Brian Lawrence Frye (born 1974) is an American independent filmmaker, artist, and law professor. His work includes '' Our Nixon'', for which he served as a producer with his ex-wife,

Penny Lane "Penny Lane" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles that was released as a double A-side single with "Strawberry Fields Forever" in February 1967. It was written primarily by Paul McCartney and credited to the Lennon–McCartney songwr ...

. His film ''Oona's Veil'' is included in the permanent collection of the

Whitney Museum of Art The Whitney Museum of American Art, known informally as "The Whitney", is a modern and contemporary American art museum located in the Meatpacking District and West Village neighborhoods of Manhattan in New York City. The institution was foun ...

, and his writings on film and art have appeared in ''

The New Republic ''The New Republic'' (often abbreviated as ''TNR'') is an American magazine focused on domestic politics, news, culture, and the arts from a left-wing perspective. It publishes ten print magazines a year and a daily online platform. ''The New Y ...

'', ''

Film Comment ''Film Comment'' is the official publication of Film at Lincoln Center. It features reviews and analysis of mainstream, art-house, and avant-garde filmmaking from around the world. Founded in 1962 and originally released as a quarterly, ''Film ...

'', '' Cineaste'', '' Millennium Film Journal'', and ''

The Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture publication based in Greenwich Village, New York City, known for being the country's first Alternative newspaper, alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf (publisher), Dan Wolf, ...

''. ''

Filmmaker Magazine ''Filmmaker'' is a quarterly publication magazine covering issues relating to independent film. The magazine was founded in 1992 by Karol Martesko-Fenster, Scott Macaulay and Holly Willis. The magazine is now published by the IFP (Independent Fil ...

'' listed him as one of the 25 New Faces of Independent Film 2012. He currently is the Spears-Gilbert Associate Professor of Law at the

University of Kentucky College of Law The University of Kentucky J. David Rosenberg College of Law, also known as UK Rosenberg College of Law, is the law school of the University of Kentucky located in Lexington, Kentucky. Founded initially from a law program at Transylvania Univers ...

, where he teaches courses on

civil procedure Civil procedure is the body of law that sets out the rules and regulations along with some standards that courts follow when adjudicating civil lawsuits (as opposed to procedures in criminal law matters). These rules govern how a lawsuit or ca ...

intellectual property Intellectual property (IP) is a category of property that includes intangible creations of the human intellect. There are many types of intellectual property, and some countries recognize more than others. The best-known types are patents, co ...

copyright A copyright is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the exclusive legal right to copy, distribute, adapt, display, and perform a creative work, usually for a limited time. The creative work may be in a literary, artistic, ...

, and

nonprofit organization A nonprofit organization (NPO), also known as a nonbusiness entity, nonprofit institution, not-for-profit organization, or simply a nonprofit, is a non-governmental (private) legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public, or so ...

s. Frye is currently a visiting professor at

Tulane University Law School The Tulane University School of Law is the law school of Tulane University. It is located on Tulane's Uptown campus in New Orleans, Louisiana. Established in 1847, it is the 12th oldest law school in the United States. Campus The law schoo ...

where his spouse, Maybell Romero, is the McGlinchey Stafford Associate Professor of Law. He is a vocal critic of the bar exams and refers to his course on professional responsibility as "Managing the Legal Cartel".

Early life and legal career

Frye was born in

San Francisco, California San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

. He received a BA in Cinema Studies from the

University of California at Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after the Anglo-Irish philosopher George Berkele ...

in 1994 and an MFA in Filmmaking from the

San Francisco Art Institute San Francisco Art Institute (SFAI) was a Private college, private art school, college of contemporary art in San Francisco, California. Founded in 1871, SFAI was one of the oldest art schools in the United States and the oldest west of the Mis ...

in 1997. He decided to attend

Georgetown Law School Georgetown University Law Center is the law school of Georgetown University, a private research university in Washington, D.C., United States. It was established in 1870 and is the largest law school in the United States by enrollment, with over ...

