March 16, 2006
Pirates within the Law Firm
A couple of weeks ago I was meeting with a young professional. When I prepared to leave, he offered me a CD—a copy of a new release by an artist we both like. He explained that his firm had a CD burner and when he or some of the other associates purchased a new CD, they made copies and shared them.
I had just finished reading a short piece in the March 2006 Harvard Business Review titled Pirates Inside by Leigh Buchannan, a former senior editor at HBR. The above incident was anecdotal evidence that Buchannan’s comments were right on target. His warning was “…while organizations turn a fierce antipiracy face to the world, many of their employees are blithely downloading or swapping files illegally—and doing it at work.”
My livelihood came from intellectual property—software. Being a Nashville resident with friends in the music business, I understand the personal impact of piracy on the artist.
Consider for a moment the likely reaction of the law firm’s clients if they look to your firm as a partner in their fight against violations of proprietary intellectual property rights, but later they discover that that the law firm is manufacturing pirated works. If software is involved, the law firm could be opening itself up to fines of $150,000 for each unlawful use. By now, everyone is aware of the aggressive suits filed by the music industry targeted at the owners of computers downloading or swapping files illegally.
This problem faced by law firms and other organizations reflects erosion in respect for intellectual property rights. This is especially true among members of “Generation Y” who grew up with a no-holds-barred internet. The Business Software Alliance reports that two-thirds of college students think it is okay to copy, download, and swap copyrighted works.
As managing partner, this is an issue that you dare not ignore. To protect the firm and its partners from liability and damaging publicity, the firm needs to establish and publish a policy against use of any firm equipment or facilities in violation of the intellectual property rights of others. Specifically, the policy should state that except for “fair use”, copyrighted materials should not be copied and distributed to others. Downloading and swapping of copyright files is prohibited. Duplicating copyrighted software, except for vendor-allowed purposes, is unlawful. Using unlicensed copyrighted software is likewise prohibited. The policy should state that considering the ethical and professional expectations regarding the conduct of an attorney, violation of intellectual property rights by employees and member of the law firm (even if occurring away from the office and without use of firm equipment) could lead to termination.
The issue doesn’t stop with the law firm’s internal policies. Bringing this issue to the attention of clients and prospects is an opportunity for the law firm to add value to it relationship with both. Assisting a client in the development of an antipiracy policy and providing services in connection with compliance is a business opportunity for the law firm.
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Filed under Policies/ Procedures by Tom Collins