Standing up for developers: the GitHub Developer Rights Fellowship at Stanford Law School

GitHub is addressing the challenges open source developers face under Section 1201 of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) by launching a Developer Defense Fund and partnering with Stanford Law School's Juelsgaard Intellectual Property and Innovation Clinic. This initiative aims to provide free, independent legal support to developers receiving takedown claims, ensuring they know their rights and can assert them without the resources of a large company. The collaboration also includes the creation of a GitHub Developer Rights Fellowship, which will focus on research, education, and advocacy related to DMCA and other legal issues relevant to software innovation. The fellowship will train students and lawyers to support open source communities, fostering a legal ecosystem that benefits developers. As part of its commitment to supporting developers, GitHub is actively seeking candidates for the fellowship and encourages those interested in shaping a developer-focused legal environment to apply.