Past Conferences and Special Events

The Colloquium offers an opportunity for intellectual property scholars to present their works-in-progress and get early feedback from their colleagues. .

Sponsored by:
The Program on Information Justice and Intellectual Property
The Lawyers’ Committee for Cultural Heritage Preservation
The National Parks Service

Robert Goldman, former Assistant U.S. Attorney, and FBI Special Agent, Robert K. Wittman, have partnered on numerous investigations of museum and art theft.  They are responsible for the recovery of more than $150 million worth of stolen art and cultural property and have been instrumental in the prosecution and conviction of numerous individuals involved in these crimes.  Goldman and Wittman will discuss their experience and work together in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania and on the FBI’s rapid deployment national Art Crime Team. 

In the past six years, Goldman and Wittman have been involved in the recovery of more than $150 million worth of stolen art and cultural property, including objects of cultural significance belonging to Geronimo, George Washington, Patrick Henry, John Brown, Andrew Jackson, Gettysburg commander General George Meade, and 19th century Arctic explorer Dr. Elisha Kent Kane.  They also recovered art work of Daniel Garber, Mary Cassatt, Norman Rockwell, Grandma Moses, Francisco Goya, Peter Brueghel, and others.  A 2005 book, Stealing History by Roger Atwood, chronicles their investigation and recovery of the 2,000 year-old golden Pre-Columbian piece of body armor known as a “Backflap,” created by the ancient Moche people and looted from the Royal Tomb of the Lord of Sipan in Peru.

Sponsored by:
Lawyers’ Committee for Cultural Heritage Preservation
Program on Information Justice and Intellectual Property

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WEBCAST

In light of recent bilateral free trade negotiations where intellectual property issues have played a major role, WCL will host a two-day international workshop on intellectual property, free trade agreements, and sustainable development.  The objective of the workshop is to discuss more balanced and sustainable bilateral intellectual property agreements.  Participants will include negotiators and stakeholders from various developing countries, as well as experts and stakeholders from the United States.

Sponsored by:
Center for International Environmental Law
Third World Network
Trade Law Centre for Southern Africa
Sociedad Peruana de Derecho Ambiental
Washington College of Law
Program on Information Justice and Intellectual Property and International Legal Studies Program

Documentary filmmakers have created, through their professional associations, a clear, easy to understand statement of fair and reasonable approaches to fair use. Read the Documentary Filmmakers' Statement of Best Practices in Fair Use

Fair Use is the right, in some circumstances, to quote copyrighted material without asking permission or paying for it. It is a crucial feature of copyright law. In fact, it is what keeps copyright from being censorship. You can invoke fair use when the value to the public of what you are saying outweighs the cost to the private owner of the copyright.

Co-sponsored by:
Program on Information Justice and Intellectual Property
Center for Social Media

Does consumer protection have any role to play in copyright law? Many copyright professionals would reply with a resounding "no." Consumer interests have largely been ignored or rebuffed in recent copyright cases. The entertainment industry and key members of Congress seem to be actively hostile to consumers these days, especially to those consumers who engage in unauthorized file sharing of copyrighted music and movies. Proposals to make uploading of copyrighted works a felony, even if done recklessly, to give the Justice Department authority to bring civil actions against file sharers, and to immunize copyright owners who attack file sharers' computers are expressions of Congressional hostility to consumers.

However, consumer protection has in the past and will in the future play a significant role in copyright law. Courts have frequently spoken of the ultimate goal of copyright as being to provide the public (i.e., consumers) with a wide array of new works of authorship that will promote knowledge, culture, and other societal values. Exclusive rights, in this view, are merely a means of achieving this larger goal of providing consumers with access to new works. Copyright law also contains many exceptions and limitations on authors' rights that are either expressly intended to protect consumer interests (e.g., allowing consumers to make backup copies of software) or have been interpreted as protecting consumer interests (e.g., allowing consumers to make copies of TV programs for time-shifting purposes). Significant gaps in regulation allow consumers to make many unauthorized uses of copyrighted works, for example, to perform music in the privacy of their homes because copyright only regulates public performances of protected works. Given the Supreme Court's view that fair uses may be constitutionally required, consumers may have "fair use rights" under copyright law, not merely privileges to do certain things (which can be rescinded by license terms or technical protection measures) or defenses that can be raised if copyright owners sue them. I predict that copyright law will evolve to become an important source of consumer protection in the 21st century.

Co-sponsored by:
Program on Information Justice and Intellectual Property