A Decade of Dedication: Professor Lydia Pallas Loren’s Work on the Landmark Restatement of Copyright

Lewis & Clark Professor, Lydia Loren, began her journey with the American Law Institute (ALI) in 2015, when she was appointed to serve as one of five Reporters on the Restatement of Copyright. A groundbreaking occasion, this was the first time that copyright law would be included in a Restatement, and now, ten years later, the culmination of much work and collaboration has finally arrived in its approval for publication. Covering 11 chapters and 83 sections, the process of creating this work was no small feat.

Restatements of law are crucial parts of legal scholarship, seeking to inform those in the legal field, provide clear articulations of where the law currently stands, and aid in judges’ rulings. While not binding authority themselves, these compilations of common law are highly persuasive and integral parts of legal practice.

The Restatement creation process begins first with the American Law Institute (ALI) - a prominent group of judges, lawyers, and professors who tackle the multi-year process of drafting Restatements. Over a period of 9 to 21 years, these ALI members examine cases, identify trends in the law, and translate their findings into the legal principles and rules that we see in the final Restatements. Their creation process includes three draft stages, each subject to feedback and approval along the way. Beginning with the “Preliminary Draft” stage, before moving to the “Council Draft”, and, finally, the “Tentative Draft”, each of these phases can consist of multiple versions and amendments. In the case of the Restatement of Copyright, the Tentative Drafts alone had five separate copies that were proposed to and approved by the full membership of the ALI.

Professor Loren served as an Associate Reporter along with the lead Reporter, Christopher Jon Springman (New York University, School of Law), and fellow Associate Reporters, Daniel J. Gervais (Vanderbilt University Law School), R. Anthony Reese (University of California, Irvine School of Law), and Molly S. Van Houweling (University of California, Berkeley School of Law). This team of Reporters worked with an appointed group of almost 60 Advisors and more than 100 Consultative Group members throughout the drafting process. After multiple rounds through all three stages of drafting, their hard work and dedication led to a unanimous approval in May, 2025, by the ALI membership on the final sections of the project. “Being one of the Associate Reporters on this project has been a highlight of my legal career,” Professor Loren said, “It has been incredibly rewarding to work with the deeply knowledgeable team of Reporters, and to have feedback from Advisers, Liaisons, and ALI members with experiences in a variety of industries and settings.”

Now that the Restatement has received full approval, the team is working to prepare a final “Official Text” for publication.