I’m pleased to announce that our next Copyright and Technology conference will take place in London on Thursday, October 17.  The one-day event, produced by Music Ally, will take place at the offices of ReedSmith, near Liverpool Street railway station.

Here is the draft conference agenda, which is subject to change.  At this point, we are seeking moderators, speakers, and sponsors.  Deadline for speaking submissions is Friday, July 12, and as usual, proposals to moderate panels will be given priority.  We are also seeking sponsors; a brochure is available on request.  Our initial sponsors include MarkMonitor, ReedSmith, and Civolution.

As with our past events, the agenda will feature a morning plenary session with opening remarks by me, a keynote address, the Conference Sponsor session, and a plenary panel designed to appeal to a wide variety of attendees.  Then in the afternoon, we will split up into two parallel tracks: Law and Policy, and Technology.

Here are the panels for which we are seeking moderators and speakers.

Plenary Session

• The Global Repertoire Database
  The Global Repertoire Database (GRD) was initiated in 2008 by EU Commissioner Neelie Kroes as “a single, comprehensive and authoritative representation of the global ownership and control of musical works.”  After five years, this landmark initiative is getting set to launch.  Our panel will include representatives from the GRD initiative who will discuss its status, implications for long-sought efficiencies and clarity in online licensing of music, and ways in which the entire online music community can benefit through involvement.

Law and Policy Track

• Digital Copyright Exhaustion and Resale
  The doctrine of exhaustion states that once you obtain a copyrighted work legally, it’s yours to do with as you please, without any further control from the publisher.  This law applies to books, CDs, DVDs, and so on.  But does it apply to downloaded bits?  As more and more content is consumed as digital files, this question becomes more important.  This panel will examine legal precedents, such as the EU Court of Justice’s decision last year on downloaded software.  We will also discuss the potential for innovative business models for reselling digital files.
• Graduated Response
  As France has learned from its experience with Hadopi, graduated response regimes come with benefits as well as risks.  Some countries (such as the United States) are starting their own graduated response systems while others (such as the Netherlands) have rejected the approach.  We’ll discuss the pros, cons, and lessons learned so far.
• Brand Advertising on Pirate Sites
  Websites that exist primarily to offer illegal content downloads show advertising from well-known consumer brands.  Some consumer brand companies are taking steps to prevent their ads from appearing on these sites, while others claim that their ad networks give them no control.  This panel will discuss steps the Internet ad industry can take to enable companies to avoid having their ads appear on pirate content sites, whether it’s best practices, automated mechanisms, or legal mandates.

Technology Track

• Automated Content Recognition and Second Screen Applications
  Second screen applications are hot.  Watch TV, fire up your tablet or smartphone, and an application will figure out which show you’re watching and enhance your viewing experience.  Automated content recognition (ACR), also known as content identification, is the secret sauce that makes it happen.  What rights do third-party apps have to use content from television programs?  As the popularity of second-screen apps grows, so do these legal and technical issues, which we’ll discuss on this panel.
• Cyberlockers and Large-Scale Piracy
  The halcyon days of cyberlockers — online services for storing files — are over regarding copyright liability.  After the shutdown of Megaupload, Kim Dotcom recently launched Mega, a cyberlocker service that encrypts users’ files.  RapidShare implemented a series of technical measures to curtail large-scale infringing activities.   What are the merits of these techniques, and how effective are they likely to be in both curbing infringement and avoiding liability for operators?  Are we approaching a set of voluntary best practices for curbing infringement, or is further legal action warranted?  We’ll get into the meat of these issues in this session.
• Content Protection for Over-the-Top Video Services
  Many traditional Pay TV operators are launching “Over-the-Top” (OTT) Internet video services with premium content licensed from Hollywood studios, TV networks, and sports leagues in order to keep up with competition.  As the number of delivery modalities increases, so does the complexity of protecting the contentb.  Operators must integrate content protection technologies for unmanaged networks and consumer devices with their existing pay-TV infrastructures.  On this panel, we will demystify this often bewildering technical area and discuss solutions.

Once again, the deadline for moderating and speaking proposals is Friday July 12.  Please email your proposal(s) with the following information:

• Speaker’s name and full contact information
• Panel requested
• Moderator or speaker request?
• Description of speaker’s experience or point of view on the panel subject
• Brief narrative bio of speaker
• Contact info of representative, if different from speaker*

As mentioned above, the agenda is subject to change.  If you have another idea for a panel, we’d love to hear about that as well.

Sponsorship opportunities that come with varying degrees of publicity and exposure are available.  Please ask and we will send you a brochure describing the sponsorship levels and benefits.  Thanks in advance for your interest!

*Please note that personal confirmation from speakers themselves is required before we will put them on the program.