Group seeks legal soulmate

A new open-source media project called ourmedia is looking for pro bono legal counsel from an individual or firm that is versed in how intellectual property law affects grassroots media.

Launched in July as the Open Media project, ourmedia is an effort to foster, preserve and advance works of grassroots media -- everything from digital stories and amateur films to music videos, student projects, political ads, animations and oral histories.

Brewster Kahle at the well-regarded Internet Archive is providing free storage and free bandwidth for all non-commercial digital media that the owners agree to make available to a global audience. Creative Commons is also supporting this effort. The backers believe this will become the world's largest repository of home-brew media.

More than 100 people have joined a wiki to work on this project, including attorneys Denise Howell, Ernest Miller, Jessica Litman, Wendy Seltzer, and five members of the Berkman Center. (I'm a member, too.) Howard Rheingold, John Perry Barlow, Joi Ito, David Weinberger, Doc Searls, the founder of Flickr, and many leading technologists are also members.

The group's most pressing needs involve the review of a few brief draft documents, but some fascinating legal issues may lie just ahead. Those interested, or with questions, should contact JD Lasica.