Last week the presidential campaign for Senator John McCain (R-AZ) released a long-awaited technology position paper, which followed one from the presidential campaign of Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) issued late last year. So how do the two candidates square off on copyright?

Here’s an excerpt from McCain’s position paper:

The entertainment industry is both a vital sector of the domestic economy and among the largest U.S. exporters. While the Internet has provided tremendous opportunity for the creators of copyrighted works, including music and movies, to distribute their works around the world at low cost, it has also given rise to a global epidemic of piracy. John McCain supports efforts to crack down on piracy, both on the Internet and off.

This is a strong, definitive statement. The senator recognizes the important role creative industries play in exports and the economy. He acknowledges the double-sided sword that is the Internet. And perhaps most importantly, he is not only willing to take a strong stand against physical counterfeiting — which even most copyright opponents in the digital age have a hard time opposing — but digital piracy as well.

Now let’s take a look at Senator Obama’s language:

* Protect American Intellectual Property Abroad: The Motion Picture Association of America estimates that in 2005, more than nine of every 10 DVDs sold in China were illegal copies. The U.S. Trade Representative said 80 percent of all counterfeit products seized at U.S. borders still come from China. Barack Obama will work to ensure intellectual property is protected in foreign markets, and promote greater cooperation on international standards that allow our technologies to compete everywhere.

* Protect Intellectual Property at Home: Intellectual property is to the digital age what physical goods were to the industrial age. Barack Obama believes we need to update and reform our copyright and patent systems to promote civic discourse, innovation and investment while ensuring that intellectual property owners are fairly treated.

Like McCain, Senator Obama recognizes the dire impact of physical piracy on US exports and economic growth. His reference to IP as the physical goods of the digital age also shows he understands that intellectual property is property in the knowledge economy, and thus it makes no sense to differentiate between physical and digital creative works. The reference to updating copyright is unclear, and presumably will be seized upon by some who wish to dilute the rights of creators, but we shall have to see what the senator means by that. At least two prominent proponents of diluting copyright have publicly announced they are on an Obama advisory committee, but that committee holds more than 100 people, so it’s unclear what influence they may have.

It would appear that both McCain and Obama recognize the important role the rights of creators play in this country’s economy and in our culture. Rest assured, however, that whoever wins the White House, the Copyright Alliance will be there to remind the new Administration of its enthusiasm for IP.

This entry was posted on Monday, August 18th, 2008 at 4:11 pm by Patrick Ross and is filed under copyright opponents, counterfeit, economy, piracy, property rights. 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.