New Media Rights Earns Prestigious 2026 EFF Award

California Western School of Law's New Media Rights clinic received a 2026 Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) Award, one of the most respected honors in the field of digital rights and technology policy. 

EFF recognized New Media Rights for its work “protecting creators, entrepreneurs, and internet users from digital threats such as copyright abuse, online harassment, and privacy violations.” 

Presented annually by the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a leading nonprofit organization dedicated to defending civil liberties in the digital world, the EFF Awards honor significant contributions to technology, digital rights, free expression, innovation, and the public interest. Over the past three decades, recipients have included internet pioneers, technologists, advocates, journalists, and organizations whose work has shaped the modern digital landscape. 

Founded in 2007 and joining California Western School of Law as a clinic in 2012, New Media Rights provides free legal services, educational resources, and policy advocacy focused on copyright, privacy, free speech, and technology law. Through the clinic, California Western students work directly with creators, entrepreneurs, journalists, artists, nonprofits, and members of the public facing complex digital rights issues. 

“When we started 20 years ago, blogging, social media, and YouTube were the new technologies,” said New Media Rights Executive Director Art Neill. “We guessed that increased communication and sharing online meant a lot of intellectual property and privacy issues would arise. They did.” 

Neill noted that the clinic has since helped thousands of individuals and organizations navigate legal challenges while building educational resources that have reached millions of users. 

“Today, as a law clinic of California Western School of Law, we've worked on thousands of legal matters, stewarded educational resources that have been visited millions of times, and impacted copyright and net neutrality regulation and policy,” he said. 

This award recognizes the impact of New Media Rights' work over the past two decades and the contributions of the faculty, staff, alumni, and hundreds of California Western law students who have supported its mission. 

"Receiving an EFF Award is an incredible honor," Neill said. "We are grateful to the New Media Rights and California Western School of Law staff, and hundreds of law students that have helped us serve the public over the years."