“Innovation” is often hailed as the north star in the law and technology and intellectual property communities. In patent law, for example, the focus is often on how certain types of legal protections can encourage inventors, and investors. Copyright law must also grapple with the core question of which incentives are necessary to motivate creative innovation; that is, who should make money from artistic creation, when, how, and for how long. But copyright law also explicitly introduces other, non-economic considerations, including protecting the rights of users (including other artists) in some cases, and that of encouraging investors in others. Taking a step back from current copyright controversies, this conference will examine the question of innovation and incentives in the creative arts through three lenses: (1) the perspective of the creative industries; (2) the perspective of the artists; and (3) the perspective of policy makers.
The first panel will ask what motivates the creative industries charged with the funding and distribution of creative content, and what role, if any, does copyright play in shaping these various motivations. Panelists will consider whether and when these incentives vary from those motivating other constituencies – including content owners, users, and advertisers – and how to balance competing constituency concerns.
The second panel will consider the different things that motivate artists themselves, and how those motivations differ not only from creator to creator, but even for the same creator from project to project. What does it mean to have different artists motivated by different factors at different times? How can copyright law encourage or discourage artistic innovation that doesn’t always follow a single track?
The final panel will feature discussion by academics and policy makers about not only what copyright law currently does to encourage creative innovation and to protect creative works, but also, and importantly, what it should do going forward.
Sessions
Welcome and Introduction
- Kristelia García
Associate Professor, University of Colorado Law School - Phil Weiser
Hatfield Professor of Law, University of Colorado Law School
Panel I: Industry Incentives
- Phil Weiser — Moderator
Hatfield Professor of Law, University of Colorado Law School - Mark A. Lemley
William H. Neukom Professor of Law, Stanford University; Director, Program in Law, Science and Technology, Stanford University - Matt Bond
Chairman, Content Distribution, NBCUniversal - Lauren Wallace
Business and Legal Affairs & Company Counsel, Layer3 TV, Inc - Lynne C. Rienner
President, Lynne Rienner Publishers, Inc.
Break
Panel II: Creative Incentives
- Justin C. Konrad — Moderator
Partner, Hutchinson Black and Cook, LLC - Casey Fiesler
Associate Professor, Information Science, University of Colorado Boulder - Christopher Boffoli
Photographer - Melvin Gibbs
Musician, President - Jessica Silbey
Professor of Law, Northeastern University School of Law
Break
Panel III: Policy
- Paul Heald
Richard W. and Marie L. Corman Professor of Law, University of Illinois - Kimberley Isbell
Senior Counsel for Policy and International Affairs, United States Copyright Office - Jason Everett
Chief Minority Counsel, Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property and the Internet - Neil Fried
Senior Vice President, Government and Regulatory Affairs, Motion Picture Association of America - John Bergmayer
Senior Staff Attorney, Public Knowledge