Joining a bevy of other Obama Administration officials including the President himself — U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder spoke out forcefully in defense of strong IP and in particular copyright enforcement this week.
The AG spoke yesterday in Rio De Janeiro at the Prosecutor General’s office on IP enforcement (thank you Tech Law Journal for [...]

It is in the best interest of any broadband user who adheres to the law to see that other customers filling up the broadband pipe with infringing traffic are stymied; that leaves more pipe for the legal user. Have you ever streamed a movie or TV show through Netflix? Before the presentation begins, there’s a [...]

I’m sounding like a broken record (kids, ask your parents, an audiophile or a club DJ what a record is), but one can’t ignore the focus President Obama and his Administration is placing on the importance of enforcing intellectual property law, in particular ensuring trading partners adhere to their commitments on IP enforcement in their [...]

Start with a web site that posts high-quality, professional-level visual arts works, with the intention of making them available easily and for free to all. Then imagine that it actively encourages people to upload works that are not theirs, but just “found” online. Then imagine it pokes creators in the eye by calling the monthly [...]

While President Obama made many interesting points during his State of the Union address last night, I’d like to focus on his discussion of international trade. Obama made several key points: 1) Small business can be a growing part of trade, including entrepreneurs. 2) Americans can produce exports unrivaled by the rest of the world. [...]

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 [...]

This has been a good week for artists speaking out for their rights. I highlighted earlier this week a number of independent artists on an indie label who spoke out against infringement of their creative works. There have been other positive voices as well, nicely summarized by my friend Chris Castle on his blog.
One voice [...]

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 dealt [...]

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 [...]

An impromptu jam session ensued on Tuesday at the Copyright Alliance’s EXPOnential between two musicians: Jonathan Ifergan and Margot MacDonald.

Photo credit: Renee Bouchard
The two had met for the first time just the day before to deliver the artists’ letter to the White House. Upon meeting, they found they had some [...]