Casey Fiesler, University of Colorado

Abstract

Once called the "metaphysics of law," copyright is highly case-specific and at times incredibly confusing or inconsistent. Despite this, everyday technology users are constantly faced with making decisions about what they can and can't do when it comes to "copies" of digital content, and fear of misunderstanding or getting into trouble lead to chilling effects. Moreover, the technical mechanisms designed to police copyright infringement (e.g., digital rights management and algorithmic content moderation) are often flawed. This talk examines research and case studies surrounding digital copyright and how they connect to useability, platform policies, and algorithmic bias.

[Video]

Bio:

Casey Fiesler is an assistant professor in Information Science (and Computer Science by courtesy) at University of Colorado Boulder. She researches and teaches in the areas of technology ethics, internet law and policy, and online communities. Her work on research ethics for data science, ethics education in computing, and broadening participation in computing is supported by the National Science Foundation, and she is the recipient of an NSF CAREER Award. She is also a fellow with the Silicon Flatirons Center for Law Technology and Entrepreneurship and the Center for Democracy and Technology, as well as a member of the legal committee for the Organization for Transformative Works. She holds a PhD in Human-Centered Computing from Georgia Tech and a JD from Vanderbilt Law School.