Lesley Ellen Harris

Lesley Ellen Harris promotes public awareness and understanding of intellectual property and encourages integrity and the protection of creative works through her company Copyrightlaws.com, a consulting, education, and newsletter publishing firm located in the Washington, D.C. area that specializes in U.S., Canadian and international copyright law.

Ms. Harris earned her J.D. from Osgoode Hall Law School in 1985 and was called to the Ontario Bar in 1987. From 1987 through 1991, she worked as Senior Copyright Officer, Heritage Canada, revising Canada’s copyright laws. In 1990, Ms. Harris co-founded Artists Legal Advice Services in Ottawa, Canada to provide free legal advice to creators and users of various media. She is a member of the American Library Association, Authors Guild, Specialized Information Publishers Association, Special Libraries Association, and the Law Society of Upper Canada.

Ms. Harris developed and instructs an intensive course, Copyright & Licensing Institute, for Catholic University of America; developed and teaches an online Masters-level course on Canadian copyright law for the University of Alberta; instructs on copyright and licensing for the American Library Association, the Special Libraries Association and other organizations; and continues to develop and teach online courses and webinars through Copyrightlaws.com.

In her consultancy, Ms. Harris works with for- and non-profit organizations, publishers, libraries, archives, museums, and educational institutions to create content and educational materials, briefs on copyright policies, guidelines and permissions procedures, and general and customized copyright and licensing courses. She also conducts copyright audits and consults on copyright compliance measures.

Ms. Harris continues to speak on copyright law at conferences in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, and Europe. Her articles have been published internationally in Billboard, Copyright (Review of the World Intellectual Property Organization), Journal of the Copyright Society of the USA, WrittenBy (Writers Guild of America, West), and Osgoode Hall Law Journal. She is also the author of Canadian Copyright Law (4th ed. expected in 2013); Digital Property: Currency of the 21st Century; Licensing Digital Content: A Practical Guide for Librarians, 2nd ed.; and A Canadian Museum’s Guide to Developing a Digital Licensing Agreement Strategy, 2nd ed. Ms. Harris is editor of The Copyright & New Media Law Newsletter.

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