About two years ago I was on a panel where a speaker said he had just come back from Silicon Valley, and every investor he met said they wanted to get in with any start-up that had a way to get creative works to people more easily, the law be dammed. Asked why they weren’t [...]

The intellectual property rights enforcement bill, S. 3325, passed the US Senate Friday and the US House on Sunday. This legislation, once signed by the President, will give new tools to federal, state and local officials to enforce existing copyright laws and thus defend the rights of creators and copyright owners. After moving to the [...]

There was a lot of talent and a lot of political firepower yesterday in the Russell Senate Caucus Room, a room where a former senator told me various Kennedys have announced whether or not they would run for President over the years. We heard no such announcement yesterday at the 2nd Annual Copyright EXPOnential, but [...]

My sympathies to anyone who didn’t make it over to the Russell Senate Caucus Room yesterday for our 2nd annual Copyright Alliance EXPOnential. Once again, Copyright Alliance members outdid themselves demonstrating the wide range of copyright industries and how those industries are innovating to bring consumers ever-more imaginative ways to enjoy creative works. First, let [...]

Anyone out there been following the Copyright Royalty Board proceeding on setting rates for digital music services? I have, and it’s enough to make your head hurt. It came up during the panel I was on last week at the Americana Music Conference. Well, it turns out some of the rates in question have been [...]

The U.S. Trade Representative’s office held a public meeting on the proposed Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement today, a process we have encouraged. The meeting was yet another example of the transparency they’ve demonstrated throughout this process. USTR has from the beginning informed everyone — and I mean everyone, since they post on their web site — [...]

We’re at a critical economic moment right now. Obviously the eye-opening upheaval on Wall Street should be of immediate attention to policymakers, but that’s not the crossroads of which I’m thinking. The critical moment I’m thinking of is very real and can have long-term economic ramifications. If we act, it will mean saving potentially hundreds [...]

NASHVILLE — This is my second year speaking here, and I’m actually having more fun here than the year before. Great music, great people, great town. Once again I served on the only policy-related panel. Despite the fact that this is not a policy conference, every seat was taken in our panel, which was moderated [...]

NASHVILLE — I attended an interesting panel here this afternoon on the use of blogs to promote your music. It wasn’t about an artist creating his or her own blog; it was about getting a music blogger to write about you. Almost a quarter-century ago (man, am I dating myself) I worked at my college [...]

NASHVILLE — No policy stuff here, so if that’s what you want keep on going. Okay, for those still with us, I must share something. I absolutely love my job, but it is taxing. Most of our staff is part-time, we are involved in developing educational curricula, we’re building a grass-roots network, we’re active in [...]