That’s going to be the lede for many reporters writing about the latest Special 301 Report issued today by U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk. This is the 20th annual report, which each year lists troublesome countries regarding IP enforcement, in different tiers. This year Canada was elevated — or lowered, depending on your perspective — [...]

CAMBRIDGE, MASS. — As I’m here listening to talk about trade and international IP enforcement under President Obama, I’m thinking about the great editorial in yesterday’s San Francisco Chronicle by U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk.
This is the second time I have praised Kirk on this blog. It is clear that he, like U.S. Commerce [...]

CAMBRIDGE, MASS. — I’m here at the annual meeting of the International Association of Scientific, Technical & Medical Publishers, where I gave the opening keynote. I’m not going to dwell on my presentation, though, I’d much rather share some of the things I have learned so far during my time here.
One hot topic of discussion [...]

April 23rd has been chosen by UNESCO to be World Book and Copyright Day. It’s a day to celebrate the significance of authors in our lives, promote the importance of reading, and reflect upon the contributions that books have had throughout societies and cultures worldwide.
The past six years have brought a range of celebrations [...]

World Intellectual Property Day is Sunday, April 26th, but that’s a lousy day for a conference, so the Institute for Policy Innovation is hosting its fourth annual forum on April 30th from 9:30 am to 1 pm in Washington, D.C.
Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), the founder of the House Songwriters Caucus, will speak, along with Kira [...]

This past weekend I was reminded of Earth Day (which is today, April 22) on the flight home from Minneapolis. An article in the airline’s magazine highlighted a conversation between Earth Day co-founder Denis Hayes and actress Daryl Hannah.
I hadn’t known that Daryl Hannah is such a “green” activist. She owns homes with solar power [...]

The 2500 or so visual arts teachers at the National Art Education Association conference in Minneapolis last weekend were a colorful bunch.
Literally.
They sported colorful, hand-decorated nametags (enhanced at the nametag decorating station) and bold paper mache hats that often matched the day’s outfit (made at a vendor booth). All the while they balanced bags of [...]

“We get it.”
That is what Vice President Joseph (or as he prefers, Joe) Biden said — twice — to a gathering of entertainers, entertainment industry executives and policymakers last night at the Business of Show Business dinner. Speaking before Martin Scorsese was honored with the Jack Valenti Humanitarian Award, the Vice President emphasized the critical [...]

WASHINGTON — At the Business of Show Business 2 conference here today (see my write-up on it) MPAA released a new report, “The Economic Impact of the Motion Picture & Television Industry on the United States.” I encourage you to read the complete report, examine its methodology, dive into the footnotes, but here are some [...]

WASHINGTON — Yes, Disney had a display here at the Business of Show Business 2 of the model sets from the three Pirates of the Caribbean motion pictures, but this post isn’t about that. And for those not happy with the word “piracy” to refer to infringement, 1) like it or not, it dates back [...]