Cato Debate On Copy Fights

Copy Fights: Can Politicians or Entrepreneurs Best Protect Intellectual Property?
PANEL DEBATE
Thursday, September 19, 2002
11:00 a.m. (Luncheon to follow)
Featuring Rep. Howard Berman, D-California; Gigi Sohn, Public Knowledge; Phil Corwin, Butera Andrews; and Troy Dow, Motion Picture Association of America.

The Cato Institute
1000 Massachusetts Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20001

Hollywood and the copyright holders have won battles for the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, the Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act and, of course, Napster. But nearly any song remains freely available on the Internet. Full-length movie downloads are on the rise. New legislation from Sen. Ernest Hollings would mandate government-approved copy protection technologies in digital devices, and a bill by Rep. Howard Berman would authorize copyright holders to begin “blocking, diverting or otherwise impairing” peer-to-peer file-sharing networks. Some say that content owners have at last gone too far. Others argue that consumers’ “fair-use” rights to make limited copies are being threatened. What is the role of legislation versus markets in resolving today’s “Copy Fights”? Join us for a lively discussion.

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