Fred von Lohmann, Google’s legal director for copyright issues, has left the company, leaving an opening in a behind-the-scenes but critical role at Google.
A well-known attorney in Silicon Valley, von Lohmann left in March after working at Google for more than seven years. During his tenure, he fought aggressively for Google’s right to display copyrighted material — from music and video clips to news headlines — on its various online properties. His departure comes as Google is facing growing threats of regulation in Europe and a high-stakes negotiations with record labels in the US.
Von Lohmman told Business Insider that he’s “taking a break to recharge the batteries” but that he was not going to any other job in the immediate future.
Google is currently seeking a head of copyright “to provide strategic direction and oversight of key initiatives” and “develop and implement anti-piracy strategies to address emerging challenges online,” according to a job listing on its website. Google declined to comment.
As the world’s number one search engine as well as the operator of YouTube, the world’s largest video site, Google’s business depends upon offering as much information as possible on its sites. Von Lohmann’s role was to help Google achieve that goal even when the creators of some of that information objected.
“My goal has always been to fight for sensible and balanced copyright,” von Lohmann told Business Insider. “Sometimes that meant I disagreed with rights holders and sometimes that meant I agreed with right holders. It depended on the issue.”
Although Google his historically been viewed as an enemy of copyright owners, the company has made progress mending some of the differences and finding common ground with some copyright holders during von Lohmann’s time.
Still, Google is facing a renewed effort by the music industry to make Google fork over more money for songs available on YouTube. Google also has a high-stakes courtroom battle on its docket, following an appeals court decision last month reviving Oracle’s copyright claim against Google’s use of the Java language in Android’s operating system.
When he was hired, von Lohmann was seen by many big owners of intellectual property as a copyright radical. He had been senior staff attorney at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a group that advocated for tech companies and Web users. Anytime a tech startup was sued for helping users share unlicensed films or songs via the internet, one could usually find von Lohmann in the startup’s corner.
He was an advisor to Limewire, the once popular music service sued out of existence. He argued on behalf of Grokster, another ill-fated music service, before the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.
“My plans mostly revolve around reading books, hanging out, and listening to music,” he said, noting that he’d promised himself to take a year off.
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