS Cofounder
ERIC VON HIPPEL
T. Wilson (1953) Professor in Management and Professor of Management and Systems Engineering at MIT
JOI ITO
Director of the MIT Media Lab and former CEO of Creative Commons
JONATHAN ZITTRAIN
Professor of Law and Computer Science at Harvard University, and Co-Founder and Director of the Berkman Center for Internet and Society
ROBERT DARNTON
Harvard University Librarian and Carl H. Pforzheimer Professor of History
MARGARET JANE RADIN
Henry King Ransom Professor of Law at University of Michigan
PAUL COURANT
Arthur F. Thurnau Professor of Economics and Information, Harold T. Shapiro Collegiate Professor of Public Policy, and former Dean of Libraries at the University of Michigan
EDWARD FELTEN
Robert E. Kahn Professor of Computer Science and Public Affairs and Director of the Center for Information Technology Policy at Princeton University
MICHAEL GEIST
Professor of Law and the Canada Research Chair in Internet and E-commerce Law at the University of Ottawa Faculty of Law
DONALD LAMM
former President and Chairman, W.W. Norton Publishing Company
ROBERT PINSKY
39th Poet Laureate of the United States, Founder of the Favorite Poem Project, and Professor of Creative Writing at Boston University
HAROLD VARMUS
co-founder of Public Library of Science, Nobel Laureate in Physiology or Medicine
KATIE HAFNER
writer and journalist
LEWIS HYDE
poet, essayist, translator, cultural critic, and Richard L. Thomas Professor of Creative Writing at Kenyon College
SIDONIE SMITH
Mary Fair Croushore Professor of the Humanities and Director of the Institute for the Humanities at the University of Michigan, former President of the Modern Language Association
JONATHAN LETHEM
novelist, essayist, short story writer, and the Roy Edward Disney Professor in Creative Writing at Pomona College
PAUL BREST
former Hewlett Foundation President; Professor of Law, Emeritus, and former Dean, Stanford Law School
RANDY SCHEKMAN
Howard Hughes Investigator and Professor of Cell and Developmental Biology at UC Berkeley, Nobel Laureate in Physiology or Medicine
BREWSTER KAHLE
Digital Librarian and Founder at the Internet Archive
KEVIN KELLY
Senior Maverick Editor and founding Executive Editor at Wired Magazine
LAWRENCE LESSIG
Director of the Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics and Roy L. Furman Professor of Law at Harvard University
Peter Baldwin
Professor of History at UCLA
Founding Members
Jasmine Abdel-khalik
UMKC School of Law
Alessandro Acquisti
Carnegie Mellon University
Prue Adler
Association of Research Libraries
Julie Ahrens
Stanford Law School, Center for Internet & Society
Ivy Anderson
California Digital Library
Jonas Anderson
American University Washington College of Law
Patricia Aufderheide
American University
Margo Bagley
University of Virginia School of Law
Eric Bakovic
UC San Diego
Jack Balkin
Yale Law School
Jonathan Band
Ann Bartow
Pace Law School, Pace University
Barton Beebe
NYU School of Law
Steven Bellovin
Columbia University
Yochai Benkler
Bob Berring
Berkeley Law School, Boalt Hall
Mario Biagioli
UC Davis
James Boyle
Duke University School of Law
