BCLT/BTLJ Symposium – Reform(aliz)ing Copyright for the Internet Age?

For more information http://www.law.berkeley.edu/formalities.htm

Copyright formalities, such as registration of claims and placing
notices on copies, may seem outdated, pedestrian, and . . . well . . .
boring. They are anything but. Formalities, which in the past three
decades have largely disappeared from American copyright law, may be
about to stage a comeback. Why? Because copyright formalities may be
one of the most important strategies for reconciling copyright law and
the challenges of the digital age. Never before have creative works
been made available to the public on such a large scale. This has
presented new challenges for copyright law and a need to create more
legal certainty regarding claims of copyright, to facilitate rights
clearances and to enhance the free flow of information. Copyright
formalities, such as registration and notice, may be able to overcome
these challenges. Registries would, for instance, create a valuable
source of information through which third parties can ascertain what
works copyright protects, the scope and term of protection, the identity
of right owners, and the terms on which copies of the works may be
available.

In the past, formalities regimes were difficult and often
expensive to comply with, particularly when trade in copyrighted works
crossed national boundaries. But recent research on formalities
suggests that we can get many of the benefits that formalities promise
for a more efficient and focused copyright law, without the problems
that led us to do away with them in the first place. The same digital
networked environment that has enabled an interactive, simultaneous and
decentralized creation, access and consumption of works, also permits
the smooth administration of new sorts of more flexible and efficient
formalities.

This conference will consider, among other things, the useful
role that formalities can play in addressing today’s copyright
challenges, what kinds of formalities might best serve the interests of
authors and of the public, economic considerations posed by formalities,
the need for appropriate technological infrastructures to support new
formalities regimes, and some constraints that the Berne Convention may
pose for the design and implementation of new formalities regimes.

A total of 11.5 hours of MCLE credit will be available for attendees.