We are starting to plan the second edition of the Copyright and Technology conference.  It will be in late September in New York City.  Location and date will be announced shortly.

Those of you who heard about or attended last year’s inaugural event may remember that we offered an afternoon legal track that came with New York State CLE (Continuing Legal Education) credit.  We’d like to do that again… but we could use a little help.  What hot topics in copyright and technology do you think would make good panels?  Let us know.

I’d rather not repeat the subjects of the panels we had last year.  The two ideas I have for legal panels so far are these:

• The Future of E-Book Lending: Contract or Copyright?Public library lending of e-books has exploded with the rise of e-reading devices such as the Amazon Kindle, Nook, and Apple iPad.  Yet recent controversies over the terms under which publishers license e-books for library lending have thrown this service into some doubt.  On this panel, we will explore the rights of publishers and libraries related to content licensing and copyright, including libraries’ rights under 17 USC 108.
• The Google Book Settlement: Good Riddance or Lost Opportunity?Judge Denny Chin rejected the proposed settlement between Google and book publishers and authors over Google’s book scanning and book search programs.  The parties to the settlement argued that it contained great benefits to all parties as well as to society, while Judge Chin raised concerns about competition as well as structures that should be set up through legislation rather than litigation.  Now that the settlement is dead, what will happen next?  What should happen?

Please send me your ideas for legal panels.  Don’t propose speakers yet… there will be plenty of time for that.  Stay tuned.