{"id":7408,"date":"2020-12-11T09:44:46","date_gmt":"2020-12-11T14:44:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.law.georgetown.edu\/?page_id=141084"},"modified":"2026-01-07T18:23:18","modified_gmt":"2026-01-07T18:23:18","slug":"our-work","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.law.georgetown.edu\/experiential-learning\/clinics\/our-clinics\/intellectual-property-and-information-policy-clinic\/our-work\/","title":{"rendered":"Our Work"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Since 2020, the iPIP Clinic has represented emerging and established justice-minded artists, nonprofits, and coalitions. Student attorneys collaborate closely with those clients to develop transferrable skills, like managing matters, gathering facts, interviewing clients and experts, conducting legal and sociotechnical research, writing for lawyers and laypeople, developing professional ethics and identities, engaging in creative problem-solving, and cultivating <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">cura personalis<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">, the Jesuit value of \u201ccare for the whole person.\u201d These skills prepare students produce work product across non-litigation matters\u2014counseling, policy, legislation, transactional, amicus briefing, and strategic pre-litigation advising\u2014that break the mold of traditional lawyering. Past teams have presented at local and international conferences, to clients\u2019 advisory boards, and with partner coalitions. Our work always involves technology, but <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/scholarship.law.georgetown.edu\/facpub\/2516\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">no technical degree or course prerequisites are required<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u2014even for our patent work.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Every iPIP Clinic experience is unique, but the Clinic seeks to create SPACE for students to grow as practitioners and people through every matter. Because our work often transcends doctrinal boundaries, SPACE is also an acronym for key areas in which we practice: <\/span><b>surveillance<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">, <\/span><b>power<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">, <\/span><b>accessibility<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">, <\/span><b>creativity<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">, and <\/span><b>ethics<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">. We find that this thematic approach, which intentionally differs from the one used in seminar, creates deeper connections between otherwise disparate doctrines, which is a recurring theme of both casework and seminar.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Below are select Clinic matters that illustrate how our work creates SPACE for student attorneys to blossom into creative, competent, committed, and conscientious lawyers:<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Surveillance (Privacy, Copyright, Digital Millennium Copyright Act, Right of Publicity, FOIA)<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Drafting strategic pre-litigation guide and <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aboliship.org\/copyrightzine\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">zine<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> for abolitionist nonprofit about resisting mail and face surveillance with copyright;<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Counseling open knowledge nonprofit on addressing the appropriation of copyrighted works for face surveillance;<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Counseling intimate partner violence coalition on combating nonconsensual intimate imagery (NCII) using copyright, the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, and platform policies;<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Counseling technology policy nonprofit on countering NCII and deepfakes using civil state laws, privacy torts, and right of publicity;<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Counseling product review nonprofit on developing technology security guidance for targets of intimate partner violence;<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Drafting FOIA requests for library nonprofit about ebook surveillance technologies identified in patent and trademark applications.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Power (Copyright, Trademark, Trade Dress, Privacy, Free Speech, CDA Section 230)<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Counseling artist on copyright, trademark, and trade dress issues from <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2022\/05\/24\/style\/abigail-glaum-lathbury-clothing-logos.html\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">parody<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> art<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> critiquing luxury fashion;<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Counseling artist on how recent Supreme Court copyright and trademark decisions affect <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">parody <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2022\/05\/24\/style\/abigail-glaum-lathbury-clothing-logos.html\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">art<\/span><\/a> <span style=\"font-weight: 400\">critiquing luxury fashion.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Drafting strategic pre-litigation guide for open knowledge nonprofit on relevant speech, privacy, intellectual property, and Communications Decency Act Section 230 issues;<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Drafting a fair freelancer contract for a nonprofit newsroom;<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Accessibility (Patent, Copyright)<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Drafting <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aclu.org\/letter\/coalition-letter-president-biden-patent-eligibility-reform\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">letter<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> on behalf of a coalition of thirty-eight civil rights, medical, scientific, technology, patient advocacy, and environmental organizations to President Joe Biden addressing patentable subject matter eligibility reform efforts that would undermine research;<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Drafting policy paper for access to medicines coalition to encourage fair patent licensing provisions with university technology transfer offices;<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Drafting <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/oneill.law.georgetown.edu\/events\/laboratories-of-change-state-initiatives-for-affordable-medicine\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">model legislation<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> for access to medicines coalition to expand affordability and availability of patented life-saving medications;<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Drafting model freedom of information requests for access to medicines coalition requesting information from public universities about patent licensing for federally funded inventions;<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Drafting\u00a0<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/perma.cc\/U8ZJ-XM4W\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">amicus brief<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> for union advocating