GW Law Symposium on June 18, 2008
EVENT:
With new distribution channels for music come repeated calls for changes in the legal structure of intellectual property (IP) rights that apply to music. University of California, Berkeley Law Professor Robert P. Merges will present a paper on The Continuing Vitality of Music Performance Rights Organizations. He warns that proposals to change the existing music IP rights system could stunt creativity in the United States. and around the world. Merges warns that the more radical proposals would eviscerate or eliminate performing rights organizations, which could weaken all of the gains songwriters have made over the past century.
TWO OPTIONS FOR THE MEDIA
PARTICIPATE IN AN AUDIO TELECONFERENCE
WHEN:
Tuesday, June 17, 2008; 3 p.m. EDT
US Callers: 1-800-377-8846
Outside the US: 1-312-709-8424
Participant Code: 92893365#
WHO:
Robert Brauneis, co-director, GW Law IP Program
Richard Conlon, vice president, New Media and Strategic Development, BMI
Robert Merges, Wilson, Sonsini, Goodrich and Rosarti Professor of Law and Technology, University of California, Berkeley
OR ATTEND THE SYMPOSIUM: CREATIVE INDUSTRIES IN TRANSITION
WHEN:
Wednesday, June 18, 2008; 9:30 a.m. – 2 p.m. (includes keynote address luncheon)
WHO:
Honored Guest: Congressman Howard Coble (R-NC), ranking member of the Subcommittee on Courts, the Internet, and IP
Robert Brauneis, co-director, GW Law IP Program
Robert Merges, Wilson, Sonsini, Goodrich and Rosarti Professor of Law and Technology, University of California, Berkeley
Dennis Morgan, Grammy Award-winning BMI songwriter and CEO, Morgan Music Group, Inc.; songwriter for Aretha Franklin, George Michael, Rod Stewart, Garth Brooks, and Vince Gill.
Ralph Oman, U.S. Register of Copyrights, U.S. Library of Congress, 1985-1993; and Pravel Professorial Lecturer and GW fellow
The Honorable Marybeth Peters, U.S. Register of Copyrights, 1994 – present
Gigi Sohn, president, Public Knowledge
WHERE:
Moot Court Room
GW University Law School
2000 H St. NW, Washington, D.C.
Foggy Bottom Metro (Orange and blue lines)
RSVP:
Members of the media are welcome to attend either event. For more information or to RSVP, contact Frank Pietrucha at (202) 543-6750 or frank@definitive-communications.com.
A copy of Merges’ paper will be available online by Monday, June 16, at: www.law.gwu.edu/ciec and at www.newcopyrightera.org.
BACKGROUND:
The George Washington University Law School Intellectual Property Law Program has been a leader in intellectual property education for over a century, and offers education for J.D., LL.M, and S.J.D. students in Washington, D.C., and Munich, Germany.
The George Washington University Law School’s Creative and Innovative Economy Center faculty believe creativity and innovation are critical tools in fighting poverty around the world, eradicating disease, and improving the quality of human life through the arts and technology. The center conducts research and organizes educational programs that demonstrate how creativity and innovation drives global economic and cultural development and contributes to breakthroughs in healthcare.
For more news about the GW Law IP Program, visit www.law.gwu.edu/tech.
For more news about the Creative and Innovative Economy Center at GW Law School, visit www.law.gwu.edu/ciec.
For more news about GW, visit the GW News Center at www.gwnewscenter.org.
