To achieve its constitutional goals, all parts of the copyright system should work in harmony, including judicial, administrative, and congressional components. At the same time, this complex legal system must be responsive to changes in society, particularly technological developments that affect the creation and exploitation of copyrighted works. There are signs that some aspects of this system are in need of updating and recalibration. Congress’s last major overhaul of the Copyright Act was more than forty years ago. Even Congress’s efforts to account for digital media and the Internet are nearly twenty years old. Aspects of the Copyright Office may also need updating, due in large part to the challenges of the digital age. For their part, courts often struggle to apply both statutes and precedent developed in another millennium to current disputes involving novel factual scenarios. Drawing from the expertise of copyright owners, government officials, judges, lawyers, and academics, this conference will examine the challenges currently facing different parts of the copyright system and efforts to address these issues.
The conference will take place on April 15, 2016, at the University of Baltimore John and Frances Angelos Law Center. Coffee and lunch will be served, and directions to the University can be found here. The conference is open to the public, and to help with our planning, please register here.
- Keynote: Robert J. Kasunic , Associate Register, the Copyright Office
- Sandra Aistars , Clinical Professor, George Mason School of Law
- Robert Brauneis , Professor of Law, George Washington University
- Alicia Calzada , Former President and Outside Counsel of the National Press Photographers Association, Haynes and Boone, LLP
- Troy Dow , Vice President & Counsel, Walt Disney Company
- Hon. Marvin Garbis , Judge, US District Court for the District of Maryland
- James Grimmelmann , Professor of Law, University of Maryland
- William Hubbard , Associate Professor of Law, University of Baltimore
- Joe Keeley , Chief Counsel, US House of Representatives Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property, and the Internet
- Thomas Kjellberg , Counsel, Cowan Liebowitz & Latman
- Michael R. Klipper , Law Offices of Michael R. Klipper
- Keith Kupferschmid , CEO, Copyright Alliance
- Lynn McLain , Emerita Professor of Law, University of Baltimore
- Katherine Oyama , Senior Copyright Policy Counsel, Google Inc.
- Philippa Scarlett , Deputy IP Enforcement Coordinator, Executive Office of the President of the United States
- Matthew Schruers , Vice President of Law & Policy, Computer & Communications Industry Association
The schedule for the conference is as follows:
- 9:30 a.m. to 10:00 a.m.: Registration and Coffee
- 10:00 a.m. to 10:15 a.m.: Welcome
- 10:15 a.m. to 11:15 a.m.: Copyright Litigation Roundup of Cases
- 11:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.: Copyright Views from the Bench
- 12:30 p.m. to 1:15 p.m.: Lunch and Keynote Address
- 1:30 p.m. to 2:40 p.m.: Copyright, the Copyright Office, and Administrative Agencies
- 2:50 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.: Copyright and Congress