in 2002, a decision profiled in ''The Washington Post'', but received his JD from the

New York University School of Law The New York University School of Law (NYU Law) is the law school of New York University, a private research university in New York City. Established in 1835, it was the first law school established in New York City and is the oldest survivin ...

in 2005. While working as an independent filmmaker, artist, and critic, he taught as a visiting professor at

Hampshire College Hampshire College is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Amherst, Massachusetts. It was opened in 1970 as an experiment in alternative education, in association with four other colleges ...

before attending law school. After law school, he clerked for Justice Richard B. Sanders of the

Washington Supreme Court The Washington Supreme Court is the highest court in the judiciary of the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington. The court is composed of a chief justice and eight associate justices. Members of the court are elected to six-year terms. ...

from 2005 to 2006 and Judge Andrew J. Kleinfeld of the

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (in case citations, 9th Cir.) is the U.S. federal court of appeals that has appellate jurisdiction over the U.S. district courts for the following federal judicial districts: * District ...

from 2006 to 2007. Following his clerkship, he was an associate at

Sullivan & Cromwell Sullivan & Cromwell LLP is an American multinational law firm headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1879 by Algernon Sydney Sullivan and William Nelson Cromwell, the firm advised on the creation of Edison General Electric and the formation o ...

until 2010, when he accepted a teaching position at the Hofstra University Maurice A. Deane School of Law. His article on the legal history of the

Supreme Court In most legal jurisdictions, a supreme court, also known as a court of last resort, apex court, high (or final) court of appeal, and court of final appeal, is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

case '' United States v. Miller'', "The Peculiar Story of ''United States v. Miller''" (2008) in the New York University Journal of Law and Liberty, was cited by Justice Antonin Scalia in his landmark

majority opinion In law, a majority opinion is a judicial opinion agreed to by more than half of the members of a court. A majority opinion sets forth the decision of the court and an explanation of the rationale behind the court's decision. Not all cases hav ...

for the Supreme Court in '' District of Columbia v. Heller''. Justice John Paul Stevens later credited Frye's work in his final memoirs ''The Making of a Justice: Reflections on My First 94 Years'' for changing his approach in ''Heller''.

Filmmaking career

As a filmmaker and artist, Frye worked with experimental art, found footage, and

archival image An archival image is an image meant to have lasting utility. Archival images are usually kept off-line on a cheaper storage medium such as CD-ROM or magnetic tape, in a secure environment. Archival images are usually of a higher resolution and qual ...

s. He was temporarily a graduate student at New York University and held other positions as a teaching assistant and librarian. His films were presented at Mobile Home in San Francisco, X-Film and Chicago Filmmakers in Chicago,

Anthology Film Archives Anthology Film Archives is an international center for the film preservation, preservation, film studies, study, and film distribution, exhibition of film and video, with a particular focus on independent film, independent, experimental film, ex ...

in New York City, Starlight Cinema in Madison, and Eiga Arts in Japan. Some of his films were distributed by the Film-Makers' Cooperative in New York City, where he was employed and served as a board member. After graduating from law school and working as a legal clerk, Frye worked as an associate at

from 2007 to 2010. While working, he ran for District Leader for the Manhattan Democrats on the

Upper West Side The Upper West Side (UWS) is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It is bounded by Central Park on the east, the Hudson River on the west, West 59th Street to the south, and West 110th Street to the north. The Upper We ...

in 2008, an election he lost by "14-8," according to his own admission. From 2010 to 2012 he taught at the

Hofstra University School of Law The Maurice A. Deane School of Law at Hofstra University – also known as Hofstra Law School and colloquially as Hofstra Law – is a law school located in Hempstead, on Long Island, in New York, United States. It is affiliated with Hofstra U ...

