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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.

continued on back

Cathy Kirkman; Partner, Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati; Blogger, Silicon Valley Media Law [by Charisse Dengler]

Cathy Kirkman’s client list may read like who’s who of the digital media world (Google, Napster, Creative Commons,

FoxKids.com, and Bad Boy Technologies, among others), but navigating media laws for high-profile heavyweights

isn’t the extent of her talent. She’s also one of many in the legal field diving headlong into the pool of opportunity that

is blogging or, more appropriately, “blawging.”

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“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?’”