Terry Hart serves as General Counsel for the Association of American Publishers (AAP), where he promotes and protects the legal framework on which publishers of all sizes and sectors depend, which includes strong copyright protections, freedom to publish and free expression, and a free and transparent marketplace. In that role, he oversees the organization’s strategic litigation matters, supports its policy advocacy, and manages its legal and compliance matters.

Since joining AAP, he has overseen a string of significant legal victories defending copyright and free expression. In Hachette v. Internet Archive, AAP led a successful challenge against the Internet Archive’s “controlled digital lending” theory, with the Second Circuit affirming that mass scanning and lending of books without authorization constituted copyright infringement. In Association of American Publishers v. Frosh, the organization struck down a Maryland state law that sought to impose compulsory licensing terms on publishers, with the court holding that the law was unconstitutional and preempted by federal copyright law.

In Fayetteville Public Library v. Crawford County, Arkansas, AAP joined efforts that overturned on First Amendment grounds a state law subjecting librarians and booksellers to criminal prosecution for displaying and making available works that might be deemed harmful to minors. And in Book People v. Wong, AAP secured an injunction and summary judgment against a Texas law requiring book vendors to rate books sold to schools, which was upheld by the Fifth Circuit on appeal.

Terry joined AAP from the U.S. Copyright Office, where he served as Assistant General Counsel. He previously served as Vice President of Legal Policy at the Copyright Alliance for six years. Hart is also currently an adjunct professor at George Washington University Law School and has previously taught at George Mason University’s Antonin Scalia Law School.

A 2010 graduate of Chicago-Kent College of Law, he founded the well-regarded Copyhype, recognized by the American Bar Association as one of the top 100 legal blogs in the United States.

Hart briefed journalists in January 2026: When AI and IP Collide: What Journalists Need to Know.