Submit a Paper Proposal! 2026 Theme: the 50th Anniversary of the 1976 Copyright Act For 2026, we are focused on the 50th Anniversary celebration of the 1976 Copyright Act. We are particularly excited to be working with the George Washington University Center for Law and Technology to produce the Future of the Copyright Act symposium. We have two major writing opportunities: Issue 4: Future of Copyright Conference @ George Washington University (October 2-3 2024): Proposals due by October 15, 2025 (description and form below) Issues 1 – 3: Topics for the Journal of the Copyright Society, Issues 1-3: Proposals open until we fill the issues The Making and Implementation of the 1976 Copyright Act (co-edited with Zvi Rosen) The Internationalization (and amendments) of the 1976 Copyright Act Technology Invasion (including Amendments to t\he 1976 Copyright Act Other topics related to the development (over the last 50 years) of the 1976 Copyright Act The Future of the Copyright Act Conference @ GW, October 2-3 2026 The George Washington University Center for Law and Technology and the Copyright Society are issuing a Call for Papers for an October 2-3, 2026 symposium on the Future of the Copyright Act, held on the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of the Copyright Act of 1976. Proposals will be due by October 15, 2025, and we will issue acceptances by November 15, 2025. An early draft will be due June 15, 2026, and complete paper drafts will be due by August 1, 2026, so that commentators have ample time to read them and prepare comments for the symposium. Papers will be published in the December 2026 issue of the Journal of the Copyright Society, along with commentary and other symposium proceedings. Authors of accepted papers who choose to attend the symposium in person will be reimbursed for travel and two nights of accommodations in Washington DC. Virtual participation is also possible. If paper drafts are not received by the August 1, 2026 deadline, travel will not be reimbursed and papers will not be published in the December 2026 Journal of the Copyright Society issue. The 1976 Act, passed 66 years after its predecessor, the 1909 Act, represents a radical departure from that predecessor in many respects. For example, it introduces the concept of the “work of authorship” as the subject of copyright protection, and grants protection to all such works that are original and fixed. That extends federal protection to unpublished works, but at the same time limits the previously unlimited term for those works under state law. The limited term for all works turns out to be life of the author plus fifty years, replacing a fixed term of years after publication and abolishing any renewal requirement. The 1976 Act allows fixation “in any tangible medium of expression,” thus moving away from notation by allowing musical or literary works fixed only in phonorecords, and dance fixed only in video. It introduces new terminology to delineate the exclusive rights, and codifies the fair use exception for the first time. And that’s just a sampling of the changes. In the intervening half-century, the Copyright Act of 1976 has been amended many times, but its basic structure remains the same. Is it now time for another radical departure? The symposium seeks to emphasize broad, visionary thinking about what a new copyright act could look like. In a world in which the copy is no longer the intuitive unit of consumption of creative works, should the exclusive rights look different than they do now? In a world in which it costs very little to add metadata to an electronic file or provide basic information about a work to the government, should formalities be reintroduced to provide better information to users? Are there areas left uncodified by the 1976 Act – infringement analysis and secondary liability, for example – that should be codified? We hope that participants will be the source of many other broad questions about how the structure and scope of copyright legislation might be changed, both within the constraints of current international treaties, and outside of them. Proposals can be submitted by means of a form available below. Thank you! Name(Required) First Last AffiliationDo you have a co-author(s) for this proposal?YesNoMaybeFor those with Co-authorsPlease provide the name, email, and affiliations of any co-authors. 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You must include, however, an abstract so that we can better work is a good fit. Ideally, articles should be no more than 25,000-40,000 words, including footnotes. Pieces may be shorter as well. Full Complete Article Draft Idea Pitch Other 2026 Paper SubjectsWe are currently focused on a number of key issues. Please check one of these if you want your paper to be considered for this section. You may check more than one. The Making and Implementation of the 1976 Copyright Act (drafts due January 1) Making Amendments: The Internationalization of the 1976 Copyright Act (Drafts due March 1) The Tech Invasion and the 1976 Copyright Act The Future of the 1976 Copyright Act The Future of CopyrightIf you have chosen as your paper subject “The Future,” please fill in this question. The Future of Copyright, our fourth issue in 2026, will have a conference, hosted by George Washington. Note: there are strict deadlines for submissions of the final papers and commentataries. To be considered for this conference, please submit no later than October 15, 2026. Note: drafts will be due by June 15, with the final paper due August 1. Commentaries will be due September 15. PLEASE SELECT ALL THAT APPLY Interested in Joining In Person Interested in Joining by Zoom Submission Title(Required)Abstract(Required)Please pasted your proposed paper topic here. This field is hidden when viewing the formArticle Submission (if applicable)You can submit in PDF or Word doc form. Make sure to include you name, contact info (including email) and affiliations on the draft.Accepted file types: pdf, docx, Max. file size: 30 MB.C.V./Resume(Required)Please include a copy of your resume.Accepted file types: pdf, docx, Max. file size: 30 MB.This field is hidden when viewing the formOther Opportunities(Required)We also have an online forum for breaking news, student work, long-form papers, and other works. Would you like your work to be considered for the Forum? This work is part of our volume for the year and will be available in Westlaw and other legal resource platforms. Yes No The Nature of a Peer Reviewed Journal(Required)We are a peer-reviewed journal, which means your peers review your work. You will get suggestions, comments, and sometimes required changes. We ask that you submit the work with proper Bluebooking citations. We have a small team of students that help us with review of the citations but we do not cite check your sources. I understand I may need help with proper footnote citations as I am in a different discipline or am a working attorney Other Are you current a member of the Copyright Society(Required)While you do not need to be a member to publish with the Journal, we strongly encourage membership to get the most out of the experience. Yes No Provide more information about joining Have you written for the Journal before? Yes No The Copyright Society's Seton Award goes to the best article by an author under 40 years old.If your paper is accepted, would you like to be considered for this award? Yes No CAPTCHA
