For the first year after joining Google, with some exceptions, people honored the personal nature of the blog, but no longer. When other blogs or news stories refer to the blog, the inevitable opening sentence now is: "William Patry, Google's Senior Copyright Counsel said," or "Google's top copyright lawyer said... ." There is nothing I can do to stop this false implication that I am speaking on Google's behalf. And that's just those who do so because they are lazy. Others, for partisan purposes, insist on on misdescribing the blog as a Google blog, or in one case involving a think tank, darkly indicating also a la Senator Joe McCarthy, that in addition to funding from Google, there may be other sources of funding too. On Blogger, blogs are free. The blog had no funding because it doesn't cost anything, because I don't run ads, and because it was my personal blog, started before I joined Google.

Source: William Patry

...and here's a distressing quote, from the same post, regarding the state of copyright law:

It is profoundly depressing, after 26 years full-time in a field I love, to be a constant voice of dissent. I have tried various ways to leaven this state of affairs with positive postings, much like television news shows that experiment with "happy features." I have blogged about great articles others have written, or highlighted scholars who have not gotten the attention they deserve; I tried to find cases, even inconsequential ones, that I can fawn over. But after awhile, this wore thin, because the most important stories are too often ones that involve initiatives that are, in my opinion, seriously harmful to the public interest. I cannot continue to be so negative, so often. Being so negative, while deserved on the merits, gives a distorted perspective of my centrist views, and is emotionally a downer.

Source: William Patry

As always, you can visit the original article and read the full text by clicking the Source link in the bottom-right corner of the quote block. In this case, though, it's good to also note that you can visit the original blog through the Way Back archive here.

The response from Pamela Jones of Groklaw is also worth reading, in no small part for the links to additional information that you will find within the posting:

I had earlier believed that I was attacked and smeared because I am *not* affiliated with any company and am essentially nobody, so that folks felt free to be abusive. Now I understand that it's anyone on the other side of certain commercial interests. That would mean more than just copyright law is depressing.

Source: Pamela Jones, Groklaw.net