Patrick Ross

Copyright Modernization Transcript

Shortly before the election I moderated a panel on Capitol Hill on copyright legislation and attempts to modernize U.S. copyright law. It featured senior Hill staff from the House and Senate, from the Democratic and Republican parties. PFF has just published a full transcript of the event. One item of relevance now; in Q&A, the panelists told me that they didn't anticipate much of a change in approach to IP on the Hill if the House and/or Senate changed parties.

Trade and the 109th Denouement

So Congress managed to sneak through two modest trade bills before the Republicans turned out the lights on the 109th Congress; these may have been the last two trade bills we see in some time. I've written about trade, Congress, and the need for a new pro-trade voice on the PFF blog.

Gowers Review in the UK

After a year's review, former UK reporter and editor Andrew Gowers has completed his government-commissioned study of intellectual property in the UK. Still working through its 150 pages, but for sneak peeks see my PFF posts here and here. One initial impression -- he proposes building into UK law a right of private copying somewhat akin to our fair use law here. He should be aware that any such change to the law needs to be flexible and accommodate different technologies and business models, because no two people will ever agree on what is reasonable "private" copying.