Conference: Collective Rights Management of Copyright and Neighboring Rights in North America

The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), Vanderbilt University Law School, and the International Confederation of Societies of Authors and Composers (CISAC), with the support of music rights organizations BMI, ASCAP, and SESAC, are sponsoring a conference on Collective Rights Management of Copyright and Neighboring Rights in North America, at Vanderbilt University Law School in Nashville, Tennessee, October 17-19, 2007. The program is available here. Why attend?

The conference aims to address important aspects of rights management in today’s dynamic digital landscape including the challenges that have been raised in North America (and beyond) by new technologies and the solutions that collective management organisations have come up with to deal with them. The program consists of a series of panel discussions on topics such as the application of international treaties; emerging services; licensing, documentation and distribution issues; collective management in developing countries; mechanical rights; and enforcement. Panelists and speakers include lawyers, academics, industry figures, policymakers and authors’ societies’ representatives. This conference, which is open to all, will gather all key players with a stake in copyright to discuss and analyse business models that are capable of meeting the needs of rights owners, users and the public, underlining the important role that collective management plays in maintaining equilibrium between them.