On October 20, as part of the three-day American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA) 2017 Annual Meeting, the AIPLA invited senior U.S. officials and congressional staff involved in copyright policy to discuss “The Copyright Office — Developing a Path Forward in the 21st Century.”  Acting Register of Copyrights Karyn Temple Claggett presented on the Copyright Office’s various modernization efforts to improve the registration process, access and transparency concerning Office actions, and a slate of rulemakings initiated by the Office.  Nicholas Bartelt (Distinguished Senior Fellow, Fordham IP Institute) moderated the session and led a brief Q&A with the Acting Register.

The second half of the session examined legislative activity through presentations by Joe Keeley (Chief Counsel, Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property, and the Internet of the House Judiciary Committee) and Jason Everett (Chief Democratic Counsel, Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property, and the Internet of the House Judiciary Committee). Counsel participated in a moderated discussion that addressed the comprehensive review of U.S. copyright law initiated by Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte in 2013, as well as recent proposed legislation relating to music copyright and small claims.