Law and technology scholar Lawrence Lessig will speak at noon Thurs., Feb. 20, in the law school’s Flynn Auditorium. Lessig’s talk is the keynote address of the Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment and Technology Law’s 2020 symposium, Spheres of Influence: Examining the Interplay of Technology and the Law.
Cited by The New Yorker as “the most important thinker on intellectual property in the Internet era,” Lessig has focused much of his career on law and technology, especially as it affects copyright. current work addresses “institutional corruption”—relationships which, while legal, weaken public trust in an institution—especially as that affects democracy. He is the Roy L. Furman Professor of Law and Leadership at Harvard and the founder of the advocacy organization Equal Citizens and a founding board member of Creative Commons.
The day-long symposium also features three panel discussions on how rapidly evolving technologies are influencing judges, juries and trials and changing courtrooms; influencing elections through targeted newsfeeds, echo chambers and malfunctioning apps; and presenting regulatory and electoral challenges. The panels are moderated by Lee S. and Charles A. Speir Professor of Law Kevin Stack, Milton R. Underwood Professor of Law Daniel Gervais, and Assistant Clinical Professor of Law G.S. Hans, and feature technology law attorneys and legal scholars as well as Todd Rubin of the Administrative Conference of the United States, whose work focuses on helping federal agencies improve the quality of their regulatory decisions.
Lessig’s keynote address and all three panels are free and open to the public.