The chairman and CEO of the Motion Picture Association of America addressed a
packed ballroom at the National Press Club today as part of the NPC's Luncheon
Series. Thus Dan Glickman drew at
least as large of a crowd as the NPC morning speaker, the Rev.
Jeremiah Wright. I heard Glickman, I did not hear Wright; I suspect the
former was less controversial than the latter, but Glickman did wade into the
choppy waters of international trade while emphasizing the importance of
combating piracy through law enforcement, international cooperation, and
"aggressive educational efforts," a role the Copyright Alliance enthusiastically
plays. (Disclosure note: MPAA is a member of the Copyright Alliance board, and
we're pleased to have them as part of the team.)

Glickman, a former U.S. Secretary of Agriculture for President Bill Clinton,
said he has joined with many other Clinton Administration veterans in supporting
the U.S.-Columbia free-trade agreement currently in limbo in the U.S. House of
Representatives. Glickman acknowledged the human rights abuses that have
occurred against organized labor in Columbia, but he also said we could use more
friends in the region, particularly those fighting narcoterrorism. It should be
noted that the U.S.-Columbia FTA, like all of the recent FTAs, contains very
strong intellectual property provisions that could greatly help in cracking down
on piracy.

He admitted it's easy for him to promote free trade when 60% of motion
picture box office and home video receipts come from outside the U.S., and the
industry has a favorable balance of trade with just about every nation on earth.
"Movies are among our nation's most important diplomats," he said. But he said
there is a middle ground in the debate over trade, arguing proponents and
opponents of free trade have respectively oversold and undersold the benefits.
"The rhetoric [on both sides] is so extreme," he said.

To my gratification, Glickman emphasized how important copyright is to the
U.S. economy, with leading copyright industries totaling $60 billion annually in
economic activity. He said these industries represent 40% of economic growth and
nearly 1/2 of the U.S. GDP. 

As we repeatedly note at the Copyright Alliance, and as I will be pointing
out next week at Digital
Hollywood, Glickman pointed out the myriad new business models being
deployed by studios to deliver media to consumers in ways that they want it,
when they want it. The Internet is a big part of that distribution, but he added
that "protection of intellectual property is a bedrock principle of the
Internet's future."

Asked about policy questions surrounding the Internet and its possible
regulation, Glickman — a congressman for 18 years — cautioned that there is
"no one-size-fits-all policy appropriate for the Internet." On a related point,
he said that filtering for infringing material online involved many players —
ISPs, technology companies and copyright owners — and that all of them should
work together to reduce infringement. 

In response to a question, he said he hoped that five years from now there
would be myriad more ways for creators do distribute their works legally, and
that this would "encourage a new generation of writers and creators" to produce
still more works.

That is the vision of the Copyright Alliance as well.

This entry was posted on Monday, April 28th, 2008 at 1:37 pm by Patrick Ross and is filed under education, international, piracy. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.