Robin D. Gross

Attorney, IMAGINE LAW: Law Offices of Robin D. Gross
San Francisco, California ~ 2003 - Present
Intellectual Property and Internet Law Firm in San Francisco. I have 20+ years experience working on cutting-edge intellectual property rights, cyberspace, and technology legal issues.

I handle a variety of transactional and litigation-related matters for clients of all sizes, from individuals and Internet start-ups to Fortune 500 companies in the U.S. and overseas.

I enforce the intellectual property rights of my clients including through litigation, UDRP domain name arbitration, notice-and-take-down proceedings, demand letters, negotiation and other means of enforcement, and I vigorously defend my clients against claims of infringement or misappropriation of the intellectual property of others.

I have litigated cases brought under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA)'s anti-circumvention rules and advised technology businesses on exemptions and defenses available to the general ban on bypassing "digital locks". I've counseled Internet businesses on the DMCA's "safe harbor" provisions for claims of copyright infringement and how to meet them.

My transactional legal work includes drafting, reviewing, and negotiating a wide range of agreements and licenses for clients, as well as registering and maintaining copyrights and trademarks both nationally and internationally.

I advise clients on their legal rights to use and distribute the intellectual property of others, and counsel online platforms on how avoid intermediary liability for the illegal activity of third parties on their platforms, including under CDA Section 230.

I have significant experience with other cyberspace legal issues including online jurisdiction, e-commerce, encryption, privacy and data protection, domain names, cybersecurity, advertising, market-place, and freedom of expression legal issues. I also have experience with entertainment legal issues and compliance requirements.

I advise companies on Internet governance policy issues including domain name legal and policy requirements and mechanisms related to the protection of intellectual property and consumer privacy on the Internet. (www.ImagineLaw.com)

Executive Director, IP JUSTICE
San Francisco, California ~ 2002 - Present
Founded and manage (pro bono) an international civil liberties organization that promotes balanced intellectual property rights and protects freedom of expression in a digital world. I advise policy makers throughout the world on Internet policy matters and the impact of intellectual property rules before national legislatures and in international treaties and trade agreements. I publish policy papers and organize events and campaigns on intellectual property and cyberspace legal issues. I lecture at international seminars, law schools and universities on cyberspace legal issues including domain names, copyright, fair use, freedom of expression, open source software, Digital Rights Management (DRM), and Peer-2-Peer (P2P) file-sharing. I am also involved in Internet policy discussions at the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), where I served as the Chair of the Non-Commercial Users Stakeholder Group (NCSG) and Non-Commercial Users' representative on ICANN's GNSO Policy Council. I have participated at the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS), and the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) Treaty official discussions. I was appointed to the first Multi-stakeholder Advisory Group of the United Nations Internet Governance Forum (IGF) to represent civil society and have twice testified before the US Copyright Office. (www.ipjustice.org)

Staff Attorney for Intellectual Property, ELECTRONIC FRONTIER FOUNDATION (EFF)
San Francisco, California ~ 1999 - 2002
* Director of EFF's Campaign for Audiovisual Free Expression (CAFE)
I was EFF's first Staff Attorney for Intellectual Property in 1999. While at EFF, I litigated several precedent-setting cases dealing with legality of online music file-sharing software and the US Digital Millennium Copyright Act's (DMCA) anti-circumvention provisions. In 2003, I represented P2P file-sharing software companies in litigation against the recording industry. In 2000, I led the EFF's First Amendment defense of 2600 Magazine over the Internet publication of a DVD decryption tool. I represented Princeton scientists threatened under the DMCA for publishing weaknesses in the recording industry's technology in 2001. Filed a Declaratory Judgment lawsuit on behalf of Replay TV customers to clarify and protect home-taping rights of consumers to use digital VCRs in June 2002. Defended First Amendment rights of Web publishers in precedent-setting California trade secret misappropriation case in 1999-2002. Developed EFF's Open Audio License, a general public license for music sharing in 2001. Testified before the US Copyright Office on anti-circumvention provisions of DMCA in May 2000. (www.eff.org)