GitHub is partnering with Stanford University on a new initiative designed to protect the legal rights of open source developers.
Through its $1 million Developer Defense Fund, GitHub is creating the GitHub Developer Rights Fellowship at the Stanford Law School Juelsgaard Intellectual Property and Innovation Clinic.
In a statement, GitHub explained that the problem goes back to the creation of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, which has a section — 1201 — that has made it illegal to use source code that bypasses measures that control access to copyrighted material.
GitHub said it is common for developers to be hit with takedown claims based on violations of Section 1201 and it is safer, as well as cheaper, to simply remove the code rather than fight it. The clinic will offer free legal support to developers dealing with takedown notices.
“We’re excited to enhance the Juelsgaard Clinic’s…