Chief Policy Officer of the US Patent and Trademark Office addresses UK Intellectual Property Office

Dr Elena Cooper, CREATe

PUBLISHED ON: 08 Jul 2014

As all interested in copyright policy will be aware, US legislative reform of copyright has sparked strong public feeling in recent years. This has manifested itself particularly in the heated debates over the proposed Stop On-line Piracy Act  (SOPA) and Protect IP Act (PIPA) in 2011. Since then, Shira Perlmutter, explained in a briefing in London in April of this year, the US Department of Commerce has sought to facilitate a more measured debate about copyright reform. A central aspect of this is the Department of Commerce’s Green Paper on Copyright Policy, Creativity and Innovation in the Digital Economy, which was published in July 2013.

Voluntary codes as well as legislative reform to be considered

Structured in three parts, the balance between rights and exceptions, enforcement and the functioning of the online marketplace, the Green Paper is now open for public consultation. According to Shira Perlmutter, the aim of the consultation is to find out what the US government can do, with possible alternatives to legislative reform being considered, such as the drafting of voluntary codes of best practice or memoranda of understanding. While the focus of the Green Paper is on US law, the USPTO is following initiatives from elsewhere, in particular the UK experience in setting up the Copyright Hub, an online portal for facilitating licensing, established following the Hargreaves Review.

Copyright and the internet

As regards the internet, the Green Paper proceeds from the premise that a good and well functioning copyright system is consistent with an innovative internet. The particular items for consultation in this regard are the simplification of music licensing, access to rights management information and how the government might support the extension of voluntary licensing initiatives - such as Creative Commons, into new sectors.

White paper expected in 2015

Over 100 comments have been received on the Green Paper so far, with roundtable discussions for various interest groups scheduled to take place in different cities in the USA between May and July 2015 (LA, Silicon Valley, Nashville and Boston). These will be largely accessible – webcast and archived with remote participation possible – and will be fed into a White Paper planned to be completed by the close of 2015. Those interested in copyright policy should watch with interest.

A full note on Shira Perlmutter’s briefing delivered at the UK IPO can be found on the CREATe website: http://www.create.ac.uk/blog/2014/06/12/copyright-policy-briefing-by-shira-perlmutter-chief-policy-officer-uspto/

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