Copyright and Technology is expanding into conferences.  We will be putting on our first Copyright and Technology Conference in June 2010 in partnership with Gotham Media Ventures, a technology event producing organization best known for its highly successful Digital Breakfast series in New York, DC, and LA.

The exact date and location are TBD at this point, but we are planning the event well in advance; among other things, the conference will offer CLE credit.

At this point we are accepting speaking proposals and would like to hear from anyone interested in sponsorships.  Here is the tentative list of panels:

General Session:

• Can User Generated Content Creators Get Paid?  a/k/a Is Creative Commons a Business Opportunity?
  The Internet is awash in user-generated content – but not just vacation pictures or stupid pet trick videos.  Many content creators use the Internet to gain exposure for their work, so that they can get paid… somehow, someday.  What help is forthcoming for these content creators?  How does the Creative Commons movement play a role?

Technology Track:

• The New Secure Ecosystems for Video
  Some major initiatives are under way to promote interoperability among home and personal devices for accessing digital video.  They differ in their approaches, but the primary idea is to give consumers portability and future-proofing for video content while keeping it secure and tying access to users’ domains.  On this panel  we will debate approaches including DECE (Digital Entertainment Content Ecosystem), KeyChest,CinemaNow’s ecosystem with Best Buy, and Amazon’s Disc+ On Demand.
• Content Identification Technologies: Moving from Antipiracy to Monetization
  Watermarking and fingerprinting are two technological means of identifying digital content.  They have been used for antipiracy applications, such as filtering of content uploads to user-generated content websites.  But these technologies have many more applications related to the new urgency around content monetization.  Our panelists discuss these applications and their trajectories in the market.
• What Is the Future of DRM?
  DRM — the use of file encryption to constrain usage of digital content — has largely disappeared from Internet music downloads.  But it remains for subscription music services, e-books, video downloads, and some audiobooks.  What business models is DRM good for, and how will they evolve?  Or is DRM just dying?

Legal Track:

• Progressive Response in the US: Likelihood and Ramifications?
  Several countries outside the US are looking to curb illegal content uploading through Progressive Response or “three strikes, you’re out” legislation.  What are the experiences and implications for such legislation, and what are the prospects for similar legislation being enacted in the United States?
• News vs. Free Riding
  The news publishing industry is getting increasingly fed up with what it sees as “free riding” on its content by search engines, blogs, and other web services.  This panel looks at developments in this ongoing controversy from the perspectives of news publishers, search engines, and providers of solutions.
• Whose Responsibility to Police Copyright?
  User-generated and social content sites follow section 512 of the US Copyright Act, which enables them to respond to content takedown notices and avoid infringement liability.  The media industry is arguing, in cases like UMG v. Veoh and Viacom v. YouTube, that these sites should do more.  This panel will examine the legal backgrounds of notice and takedown, vicarious liability, and other theories that bear on the future of this ongoing dispute – and will predict how the future will unfold.

If you are interested in speaking, please send me a proposal including the panel you’re interested in, your name, title, organization, and contact information, and the background or perspective you bring to the panel.

There will also be an opportunity for a top-level sponsor to define a panel during the General Session.   We will be offering a range of sponsorship opportunities; please inquire if you would like details.