Department of Commerce to Host Meeting & Seek Comments on “Copyright Policy, Creativity, and Innovation in the Digital Economy”

Washington – The U.S. Department of Commerce today announced that its Internet Policy Task Force (IPTF) will hold a public meeting to discuss copyright policy issues raised in a recently released green paper, “Copyright Policy, Creativity, and Innovation in the Digital Economy“ (Green Paper). In addition to the meeting, the IPTF is soliciting public comments, both of which are part of the IPTF’s efforts to continue a dialogue on how to improve the current copyright framework for stakeholders, consumers, and national economic goals. The meeting will be held on October 30, 2013, in Washington, D.C. The IPTF intends to hold the public meeting in the Amphitheatre of the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center, 1300 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C.

Specifically in the Green Paper, the IPTF proposes five copyright policy issues to address, and the meeting will provide an opportunity for discussion that will be used to formulate the IPTF’s views and recommendations regarding copyright policy. The five issues include: (1) establishing a multistakeholder dialogue on improving the operation of the notice and takedown system for removing infringing content from the Internet under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA); (2) the legal framework for the creation of remixes; (3) the relevance and scope of the first sale doctrine in the digital environment; (4) the application of statutory damages in the contexts of individual file sharers and of secondary liability for large-scale infringement; and (5) the appropriate role for the government, if any, to help improve the online licensing environment, including access to comprehensive databases of rights information.

Issued in July 2013, the Green Paper represents the most thorough and comprehensive analysis of digital copyright policy issued by any administration since 1995. To help produce the Green Paper, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) held more than a dozen listening sessions with interested stakeholders, convened a symposium, received hundreds of public comments, and reviewed comments submitted to other agencies on relevant topics. The IPTF will consider the additional feedback it receives from public comments, roundtables, and forums to determine how the current copyright framework can be improved in the five specific areas.

Then-Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke launched the IPTF in April 2010, bringing together the USPTO and NTIA, as well as the International Trade Administration (ITA), the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), and the Economic and Statistic Administration (ESA), to conduct a comprehensive review of privacy policy, copyright, global free flow of information, cybersecurity, and their respective relationships to innovation in the Internet economy.

The meeting in October will be open to members of the public to attend on a first-come, first-served basis. The agenda for the meeting will be available at least one week prior to the meeting on the Internet Policy Task Force website and the USPTO website. The meeting will also be webcast on the same websites. Additional information including RSVP instructions, directions, and comment submission details can be found in the Federal Register Notice.

For further information regarding the meeting, please contact Hollis Robinson ([email protected]) or Ben Golant ([email protected]) in the Office of Policy and External Affairs, or call (571) 272-9300.

For further information regarding the public comments, please contact Garrett Levin ([email protected]) or Ben Golant ([email protected]) in the Office of Policy and External Affairs, or call (571) 272-9300.