What a thrilling week to be a part of the Copyright Alliance team! Just a couple of short months ago, when I began here as a intern, the Copyright Alliance’s Letter to the President hadn’t yet been launched, and planning for the third annual EXPOnential was in its very early stages. Not only was I unaware that I would end up becoming part of the team fulltime, but also of what incredible growth and exciting moves I would witness in such short a time.

Moving to “the land of government and politics” was at first a bit intimidating. I was just another college graduate with a seemingly unrelated skill set for the city I had recently become a resident of. Interning, and now working, at the Copyright Alliance quickly changed all of that!

Working closely with our Director of Outreach and Field Initiatives, Lucinda Dugger, I was able to witness (and join) the coming together of a nationwide network of artists and creators. I was in the office the day the Letter to the President, asking the Obama administration to pursue policies supportive of artists’ rights, was launched via the Copyright Alliance website. I watched with great curiosity as the first few names began to trickle in. First the signatures reached into the tens, and then into the hundreds, and within just a few short days the numbers broke into the thousands. I could feel the excitement as the reality of what had been created began to settle in! Not only was I excited because a project my colleagues had produced was becoming a success, but also because I was observing artists from all over the country standing up for their rights. This is when it became clear to me that this is not just “the land of government and politics” as I had feared, but more importantly the city where Americans from all different walks of life get to have a say (even artists “with seemingly unrelated skill sets”!!).

As we scanned the signatures in the weeks that followed, it was amazing to see how many fresh names had joined the once fairly small network. Three of those new advocates were Chad Cameron, an illustrator from San Francisco, Jonathan Ifergan from the band Color Radio based in Chicago, and Natalie Neckyfarow, a fellow actress living and working in New York City.

This past Monday, November 16^th, these three emerging artists represented the over 11,000 creators who had signed the letter, by coming to Washington DC and joining the Copyright Alliance team in delivering the extremely heavy stack of signatures to the White House. The meeting was very successful, and the letter was received with great attention. And while sitting at that long table, listening to each artist express why they felt it was important to be there, I felt incredibly blessed to be working for a cause that is so integral to the success of artists across the United States.

As if being a part of the letter delivery wasn’t enough, the next day, Tuesday, November 17^th, the Copyright Alliance hosted two events on Capitol Hill. The first was an afternoon panel discussion called “Copyright, Innovation and the New Consumer Experience“. Members of the Copyright Alliance spoke about exciting new ways for consumers to access content. The panel was followed by the third annual Copyright Alliance EXPOnential. Here, representatives from various copyright industries had the opportunity to exhibit their innovations and new creative works.

The evening event was especially enjoyable, as the room was filled with members of the copyright industry, all mingling and exploring one another’s booths. There were illustrators sketching, musicians playing, and video screens demonstrating upcoming entertainment content and new technologies in every direction! Looking around that grand room on Capitol Hill, I had the feeling that I had found my niche in this new city.

This week I truly felt I became one small part of a much larger network of artists and creators, and I cannot wait to see what 2010 brings for the greater copyright community!

-Chelsea Lee Richardson

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This entry was posted on Thursday, November 19th, 2009 at 6:38 pm by Chelsea Richardson and is filed under Obama, capitol hill, creators, events. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.