. He and his then-wife, Penny Lane, worked on the film '' Our Nixon'' and started a

Kickstarter Kickstarter, PBC is an American Benefit corporation, public benefit corporation based in Brooklyn, New York City, that maintains a global crowdfunding platform focused on creativity. The company's stated mission is to "help bring creative project ...

for their work in 2011. Further grants, from

Cinereach Cinereach is a nonprofit story incubator and media production company working at the intersection of impact storytelling and popular entertainment. Founded as a film foundation and production company in New York, NY in 2006, the organization provi ...

, the

Jerome Foundation James Jerome Hill II (March 2, 1905 – November 21, 1972) was an American filmmaker and artist known for his award-winning documentary and experimental films, one of which won him an Academy Award. Career Hill was the child of railroad executiv ...

New York State Council for the Arts The New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA) serves to foster and advance the arts, culture, and creativity throughout New York State, according to its website. The goal of the council is to allow all New Yorkers to benefit from the contribution ...

, and the Tribeca Film Institute Documentary Fund, allowed them to continue their work.

Law professor

Frye took a

tenure Tenure is a type of academic appointment that protects its holder from being fired or laid off except for cause, or under extraordinary circumstances such as financial exigency or program discontinuation. Academic tenure originated in the United ...

-track position as a law professor at the University of Kentucky College of Law in 2012, where he currently is the Spears-Gilbert Associate Professor of Law. In 2013, ''Our Nixon'' was released at the 42nd

International Film Festival Rotterdam International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) is an annual film festival held at the end of January in various locations in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, focused on independent and experimental films. The inaugural festival took place in June 1972, ...

, to wide critical acclaim. The film was distributed by

CNN Cable News Network (CNN) is a multinational news organization operating, most notably, a website and a TV channel headquartered in Atlanta. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable ne ...

on television and theatrically by

Cinedigm Cineverse Corp. (originally Access IT Digital Media, Inc., and later, Cinedigm) is an American entertainment company headquartered in Los Angeles, California. Cineverse’s businesses encompass digital cinema, streaming channels, content marketi ...

. His legal scholarship focuses on issues of

legal history Legal history or the history of law is the study of how law has evolved and why it has changed. Legal history is closely connected to the development of civilizations and operates in the wider context of social history. Certain jurists and his ...

, legal norms, concepts of ownership, and art. He is a leading scholar on

plagiarism Plagiarism is the representation of another person's language, thoughts, ideas, or expressions as one's own original work.From the 1995 ''Random House Dictionary of the English Language, Random House Compact Unabridged Dictionary'': use or close ...

, art, and museum deaccessioning. In addition to his academic publications, he has co-written opinion articles in The Hill and Jurist on legal topics. He hosts a radio show on

WUKY WUKY (91.3 FM) is a listener-supported, public radio station in Lexington, Kentucky. Owned by the University of Kentucky (UK), it has an Adult Album Alternative radio format, airing more than 100 hours of music per week. Some news and informati ...

and a podcast interviewing other social science scholars, ''Ipse Dixit''. The podcast received some attention from ''The New York Times'' after Justin R. Walker, of interest to the ''Times'' as a nominee to become a federal judge, appeared on it and discussed the role of the

Federalist Society The Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy Studies (FedSoc) is an American Conservatism in the United States, conservative and Libertarianism in the United States, libertarian legal organization that advocates for a Textualism, textualist an ...

in the legal profession. He advocates a radical conception of property ownership and academic citation, actively endorsing plagiarism. On his

SSRN The Social Science Research Network (SSRN) is an open access research platform that functions as a repository for sharing early-stage research and the rapid dissemination of scholarly research in the social sciences, humanities, life sciences, ...

page, he sanctions plagiarism and copying of his work, stating: "All of my articles are licensed CC0/public domain. Please feel free to use them in any way that you like. I specifically authorize you to plagiarize my articles." He has published an article entirely written by an essay mill company, discussed his ideas on the podcasts ''The Legal Impact'' and ''Elucidations'', and his work on plagiarism has been referenced by philosopher

Agnes Callard Agnes Callard (; born 1976) is an American philosopher and an associate professor of philosophy at the University of Chicago. Her primary areas of specialization are ancient philosophy and ethics. She is also noted for her popular writings and wo ...

