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 we did hear a lot of great things involving copyright. (Thanks to Gayle Osterberg for providing much of the content of this blog in her moonlighting role as intrepid reporter.)

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT) was passionate in his defense of copyright, and rightly analogized that pirating works online was no different from stealing physical copies from the store. And of course he’s right; regardless of any difference in cost in production and distribution, the creative output remains the same, and has value in whatever form it is eventually found. Leahy also urged the rapid passage of S. 3325, his Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights Act of 2008, an effort we at the Copyright Alliance have vociferously supported.

Oh, and perhaps in recognition of all of the innovative offerings on display at the expo, Leahy joked that he told his wife Marcelle (who was in attendance) that he was tempted to pull the fire alarm, wait until everyone left, and then take the many large flat-screen TVs home. “They won’t fit!” Marcelle called from the crowd. (Attention copyright skeptic bloggers — this is what is called a joke. Please don’t take this to mean Leahy advocates theft, or is a hypocrite for opposing the theft of creative goods. Even with this disclaimer, somehow I know someone will post on Slashdot that Leahy is a pirate.)

We had a number of songwriters and performing artists in the house. Felix Cavaliere, formerly of the Young Rascals, was at the ASCAP booth, and noted that songwriting (he wrote Groovin’) is how he makes a living. The other way is to play on the road, he said, and of course some out there would advocate that should be the only way someone in the music world should make money, but Felix said “after forty years of that, I want to stay home” and enjoy the fruits of his songwriting and recording labors. Seems reasonable to me given how much he’s given our culture.

Martha Reeves of Martha and the Vandellas (AFTRA booth) was a big hit at our event, and was amazingly cordial and sweet with everyone who approached her. She even bought the CD of an aspiring artist who approached her, even as that artist didn’t appear to recognize she was speaking with the incomparable Miss Reeves. Wow. Martha noted how many people dedicate their lives to music and still don’t make a living at it, which is of course true, but all the more reason why we don’t want the few that do to lose that opportunity. She also told me that with her new album, she wrote it, recorded it herself, designed the CD cover art, the whole nine yards. Except: “I’m finding I can’t distribute it. I’m going to need some help there.”

She’s right, of course. The myth of the Internet age is that you can bypass traditional distribution channels by using everything from iTunes to MySpace. And you can; Rich Morel, a musician and songwriter at the NMPA booth, told me he is doing great on iTunes because as a direct seller he gets a large percentage of the take. That’s fantastic. But Martha wants to make music, not become a promoter and distributor. That is still a viable role for labels, be they large or small.

Rich, who has recently written songs for Cyndi Lauper, said people just see the big artists in the music industry “and they think it’s all big dollars. But thousands of artists work and write and every dime they make is important to make a living.” “I’ve had a fair amount of success to make a living,” he said, “but only because of copyright.” I think I’m going to want this talented man at more Copyright Alliance events.

Marcus Johnson, a local jazz musician who has three songs on Billboard’s contemporary jazz chart this week, took an intellectual approach to the subject. Noting much in the US Constitution is interpreted figuratively, he said “copyright is one thing that is spelled out literally in the Constitution. The Founding Fathers knew that in order to promote arts and sciences that we need patents, trademarks and copyright.” He argued that in recent years there has been an erosion in the understanding of that connection. “Every artist has the responsibility to be a part of the educational process and let people know that,” he said. I’m glad this Georgetown Law School alum was there at BMI’s booth yesterday to do just that.

And nobody was more direct in their messaging than illustrator John Schmelzer, the president of the Graphic Artists Guild. When he wasn’t sketching at the Guild booth or wandering the show floor sketching what he saw, he was more than ready to talk copyright. “Copyright is so important because I’m of the firm opinion that unless you get financial compensation for what you do, you just aren’t going to do it.” “A lot of people do art on the side,” he said, “but to me that’s not as fulfilling as doing it all the time.”

I agree wholeheartedly with John. My daughter has a hard time going two hours without drawing. The moment she gets home, she heads to her easel and starts drawing something that’s been in her head the bus ride home. Yes, she’s drawing “on the side” right now, but that’s not her dream. Her dream is to have her own little flat/shop above the boardwalk in Venice Beach, California. And even though it would mean she would be 3,000 miles away, nothing would make me happier to see her dream come true. And to pay the rent on a flat like that, she’ll need copyright.

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This entry was posted on Thursday, September 25th, 2008 at 4:28 pm by Patrick Ross and is filed under capitol hill, copyright law, creators, education, events. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.