Oren Bracha
The University of Texas School of Law
Annemarie Bridy
University of Idaho College of Law
Tobias Buckell
Dan Burk
University of California, Irvine
Brandon Butler
L Jean Camp
Indiana University
Michael Carrier
Rutgers Law School
Michael Carroll
American University Washington College of Law
Cathryn Carson
University of California, Berkeley
Alissa Centivany
University of Michigan & University of Toronto
Margaret Chon
Seattle University School of Law
Dan Cohen
Digital Public Library of America
Julie Cohen
Georgetown Law
Cindy Cohn
Michele Collu
robert cooter
Berkeley Law School
Ray Corrigan
The Open University, UK
Carys Craig
Osgoode Hall Law School, York University
Jessie Daniels
City University of New York (CUNY)
Primavera De Filippi
Berkman Center for Internet & Society
Stacey Dogan
Boston University School of Law
Paul Duguid
School of Information, UC Berkeley
Niva Elkin-Koren
Haifa Center for Law and Technology, University of Haifa Faculty of Law
Cynthia Fuchs Epstein
Graduate Center, City University of New York
Sharon E. Farb
UCLA
Kathleen Fitzpatrick
Modern Language Association
Karl Fogel
QuestionCopyright.org
Roger Ford
The University of New Hampshire School of Law
Sarah Warshauer Freedman
University of California, Berkeley
Brett Frischmann
Cardozo School of Law
A. Michael Froomkin
U. Miami School of Law
Laura Gasaway
University of North Carolina School of Law
Steve Gass
MIT
Andy Gass
Paul Geller
Ilana Gershon
Indiana University
Shubha Ghosh
Rebecca Giblin
Faculty of Law, Monash University, Australia
James Gibson
University of Richmond School of Law
Jen Jack Gieseking
Bowdoin College
Dan Gillmor
Bobby Glushko
University of Toronto
Eric Goldman
Santa Clara University School of Law
Jennifer Granick
Stanford Center for Internet and Society
James Grimmelmann
University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law
Seda Gürses
NYU
Bronwyn Hall
UC Berkeley and U of Maastricht
David Hansen
UNC-Chapel Hill
Paul Heald
University of Illinois
Laurence R. Helfer
Duke University
Don Herzog
University of Michigan
Robert Heverly
Albany Law School
Laura A. Heymann
William & Mary Law School
Peter Hirtle
Harvard University
Adam Hochschild
Arlie Hochschild
Kinch Hoekstra
University of California, Berkeley
Chris Hoofnagle
UC Berkeley Law
Martin Husovec
Tim Hwang
Steven Jamar
Institute for Intellectual Property and Social Justice
Peter Jaszi
American University Law School
Jennifer Jenkins
Michael Jordan
University of California, Berkeley
Eran Kahana
Stanford Law School; Maslon EdelmanBorman & Brand, LLP
Brian Kahin
MIT
Amy Kapczynski
Dennis Karjala
College of Law Arizona State University
Ethan Katsh
National Center for Technology and Dispute Resolution
Ariel Katz
University of Toronto, Faculty of Law
Christopher Kelty
UCLA
John Leslie King
John Kingdon
University of Michigan
Kirsten Kingdon
Pushpa Kumar Lakshmanan
Faculty Associate, Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard Law School, Harvard University; Assistant Professor, Faculty of Law, University of Delhi, India; Research Professor, World Institute for Scientific Exploration, Baltimore, U.S.A.