open access to technical standards incorporated into legislation;<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Drafting <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/07\/16\/books\/libraries-e-books-licensing.html\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">model legislation and executive orders<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> for a library nonprofit to secure fair ebook pricing to libraries;<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Drafting\u00a0<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20250409100445\/https:\/www.libraryfutures.net\/policy-document-2021\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">policy paper<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u00a0for a library nonprofit highlighting benefits of libraries\u2019 digital lending without infringing copyright;<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Drafting <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/file\/d\/1bxj82tc9Q3YrcCGSFRNnu83X-lyWijk3\/view\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">zine<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> for library nonprofit identifying strategies for libraries\u2019 digital lending without infringing copyright.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Creativity (Copyright, Digital Millennium Copyright Act)<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Counseling coalition of library stakeholders on creating a federal commemorative day to celebrate the public domain;<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Counseling educational arts collective on copyright policy for digital curricula;<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Counseling public interest technology nonprofit on strategies for securing ownership in digital media, including film, music, and books;<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Drafting\u00a0<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.authorsalliance.org\/2021\/06\/22\/faq-copyright-ownership-online-course-materials\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">FAQs on faculty copyrights in digital course materials<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u00a0for author nonprofit;<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Drafting <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">zine and blog <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.authorsalliance.org\/2024\/05\/31\/introducing-the-authors-alliances-first-zine-can-authors-address-ai-bias\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">post<\/span><\/a> <span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u00a0for author nonprofit about how authors&#8217; copyrighted works can mitigate implicit bias in artificial intelligence\u00a0tools;<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Drafting <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.eff.org\/document\/dmca-1201-2021-comments-electronic-frontier-foundation-proposed-class-12-computer-programs\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Initial Comment in Digital Millennium Copyright Act 1201<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> rulemaking for digital civil liberties nonprofit empowering technology owners to repair and modify their devices.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Ethics (Professional Responsibility, Privacy, Copyright)<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Developing best practices for ethically using new technologies within the Georgetown clinics;<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Developing best practices for <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.law.georgetown.edu\/news\/my-clinic-win-promoting-ethical-ai-for-lawyers-with-the-intellectual-property-and-information-policy-clinic\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">ethically\u00a0using artificial intelligence tools<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> within the Georgetown clinics;<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Drafting comic and blog post for author nonprofit about ethical and environmental impacts of artificial intelligence tools for authors.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Our Classroom Work:<\/h2>\n<p>Coursework compliments casework by exposing students to doctrines and skills that will equip them to be justice-ready lawyers. The biweekly seminar is 4 credits. Seminar centers a series of iPIP x Social Justice sessions developed just for the Clinic, which explore how five IP doctrines (copyright, Digital Millennium Copyright Act, trademark, patent, trade secrets)\u00a0 and five central information policy doctrines (privacy, right of publicity, Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, Communications Decency Act Section 230, Freedom of Information Act) affect people marginalized by gender, indigeneity, race, sexuality, class, and disability. Small teams of students, different from casework teams, also design and lead their own iPIP x Social Justice sessions called Deep Dives. Past examples of Deep Dive topics include patent waivers and COVID-19 vaccines in the Global South, copyright and racist musical appropriation, decolonizing the modern museum with 3D printing (or not), combatting dis\/misinformation with legal and sociotechnical interventions, genetic privacy and criminal investigations, IP and indigenous knowledge, and whether sharenting is a deceptive trade practice, and criminalizing or underprotecting Latinx art forms, among many others. Professor Levendowski Tepski has written about her approach to iPIP x Social Justice and Deep Dives <a href=\"https:\/\/scholarship.law.georgetown.edu\/facpub\/2504\/\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>iPIP x Social Justice and Deep Dives are supplemented by skills sessions. During Orientation, students are (re)introduced to critical theory, which encourages students to think critically (in both senses of the word) when approaching casework, coursework, and conversations with colleagues. To help students practice their critical thinking skills, students lead and participate in collaborative workshops about their casework and <a href=\"https:\/\/academicworks.cuny.edu\/cgi\/viewcontent.cgi?article=1201&amp;context=cl_pubs\">case rounds<\/a>, both of which also engage active listening skills and the abilities to give and share compassionate critique. Students also learn how to edit Wikipedia, an exercise that has <a href=\"https:\/\/wikiedu.org\/blog\/2020\/11\/16\/from-student-to-professor-amanda-levendowski\/\">received national acclaim<\/a>. As part of that exercise, students improve an iPIP-related article in collaboration with colleagues and supervisors as a means of fulfilling their professional ethics duties as lawyers and freely, publicly providing legal research with fewer ethical concerns than traditional databases. Professor Levendowski Tepski has written about the Clinic\u2019s Wikipedia editing <a href=\"https:\/\/scholarship.law.georgetown.edu\/facpub\/2546\/\">here<\/a>. The Clinic also emphasizes the skill of cura personalis, or the Jesuit value of \u201ccare for the whole person.\u201d Students reflect on small and systemic changes that would improve their well-being throughout the semester, and a focused session saves space for supervisors and students to share strategies for self-care, both personally and professionally.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Since 2020, the iPIP Clinic has represented emerging and established justice-minded artists, nonprofits, and coalitions. 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