Dave Green (Attorney)

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Dave Green is an attorney for Corbis Corporation, a digital media company founded by Microsoft chairman Bill Gates in 1989. A copyright activist, Green also chairs the Pacific Northwest Chapter of the Copyright Society of the United States of America.

Green is the author of "The Copyright that Almost Was", an in-depth look at who owns the property and copyrights in the camera and the film carried by George Mallory and Sandy Irvine, the pair alleged to be the first climbers to summit Mt. Everest in 1924. Seventy five years later, Mallory's preserved corpse was found on Everest by climber Conrad Anker, who was part of an expedition to locate Mallory and Irvine. Irvine was believed to have carried a small VestPocket Kodak used to photograph the summit attempt. Irvine's body and the camera have not been found, despite more than six separate search attempts. At least seven different parties have tried to stake their claim to the camera, film, and publication rights. The rights to control publication of the film inside the camera are worth millions of dollars, but pose complex ownership and copyright issues for the lucky finder of the camera.

In 2001, Green was asked by a news team, searching on Everest for Irvine's body, to help unravel the legal mystery of ownership. He spent more than four years researching the facts and complex property and copyright laws, and interviewed many parties connected with the original 1924 summit attempt. Green was able to unearth original contracts and records, while engaging in candid interviews with heirs of the 1924 expedition members, and the leader of the Expedition that found Mallory's body, His article reveals surprising facts and provides the first definitive legal analysis around the world's most valuable camera and film.

Via Corbis, Green represents many iconic personalities including Steve McQueen and Albert Einstein.