The Great Copyright Un-Debate Goes on Tour

I wrote an op-ed in the Hill Times of September 21, 2009 about the great Sookman/Schwartz so- called “debate” that will take place tomorrow September 25, 2009 in Toronto under the auspices of the Canada Institute of the Woodrow Wilson International Centre.

I also earlier blogged about this in shorter form here.

Interestingly, this “un-debate”, if I may so call it, will be repeated in Washington on October 14, 2009. The only difference will be that the moderator will not be the Canadian Prof. Giuseppina D’Agostino of Osgoode Hall Law School.

Instead, the undoubtedly sympathetic local moderator in Washington will be Stephen Tepp of the US Copyright Office, who has always seemed very supportive of US content industries at conferences I have attended.

As for the Woodrow Wilson folks, perhaps they ought to be saying as they say in Tennessee, “Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me.” Or as memorably explained by a living former President:



Woodrow Wilson is likely turning over in his grave about his name being invoked in the name of an un-debate - indeed a likely duet - about copyright. He would not have avoided debating a seriously controversial issue.

If the Toronto and Washington events are great successes, perhaps the dynamic duo of Messrs. Sookman and Schwartz could tour other world capitals under the Woodrow Wilson aegis and continue their so-called “debate” about contemporary copyright issues.

Here's the Washington invitation:

The Canada Institute of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars and The Canada Institute on North American Issues invite you to a panel discussion on Copyright Law in Canada and the United States: The Digital Challenge the eleventh issue in the Canada Institute’s One Issue, Two Voices series featuring Eric J. Schwartz Partner, Mitchell Silberberg & Knupp LLP, Washington D.C., and former Acting General Counsel, U.S. Copyright Office Barry Sookman Partner and Co-chair, Technology Law Group, McCarthy Tétrault LLP, Toronto and Steven M. Tepp (moderator) Senior Counsel for Policy and International Affairs, U.S. Copyright Office Wednesday, October 14, 2009 Woodrow Wilson Center, 5th Floor Conference Room 9:00–11:00 a.m. Drawing on expertise from both sides of the Canada–U.S. border, the One Issue, Two Voices series is designed to stimulate dialogue on policy issues that have a significant impact on the bilateral relationship. This publication is a primer on current issues in copyright law in Canada and the United States focusing on the transformative changes underway in the copyright regimes in both countries. Copyright reform has become an increasingly controversial topic in both Canada and the United States. Copyright laws, compliance, and enforcement vary significantly between our two countries. Canada has faced considerable scrutiny from its major trading partners, particularly the United States, for failing to align its copyright regime with international norms. Panelists Barry Sookman and Eric Schwartz will discuss the critical challenges and issues posed by the new digital technologies and debate the controversial approaches to copyright reform that will help enable economic progress, technological innovation, and encourage investment in their respective countries. Seating is limited. RSVP to Canada@WilsonCenter.org.

HK

Woodrow Wilson Canadian © Event: Dialogue, Debate, or Duet?

The Canada Institute of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, The Canada Institute on North American Issues, and the CIBC are hosting in Toronto on September 25, 2009 a "dialogue on policy issues that have a significant impact on the bilateral relationship" under the banner "Copyright Law in Canada and the United States: The Digital Challenge". The announcement promises that there will be "debate."

The two speakers will be Canadian Barry Sookman and American Eric Schwartz.

It's not without irony that this event is part of what is called the "Two Voices series." I expect that this will be more of a duet in unison or close harmony than a dialogue and certainly far from a debate.

Barry and Eric are both quite accomplished representatives of similar clientele and are in many ways counterparts of each other in the Canadian and American contexts. Barry is a registered lobbyist for CRIA and CMPDA, the Canadian trade associations respectively representing US recording and film industry interests and the respective counterparts of the American RIAA and MPAA. Eric was Vice President and Special Counsel, International Intellectual Property Alliance (IIPA) from 1997-2006. The IIPA is an influential Washington coalition of trade associations, including the RIAA and MPAA. The IIPA, Eric's firm and his partner, Steve Metalitz, have been quite active in the "301" process.

This could have been an opportunity for a real debate. But I rather suspect that the only possible debate will be over the extent of the hyperbole about how Canada's copyright laws are supposedly inadequate and why Canada supposedly deserves its position of prominence on the USTR's "301" list.

It is truly disappointing that such a prestigious public policy organization would allow itself to appear as a podium for such a clearly unbalanced event as this one promises to be. I should say that I pointed out this lack of balance to a key organizer of the event several months ago, but clearly to no avail. The presence of an academic “moderator” does nothing in this instance to instill balance when there is none.

Woodrow Wilson was a great President of the USA from 1913 to 1921 and great intellectual in his own right. He presided as President during WWI and, according to Wikipedia, "supported a Democratic Congress to pass the Federal Reserve Act,^[2] Federal Trade Commission, the Clayton Antitrust Act, the Federal Farm Loan Act and America's first-ever federal progressive income tax in the Revenue Act of 1913." Not bad, as far as legacies go.

However, the Wikipedia article goes on to note that "In a move that garnered a backlash from civil rights groups, and is still criticized today, Wilson supported imposing segregation in many federally-funded agencies,^[3][4] which involved firing black workers from numerous posts.^[5]"

Wilson was obviously a man who was not afraid of a good debate, for example the one that led to the Treaty of Versailles. Too bad that the same cannot be said in this instance of his namesake organization.

People from Toronto or nearby may wish to attend and to ask provocative questions in the hope of sparking at least some debate.

HK