The Chronicle of Higher Education ''The Chronicle of Higher Education'' is an American newspaper and website that presents news, information, and jobs for college and university faculty and student affairs professionals, including staff members and administrators. A subscription ...

and The Point. In one of his articles, he re-attributed all of his written scholarship to any person who requested one of his works.

Personal life

Frye has been married three times. His most recent marriage, to

criminal law Criminal law is the body of law that relates to crime. It proscribes conduct perceived as threatening, harmful, or otherwise endangering to the property, health, safety, and Well-being, welfare of people inclusive of one's self. Most criminal l ...

scholar and fellow law professor Maybell Romero, attracted public and scholarly attention. Both were married to other people and seeking divorce at the time of Frye's proposal, which appeared in the abstract to their co-written article "The Right to Unmarry" (2020) in the Cleveland State Law Review: This proposal led to numerous tweets and commentaries on the

Volokh Conspiracy The Volokh Conspiracy ( ) is a Legal blogs, legal blog co-founded in 2002 by law professor Eugene Volokh, covering legal and political issues from an ideological orientation it describes as "generally Libertarianism in the United States, libertar ...

law blog, Lawrence Solum's Legal Theory Blog, The Faculty Lounge, and Second Thoughts Blog of the Center for Firearms Law at Duke University. Romero accepted Frye's proposal, but both still had to wait for the dissolution of their previous marriages, a process lengthened by the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. Both were eventually granted divorces from their respective marriages and married "on October 10, 2020 at 4:00 PM at the Gene Snyder Federal Courthouse" under Judge Justin R. Walker, "within about 24 hours of Brian's divorce finally getting finalized."

Selected publications

Books

* Frye, Brian L. and Elizabeth Shiller
''Professional Responsibility: An Open-Source Casebook''
LawCarta, 2019.

Journal articles

* Frye, Brian L. and Maybell Romero
"The Right to Unmarry"
Cle. L. Rev. 69 ''Clev. St. L. Rev.'' (2020): 89. * Frye, Brian L
"Plagiarize This Paper"
''IDEA: The IP Law Review'' 60 (2020): 294. * Frye, Brian L
"SEC No-Action Letter Request"
''Creighton L. Rev.'' (forthcoming). * Frye, Brian L
"The Ballad of Harry James Tompkins"
''Akron L. Rev.'' 52 (2018): 531. * Frye, Brian L
"Its Your Right: A Legal History of the Bacardi Cocktail"
''U. Miami Bus. L. Rev.'' 27 (2018): 1. * Ryan Jr, Christopher J., and Brian L. Frye
"A Revealed-Preferences Ranking of Law Schools"
''Ala. L. Rev.'' 69 (2017): 495. * Frye, Brian L
"Plagiarism Is Not a Crime"
''Duq. L. Rev.'' 54 (2016): 133. * Frye, Brian L
"The Peculiar Story of ''United States v. Miller''
''NYU J. L. & Liberty'' 3 (2008): 48.

Other publications

* Nguyen, Lucille E., and Brian L. Frye
"Obama's Tan Suit Was an Impeachable Offense
. ''Jurist,'' December 10, 2019. * Edwards, Benjamin, and Brian L. Frye
"It's Hard Out There for an Immigrant; Lemon Lawyers Make It Harder"
''The Hill'', January 19, 2018. * Frye, Brian L
Me, I Just Film My Life': An Interview with Jonas Mekas"
''Senses of Cinema'', August 26, 2007.

''Millennium Film Journal'', 2001.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Frye, Brian 20th-century American artists 21st-century American artists 21st-century American educators 21st-century American lawyers American conceptual artists American film editors American male essayists American legal scholars Copyright scholars Copyright activists Creative Commons-licensed authors Film directors from California Film producers from California San Francisco Art Institute alumni New York University School of Law alumni Artists from San Francisco Academics from San Francisco University of California, Berkeley alumni University of Kentucky people 1970 births Living people