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The Future of the Copyright Act Symposium

 

Location: Online and Faculty Conference Center, GW Law

 

 

About the Symposium

As the Copyright Act of 1976 approaches its 50th anniversary, this symposium brings leading scholars together to examine what the next era of copyright law should look like. Are incremental updates enough, or is it time for Congress to rethink the Act in light of a new technological and cultural landscape?

Register of Copyrights Shira Perlmutter will open the Symposium with welcome remarks. Over the course of two days, experts from across the country will:

  • Present and comment on 14 scholarly papers
  • Explore areas most in need of clarification or reform
  • Participate in a lunch conversation on the future of the 1976 Act featuring Jane Ginsburg, Paul Goldstein, Jessica Litman, and Pam Samuelson, moderated by Robert Brauneis

All papers and commentary will be published in the Journal of the Copyright Society, a co‑sponsor of the event. Professors Robert Brauneis, Elizabeth Townsend Gard, and Alfred Yen serve as lead organizers.

We gratefully acknowledge the sponsorship of the Friday breakfast by Morrison & Foerster LLP.

*Due to room capacity, most attendees will join via livestream. A recording will also be available afterward. To request in‑person attendance, please contact Professor Robert Brauneis at rbraunatlaw [dot] gwu [dot] edu (rbraun[at]law[dot]gwu[dot]edu).

Webinar Schedule

Friday, October 2

TimePanel
8:45 - 9 amWebinar begins
9 - 9:15 amWelcoming Remarks - U.S. Register of Copyrights Shira Perlmutter
9:14 - 10:25 am

First Panel

  • A Dynamic Theory of the Progress Clause: Copyright, Congress, and American Democracy (Shyamkrishna Balganesh & Peter Menell; Jessica Silbey, Commentator)
  • Constitutional Copyright and the Meaning of Postponed Matters (Justin Hughes; Zvi Rosen, Commentator)
10:25 - 10:40 amBreak
10:40 am - 12:20 pm

Second Panel

  • Copyright Reform for a Textualist Court (Joseph Liu; Benjamin Sobel, Commentator)
  • Copyright Reform for a Textualist Court (Joseph Liu; Benjamin Sobel, Commentator)
  • Section 115’s Many Lives: Lessons for Copyright Regulation (Jacob Noti-Victor; Lauren Wilson, Commentator)
12:20 - 12:55 pmBreak
12:55 - 2:10 pmKeynote Discussion: Jane Ginsburg, Paul Goldstein, Jessica Litman, Pamela Samuelson (Robert Brauneis, Moderator)
2:10 - 2:30 pmBreak
2:30 - 3:40 pm

Third Panel

  • The Next Copyright Act: Towards Mutual Human Self-Actualization and Copyright Social Justice  (Lateef Mtima; Trevor Reed, Commentator)
  • Duration Doesn’t Matter (Elizabeth Townsend Gard; Paul Heald, Commentator)
3:40 - 3:55 pmBreak
3:55 - 5:20 pm

Fourth Panel

  • The 1976 Copyright Act, As (Much and Frequently) Amended: General Revision in Piecemeal Form? (Anthony Reese; Jane Ginsburg and Jessica Litman, Commentators)
  • The Future of International Influences on Copyright (Graeme Dinwoodie; Marketa Trimble, Commentator)

Saturday, October 3

TimePanel
8:45 - 9 amWebinar begins
9 - 10:45 am

First Panel

  • Our Byzantine System of Secondary Copyright Infringement (James Grimmelmann; Felix Wu, Commentator)
  • Copyright Exceptionalism in the Supreme Court’s Secondary Liability Cases (Pamela Samuelson; Alfred Yen, Commentator)
  • Ex Ante Copyright (Xiyin Tang; Rachel Landy, Commentator)
10:45 - 11 amBreak
11 am - 12:10 pm

Second Panel

  • Substantial Similarity of Protectable Expression: Each Word Matters (Rebecca Tushnet; Paul Goldstein, Commentator)
  • Fair Use @ 50 (Matthew Sag; Michael Carroll, Commentator)