var googletag = googletag || {}; googletag.cmd = googletag.cmd || []; googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.pubads().disableInitialLoad(); });
device = device.default;
//this function refreshes [adhesion] ad slot every 60 second and makes prebid bid on it every 60 seconds // Set timer to refresh slot every 60 seconds function setIntervalMobile() { if (!device.mobile()) return if (adhesion) setInterval(function(){ googletag.pubads().refresh([adhesion]); }, 60000); } if(device.desktop()) { googletag.cmd.push(function() { leaderboard_top = googletag.defineSlot('/22018898626/LC_Article_detail_page', [728, 90], 'div-gpt-ad-1591620860846-0').setTargeting('pos', ['1']).setTargeting('div_id', ['leaderboard_top']).addService(googletag.pubads()); googletag.pubads().collapseEmptyDivs(); googletag.enableServices(); }); } else if(device.tablet()) { googletag.cmd.push(function() { leaderboard_top = googletag.defineSlot('/22018898626/LC_Article_detail_page', [320, 50], 'div-gpt-ad-1591620860846-0').setTargeting('pos', ['1']).setTargeting('div_id', ['leaderboard_top']).addService(googletag.pubads()); googletag.pubads().collapseEmptyDivs(); googletag.enableServices(); }); } else if(device.mobile()) { googletag.cmd.push(function() { leaderboard_top = googletag.defineSlot('/22018898626/LC_Article_detail_page', [320, 50], 'div-gpt-ad-1591620860846-0').setTargeting('pos', ['1']).setTargeting('div_id', ['leaderboard_top']).addService(googletag.pubads()); googletag.pubads().collapseEmptyDivs(); googletag.enableServices(); }); } googletag.cmd.push(function() { // Enable lazy loading with... googletag.pubads().enableLazyLoad({ // Fetch slots within 5 viewports. // fetchMarginPercent: 500, fetchMarginPercent: 100, // Render slots within 2 viewports. // renderMarginPercent: 200, renderMarginPercent: 100, // Double the above values on mobile, where viewports are smaller // and users tend to scroll faster. mobileScaling: 2.0 }); });
Download App | FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL MEDIA
 Upload Your Resume   Employers / Post Jobs 

The Life and Career of Cathy Kirkman; Partner, Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati; Blogger, Silicon Valley Media Law

published May 08, 2006

Published By
( 35 votes, average: 4 out of 5)
What do you think about this article? Rate it using the stars above and let us know what you think in the comments below.
<<Kirkman, a partner and shareholder at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati in Palo Alto, CA, specializes in intellectual property transactions and media-client consultations, both in the digital media realm.

"Some of the cutting-edge clients I have loved working with include Google, Creative Commons, Pixar, Lucasfilm, and Napster," she said. "I am always very excited when things happen, like a client gets funding, goes public, closes an important business deal, or successfully navigates a cutting-edge legal issue."


Kirkman has been a part of merchandise licensing for Converse and MCI; worked on films such as Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves and Young Guns II; and delved into the gaming world on behalf of clients that include 3DO, Maxis, and Brilliant Media.

In 2004, she helped draft a copyright license for Creative Commons, a nonprofit organization committed to achieving a balance between total copyright deadlock and complete artist exploitation. Creative Commons gives artists the ability to choose a copyright license that makes their material available, while still protecting it from piracy.

As someone fighting on the front lines in the battle against piracy, Kirkman doesn't think it will ever be completely eliminated.

"Piracy has always existed, but I do think the music industry has had success in creating awareness about it," she said. "They are now leaning toward copy-protected CDs; and as the world becomes more locked down with copy protection, the harder piracy becomes."

However, Kirkman feels that lack of accessibility to material is an obvious downside to copy protection, and that's why she supports Creative Commons and its goals.

"My blog is under Creative Commons because I want people to be able to read it without infringing and be able to benefit from it," she said.

Kirkman's blog, Silicon Valley Media Law, is a means through which she can actively participate in the global world of legal gabbing; and her enthusiasm for the cyber sport is contagious.

"I just love blogging," Kirkman said. "It's a way to contribute to and participate in the greater dialog surrounding legal issues."

Whether she's blogging about John Stewart's movie piracy comments at the Oscars or historical presidential copyright cases, Kirkman packs each entry full of hyperlinks, offering readers additional sources of information.

"Hyperlinks allow you to point to what others are saying, instead of just putting forth your own opinion," she said.

Early in her career, Kirkman knew that she wanted to be a resource in the legal field; so she decided to put out a weekly newsletter via fax. Needless to say, she's thrilled to be free of the fax machine and greatly appreciates the global community modern technology has created.

"Blogging is a great way to be engaged in my field, and it's a heck of a lot easier to blog than to put out a weekly newsletter," she said. "It definitely helps the community because it allows it to be more connected."

Kirkman feels that the birth of the Internet has led to significant changes in the legal profession and, specifically, in the field of digital media law.

"The nuclear winter of the dot-com bust was a challenge when nobody but the most forward-thinking wanted to invest in the digital media space," she said. "Now, we're way past that, and Web 2.0 [a second stage of design for Web software] is going crazy in the [Silicon] Valley. A challenge is trying to mediate the needs of content owners and technology entrepreneurs."

"The Internet has enabled us to try to achieve the ultimate goal of being available to our clients at all times—be virtual and available and make sure you're doing all you can for your clients," she said.

Kirkman said the world of virtual reality has made it easier for her to integrate work and life.

"My greatest challenge is trying to achieve my day-to-day goal of making every client feel like my only client," she said. "This is not a media law issue; but it's what I aspire to, since the practice of law is about providing the best possible service to clients."

"Being a lawyer is a life of service," she said. And she counsels law students to think the same way.

"Think about the field of law as a field of service," she said. "I think it can be very satisfying if you rationalize it that way. Also, think about being a lawyer from day one and not an apprentice. If you do, you're going to get to where you want to be faster because you're aspiring to it and you're excited about it."

Kirkman first became excited about the idea of practicing media law while at Stanford Law School.

"I had a professor, Paul Goldstein, and he was a wonderful professor. I got excited about the subject and became his research assistant," she said. "As lawyers like to say, 'but for' that experience, I don't know what direction I would have gone in. I was doing scrub work as a law student, but this helped me identify my passion for IP law."

Kirkman encourages law students to identify what it is they want to do and not simply conform to someone else's mold.

"Do your own thing," she said. "Ask yourself, 'What's my agenda? What do I want to be doing at this firm?'"
 

published May 08, 2006

( 35 votes, average: 4 out of 5)
What do you think about this article? Rate it using the stars above and let us know what you think in the comments below.