Yesterday, March 11, 2010, I was pleased to attend a panel discussion moderated by our own Lucinda Dugger.  The discussion, titled Cross-Discipline Collaboration: How Writers and Artists are Working Together to Push Boundaries and Engage the Public, was part of Washington DC’s Split This Rock Poetry Festival.  It explored questions about the collaborative process and [...]

Yesterday I had the pleasure of moderating a panel at the second Split this Rock Poetry Festival in Washington, DC. The first festival took place two years ago on the fifth anniversary of the war in Iraq and served as a call to poets to use their inner voices for speaking up about issues of [...]

U.S. Trade Ambassador Ron Kirk today gave perhaps the most eloquent statement I’ve heard in some time on why enforcing international trade treaties is not protectionism, but common sense. When the U.S. government seeks enforcement of treaty obligations, he said, “we’re fighting for the rights of our American businesses.” Ambassador Kirk has spoken before about [...]

The national nonprofit dedicated to advancing the arts in the United States, Americans for the Arts, released today the National Arts Index by Roland J. Kushner and Randy Cohen, a report that analyzes the health and vitality of the arts and culture in the United States. It looks at 76 national-level indicators of artistic and [...]

As an exhibitor, preparing for a convention reminds me much of being in theatre. (At least the experiences I’ve had with high school and community theatre.) The day before the opening, there are a lot of moving pieces. The convention hall is chaotic, booths are half constructed, cargo trucks come and go, and a lot [...]

NASHVILLE — Every time I travel to Nashville I enjoy the company and talents of songwriters and musicians, and this trip was no exception. But this time I also was able to enjoy the company and talents of many visual artists, as I attended ImagingUSA, the Professional Photographers of America’s annual show. The vast majority [...]

Three cheers to the Obama Administration for hosting Tuesday at the White House a key jobs summit, one involving the jobs of creators and their collaborators in creation. The Associated Press quoted the host of the event, Vice president Joseph Biden, as saying of copyright piracy: “This is flat unadulterated theft, and it should be [...]

I just came from a compelling event hosted by a think tank, the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation. ITIF was promoting a paper released today by technologists titled “Steal These Policies: Strategies for Reducing Digital Piracy.” The paper is a must-read; let me summarize the event, which had a very important theme — namely, that [...]

In rhetoric, there’s an old trick — begin with a true statement, and then follow with an argument that does not naturally follow from the true statement. When challenged, ignore the criticism of the argument and instead defend the true statement. Here’s an example. True statement — “We’ll always have copyright infringement. You can never [...]

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 [...]