In this down economy, where the unemployment rate still hovers around 9.4%, any existing jobs are vital to the health and well-being of local communities. Jobs are important for both economic stability and growth. And, the effects of a job that disappears or is eliminated from a local community can be felt in all corners [...]

To holiday shoppers, Cyber Monday is when you use your work computer to do a bit of online shopping, hoping for some good savings. Thank you to the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (its Immigration and Customs Enforcement division) for providing their own spin on Cyber Monday — a [...]

The United States economy in the 21st Century will be driven by creatives both native and immigrant, as a rich social and economic network fostering creativity draws creators and fuels further creativity. So argues David Brooks today in The New York Times. America will be a “crossroads nation,” he said, due to several factors, including [...]

On the heels of the Future of Music Policy Summit and the recent introduction of the Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act (COICA) by Senator Leahy, I keep mulling over in my mind what the true value of music, books, and the visual arts is, and how this value – whether actual or perceived – [...]

It was a welcome convergence of messages Tuesday as the Obama Administration’s key point person for intellectual property emphasized the same point being made by a bipartisan coalition of U.S. Senators on Capitol Hill — something must be done to cut off the flow of illicit profits to web sites, often offshore, that are profiting [...]

It goes without saying that Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT) is a true friend of copyright owners and creatives, but I’ll say it anyway, and you can hear him say it. Thanks to one of our board members and exhibitors for filming a bit of Senator Leahy’s remarks at our Copyright Alliance 4th [...]

Artists and creators are woven throughout the fabric of the American economy and our culture, as we’re showing in our Creators Across America series. An example of this is Cajun artist Bobby Pitre of Larose, Louisiana. His story may not be as poignant as that of someone who lost a loved one in the Deepwater [...]

Thursday featured many Obama Administration officials speaking strongly about the importance of copyright enforcement at an event sponsored by the U.S. Commerce Department, but enforcement actions on Wednesday by the Administration spoke even louder than words. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and other state and federal agencies, with the new “Operation in our Sites,” cut [...]

Welcome back to my conversation with William Aicher, author of “Starving the Artist.” In yesterday’s post, Mr. Aicher shared his thoughts on how his work in the online music business led him to feel artists were not getting sufficient respect online. He also spoke about how copyright serves as an incentive to create, and that [...]

U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk was in a car accident in Dallas earlier today, the USTR Office has annnounced. Fortunately, it appears the injuries were minor, but he will be staying for now with his family in Dallas. Also fortunately, it appears no one was seriously injured in the accident. USTR Kirk is a great [...]