How Strong Copyright Laws Empower Local Communities
The 2024-2025 National High School Policy Debate Topic is: Resolved: The United States federal government should significantly strengthen its protection of domestic intellectual property rights in copyrights, patents, and/or trademarks.
Unlike previous writers blogging in this series, I did not do high school debate. But I did participate in Model United Nations and Forensics. These extracurricular activities appealed to me because they honed consensus-building, collaboration, and creative skills. As VP of Legal Policy and Copyright Counsel at the Copyright Alliance, I still utilize these skills.
I am so grateful every day that I get to advocate on behalf of creators and copyright owners, and to work across the creative disciplines with private and public stakeholders to ensure our copyright laws are working to protect and encourage creators. I love the creative community and creators. There is something so breathtakingly human about the innate need to create and express one’s inner world. It gives me particular excitement when I see how copyright works to promote creativity and innovation in various local communities and promotes diverse storytelling.
Copyright Law Supports Local Communities
In a previous life, I provided legal support to television production teams across the U.S. and world. I saw first-hand how these production teams revitalized and supported local economies, cultures, and communities that traditionally we may not get to hear from, see, or experience because they are not legacy creative hubs like New York City or Los Angeles. It also made me realize how professionally difficult it is for someone not living in a legacy creative hub to break into the television industry.
Increasingly, television productions are not being confined to New York or Los Angeles. During my time in the industry, production was spreading out to other locales across the United States including small towns in non-traditional states like Mississippi and New Mexico. And in each locale, production teams were not only hiring locals from the community and giving them a professional path forward in the film/television industry, such as production crew members or background actors, but they were also pouring into the local economy by hiring and engaging with local businesses like caterers, restaurants, equipment rental companies, and other vendors and businesses.
Strong copyright laws are what promise creative professionals that they can continue filming and creating diverse stories and contributing to local communities while being able to afford health care, pay the mortgage or rent, and put food on the table. Whether that is in residuals, contracted pay, or hourly pay, copyright law, and the ability of copyright owners to protect their creative works from online and other forms of piracy is what supports creative professionals and their ability to continue creating and supporting the creative process.
Strong Copyright Law Enables Diverse Storytelling
Strong copyright laws also enable diverse storytelling. In working with Hawaiian production teams, I remember being struck by how various shows’ storylines would feature real-life establishments that locals frequented, or how much pride locals would have in seeing their communities and culture represented on national television. And whether done in the television show itself, or in choosing vendors or locations to film, production teams used the television medium to address, highlight, and give back on issues that affect their local community, including highlighting the incredible losses stemming from natural disasters like volcano eruptions or wildfires or intentionally hiring and supporting local businesses who were hit by those hard times. At the end, it was copyright law which enabled production teams to uplift local communities and also tell diverse, creative stories that highlight the unique charms and perspectives of local communities—to let viewers escape into and experience a world that they would have otherwise never known.
Copyright Law Empowers Local Communities in All Kinds of Creative Fields
Don’t just take my word for how copyright law supports and enables local communities. Recently, the U.S. Copyright Office published a report examining the geography of registrations across the United States. Copyright registration, while not required, is vital for a creator or copyright owner to fully enjoy their rights. Registration provides benefits like the ability to sue in federal court for infringement or the ability to collect statutory damages. That is why measuring the level of copyright registration activity is a good way of understanding where pockets of creativity exist.
The report revealed that when accounting for population, many unconventional or traditionally lesser-known locations with creative pockets and industries emerge, where individuals, companies, or universities are registering high concentrations of creative works. For example, Sunbury, Pennsylvania boasts Sunbury Textiles which registers for textile patterns. Summit County, Utah boasts a high volume of registrations for artwork, as those works are registered by the company behind Skullcandy earbuds/earphones, which incorporates those works into their products. Charlottesville, Virginia and Dubuque Iowa, which boast educational and academic publishers were featured as areas where copyright owners frequently registered for literary works. Winona, Minnesota and Oskaloosa, Iowa was featured for registering many musical works. The report also highlighted lots of registration activity for sound recordings in Portales, New Mexico—attributed to a small local record label company called Garmex.
What the report highlights is the fact that copyright law is the framework which supports local businesses and communities. Just take a look at the Copyright Alliance’s Copyright Facts by State webpage to see even more how creative activities and impacts each state. It is crucial that federal lawmakers, regulators, and policymakers understand the impact strong copyright laws have on local communities and champion copyright laws that foster the creativity that enriches our economy and cultural, social fabric.
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