HOLLYWOOD, Cal. – I had the pleasure yesterday of serving on a panel on copyright and convergence with moderator Doug Lichtman of UCLA, Matt Zinn of TiVo and Fred von Lohmann of EFF. I guess not surprisingly, the panel ended up largely being a debate between me and Fred, although Doug is so knowledgeable and right-thinking on copyright that at times I intentionally remained silent, knowing Doug wouldn't be able to resist jumping in despite his moderator's role (I was right). Fred, of course, is a more than capable debate partner, being a longtime student of copyright law and a veteran of such panels. He also is more reasonable than some of the blogosphere, but his perspective tends to be on empowering infringers, not rightsholders.

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HOLLYWOOD, Cal. — Two keynoters at the Tech Policy Summit here are familiar faces in Washington, and both had positive things to say about copyright and artists' rights.

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HOLLYWOOD, Cal. — The second year of the Tech Policy Summit has moved from Silicon Valley to Hollywood. Not surprisingly, that means that the intersection of creative works with technology is on the agenda. That's why I'm here. I spoke on a panel to that effect, which I'll blog on separately. Here I'd like to share my thoughts — positive ones — on this gathering.

The audience is an interesting mix. There are a few regular faces from Washington, many of them as speakers. There are a few folks from the neighborhood, i.e., Hollywood studios, etc. And of course there are quite a few people from Silicon Valley.

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I missed a chance to hear Billy Bragg perform at South by Southwest, although another musician told me he was amazing as usual. He's also pretty impressive in an op-ed in The New York Times, in which he points out yet again how artists are the forgotten players on the Internet stage, even though they're why the seats are filled. These issues were debated at last year's SXSW and more recently at MIDEM in Cannes, but musicians talking to musicians isn't going to help much. Their voices need to go farther.

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There's been much talk in both parties during this presidential campaign about the need for civility in policy debates. Civility is about more than just politeness; it's about actually listening to the other side's arguments, and not entering the debate assuming the worst about the other side.

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This guest blog from Young Minds Inspired highlights three educational program on copyright and their uses in classrooms around the country.

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AUSTIN, March 14 — My last two blogs have been too lengthy, this one will probably be too short.

I have written extensively over the years about the explosion of new business models that allow creators to distribute their works to consumers in ways consumers want and in ways creators get paid, on their terms. These business models rely on copyright, for without strong copyright laws and enforcement of those laws, there is nothing stopping some consumers from going around the business models and taking what they please. Imposing a licensing regime on artists to "legitimize" theft is also no solution, because it takes away the rights of the creator and makes him or her a serf to the system.

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AUSTIN, March 13 — I'm not inclined to spend too much time on the panel discussion in which I participated. Let's just say IP attorney Chris Castle once again put together a stellar panel and I had another opportunity to promote the Copyright Alliance's efforts to demonstrate how copyright incentivizes creativity, jobs and growth. I did this not having a real sense of the audience. Half of the room raised their hands when Chris asked who was an artist, but one who didn't was a young man sitting in the front of the room wearing a T-shirt for all of us to see that said "Limewire," the P2P service that facilitates massive infringement of creative works.

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AUSTIN, March 13 — Forget all of this research into biodiesel, wind power, solar, etc. — I have to believe that if science could figure out how to harness the energy produced by the creative types at South by Southwest in Austin, we could have our energy needs met well into the future.

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Guest blog by Jo-Ann Amadeo and Rick Rockelli of the Close Up Foundation*

What does the music industry have in common with the housing industry? Expansion has caused them to meet up with some wily creatures. We've all seen the nature shows on TV. We know what happens when urban development expands into rural areas. Nature sometimes bites back - and in ways we did not anticipate.

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