Distinguished blogger, William Patry, has decided to stop blogging.  Every post, all but his farewell, is now a stark reminder of how he was brought to that decision.  Understanding the post comments, it would evidence the legacy that this blogger has impressed on his readers.  I know that this post is now starting to feel like a eulogy, maybe because William Patry has contributed 26 years of personal views into 800 blog posts over a 4-year time period.  The blogosphere has lost an excellent blog, and a much sought-after and widely-read blogger.

I’ve visited other blogs (here, here and here) who have mentioned this story. In a unifying way they have expressed a great loss for the internet.  Patry’s copyright blog has been a great reference to lawyers, politicians, big big companies and well, his fans.  That blog will surely be missed.

Who is William Patry?  He is…

Senior Copyright Counsel, Google Inc. Formerly copyright counsel to the U.S. House of Representatives, Committee on the Judiciary, formerly Policy Planning Advisor to the Register of Copyrights, formerly Law Professor, Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law; author of numerous treatises and articles (including one on fair use with Judge Richard Posner), including the new 7 volume treatise on “Patry on Copyright”. The views in this blog are strictly mine and should not be attributed to Google Inc.

That text reference was taken from the “about me” section of his blog accessed thru www.archive.org .  The last line, to me,  is the most striking one.  His blog was a personal blog, and while he is Senior Copyright Counsel of Google, that last line separated his views from his office.  When he posts, he says he posts not as Google’s Senior Copyright Counsel, but as William Patry.  It would seem that many found it hard to read his words in a personal nature.  Reading his farewell post, he mentions that he leaves for two reasons:

1. The Inability or Refusal to Accept the Blog for What it is: A Personal Blog
2. The Current State of Copyright Law is too depressing

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