Airi Lampinen
Helsinki Institute for Information Technology HIIT
Michael Landau
Georgia State University College of Law
Susan Landau
Author; former privacy analyst, Google; former Distinguished Engineer, Sun Microsystems
Amy Landers
Drexel University School of Law
Alex Leavitt
Annenberg School for Communication, University of Southern California
Edward Lee
IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law
Mark Lemley
Stanford Law School
Jack Lerner
Karen Levy
Princeton University
Roger Levy
University of California, San Diego
Yvette Joy Liebesman
Saint Louis University School of Law
Jacqueline Lipton
University of Houston Law Center
Jessica Litman
University of Michigan
Lydia Loren
Lewis & Clark Law School
Brian Love
Santa Clara University School of Law
Glynn Lunney
Tulane University School of Law
Michael Madison
University of Pittsburgh
Matthew J.X. Malady
Lara Markstein
Alice Marwick
Fordham University
Stephen Maurer
University of California at Berkeley
Mark McKenna
Notre Dame Law School
Corynne McSherry
Hiram Meléndez-Juarbe
Kate Miltner
USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism
Joseph Mornin
UC Berkeley School of Law (Boalt Hall)
Calvin Morrill
University of California, Berkeley
Lateef Mtima
Institute for Intellectual Property and Social Justice
Bryce Newell
The Information School, University of Washington
Annalee Newitz
author and editor-in-chief of io9.com
Peter Norvig
Google
Paul Ohm
University of Colorado Law School
Ruth Okediji
University of Minnesota Law School
Dotan Oliar
University of Virginia School of Law
Harlan Onsrud
School of Computing and Information Science, University of Maine
Kurt Opsahl
Electronic Frontier Foundation
Nina Paley
John Palfrey
Phillips Academy, Andover
Aaron Perzanowski
Case Western Reserve University School of Law
Jim Pitman
University of California, Berkeley
Ethan Pollock
Brown University
Jedediah Purdy
Duke University School of Law
Laura Quilter
University of Massachusetts Amherst
Kevin Quinn
UC Berkeley
Justin Reich
Harvard University
Jerome Reichman
Duke Law School
Blake Reid
Samuelson-Glushko Technology Law and Policy Clinic, Colorado Law
Chris Ridder
Ridder, Costa & Johnstone LLP
Jorge Roig
Charleston School of Law
Daniel Rosenberg
University of Oregon
Betsy Rosenblatt
Whittier Law School
Jennifer E. Rothman
Loyola Law School, Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles
Brian Rowe
AdSeattle University Law & University of Washington’s Information School
Daniel Rubinfeld
UC Berkeley School of Law
Matthew Sag
Loyola University of Chicago School of Law
Julie Samuels
Engine
Sharon Sandeen
Joshua Sarnoff
DePaul University College of Law
AnnaLee Saxenian
UC Berkeley School of Information
Rich Schneider
University of California, San Francisco
Jason Schultz
NYU School of Law
Michael Scott
Southwestern Law School
Jeffrey Selbin
UC Berkeley School of Law
Lea Shaver
Indiana University McKinney School of Law
Jonathan Sheehan
UC Berkeley
Stuart Shieber
Harvard University
Stephen M. Silberstein
Jessica Silbey
Suffolk Law School
Luca Simeone
metaLAB (at) Harvard & Malmö University
Aram Sinnreich
Rutgers University
David Sklansky
University of California, Berkeley, School of Law
Kevin Smith
Duke University Libraries
Daniel Solove
George Washington University Law School
Tricia Soto
Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University
Christopher Sprigman
New York University School of Law
Peter Stansky
Stanford University
Philip Stark
University of California, Berkeley
Scott Stern
MIT Sloan School
Ali Sternburg
Victoria Stodden
Mitch Stoltz
Electronic Frontier Foundation
Katherine Strandburg
New York University School of Law
Peter Suber
Harvard University
Stephen Sugarman
Berkeley Law
Nicolas Suzor
Queensland University of Technology
Alexander Tabarrok
George Mason University
Stefan Tanaka
University of California, San Diego
Audrey Thorne
Denise Troll Covey
Carnegie Mellon University
Samuel Trosow
University of Western Ontario
Lokman Tsui
Rebecca Tushnet
Paul Uhlir
Jennifer M Urban
Siva Vaidhyanathan
Barbara van Schewick
Stanford Law School
Robert Walker
Privacy & Technology Project, Univ. of Calif. Hastings College of the Law
Kimberlee Weatherall
The University of Sydney
Jonathan Weiler
UNC Chapel Hill
Phil Weiser
University of Colorado Law School
Steven Weissman
UC Berkeley School of Law
Yana Welinder
Wikimedia Foundation
Heather Whitney
University of Chicago Law School; Berkman Center for Internet & Society
John Willinsky
Stanford University
Esther Wojcicki
Palo Alto Schools
Martha Woodmansee
Case Western Reserve Univerity
Christina Xu
Peter Zhou
UC Berkeley
Diane Zimmerman
New York University School of Law
