Michael C. Donaldson (born October 13, 1939) is an American entertainment attorney, independent film advocate and a recipient of the International Documentary Association's Amicus Award, an honor bestowed upon only two others, Steven Spielberg and John Hendricks, in the 25-year history of the awards. He is a proponent of the 165-year-old fair-use doctrine and, through its use, is known for saving documentarians hundreds of thousands of dollars while preserving their First Amendment rights. In addition to serving as general counsel to Film Independent (home of the Independent Spirit Awards and the Los Angeles Film Festival) and the Writers Guild of America/West Foundation, Donaldson practices at his Beverly Hills law firm, Donaldson & Callif, where, in 2008, entertainment attorney Lisa A. Callif became a partner. United States v. Stevens Donaldson played a significant part in the Supreme Court of the United States’ United States v. Stevens case by arranging the amicus brief that was filed by four documentary film organizations the members of which were directly affected by the Supreme Court's decision – the International Documentary Association, Film Independent, the Independent Feature Project, and the Independent Film & Television Alliance. The amicus brief was filed on behalf of a documentary filmmaker who made a film about the history of pit bulls and included a clip of dog fights in Japan, where dog fighting is legal. Filmmaker Robert Stevens was sentenced to three years in prison for violating a federal statute that criminalizes the depiction of cruelty to animals in film. Through this brief the organizations urged the court to rule in favor of Stevens because of the case’s First Amendment implications. On April 20, 2010, the United States Supreme Court ruled 8-1 in favor of voiding a 1999 animal cruelty law in favor of free speech protections guaranteed by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. Chevron v. Joe Berlinger Donaldson prepared an amicus brief in support of filmmaker Joe Berlinger, who was ordered to hand over some 600 hours of raw footage shot in connection with his documentary Crude. Chevron Corporation requested the footage, intending to use it to defend itself in an Ecuadorian class-action lawsuit (filed against it for environmental contamination to the Amazon rainforest) as well as to help fend off the threatened criminal prosecution of two of its attorneys in the litigation. The brief was prepared pro bono by Donaldson’s firm and filed in an effort