Jbuatti (WMF)

James Buatti

Legal Counsel, Wikimedia Foundation

May your coming year be filled with magic and dreams and good madness. I hope you read some fine books and kiss someone who thinks you're wonderful, and don't forget to make some art -- write or draw or build or sing or live as only you can. And I hope, somewhere in the next year, you surprise yourself. -Neil Gaiman, M is for Magic

About me

I'm an alumnus of the third-ever class of UCI Law. My professional areas of interest include digital rights, humanitarian immigration law, and the intersection of law and politics. My last several positions were with the Electronic Frontier Foundation, the U.S. Department of Justice - EOIR, and UCI Law as a research assistant to Professor Richard Hasen. I've been published on two very different topics: Orange County juvenile ICE referrals and Congressional overrides of Supreme Court statutory interpretation decisions.

I'm a Bay Area native who spent his college and law school years in Southern California. I'm excited to be back and working at the Wikimedia Foundation. Other things I'm excited about: scifi/fantasy books, manga, PC games, RPGs, martial arts, politics, and social justice. Also food.

My work

I draft, negotiate, and approve most of the Foundation's contracts. I also advise the legal team on various intellectual property and privacy matters, including trademark licensing and data privacy & security. I work to release the Foundation's bi-annual Transparency Report. I'm also part of the team working on Wikimedia Foundation v. NSA.

Disclaimer: I work for or provide services to the Wikimedia Foundation, and this is the account I try to use for edits or statements I make in that role. However, the Foundation does not vet all my activity, so edits, statements, or other contributions made by this account may not reflect the views of the Foundation.

Contact me

• E-mail: Jbuattiwikimedia.org