How High School Debate Led to My Career in Copyright Policy
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.
I was on my high school debate team for three years and absolutely loved everything about it—from learning what the national topic would be each year to considering that topic from all angles, doing a ton of research, and finally brainstorming a resolution that our opponents would (hopefully) not have thought about or researched to counter it. High school debate programs enable students to hone so many important skills—including analysis, organization of ideas, writing, public speaking, and researching all that they can about the national topic—especially if it’s one that they can sink their teeth into.
So, when I first learned about the 2024 National High School Debate topic, I was very excited. To have a topic of this caliber will really resonate with students because the issues are multi-faceted and, ultimately, through their research, it will teach them about the importance of protecting creative works through strong and effective IP laws.
How High School Debate Led to My Career in Copyright Policy
It’s interesting for me to think about the fact that the seeds that eventually blossomed into what I do now, which is working for the Copyright Alliance for nearly the last decade, were planted back in my high school debate years. During those years, I learned to think about issues and topics from many different perspectives, to analyze information, and then present it coherently and convincingly. I also learned a great deal about state and federal laws, which intrigued me. This interest made me want to have some sort of positive impact on policy, even though I didn’t know in what capacity back then.
Fast forward to today. In my current role, I’ve worked with both small, independent creators and mid-to-large size organizations—and all of them embrace copyright as essential to their livelihoods, businesses, brands, and creations. I’ve also been fortunate to join many other dedicated professionals in advocating for the implementation of laws that help support creators and the copyright community, including the Music Modernization Act (MMA), the CASE Act, the Protecting Lawful Streaming Act (PLSA), the implementation of the Copyright Claims Board (CCB), and more. These experiences have engrained in me an awareness and passion for helping to protect the works and rights of the creative community. Doing so is crucial for so many reasons—something that I’m confident this year’s high school debaters will also come to realize and embrace.
The Importance of Strong Copyright Laws
Why is protecting creators’ works so important? To put it simply, strengthening protections in the U.S. (and globally) is imperative, not only because there are broad legal and economic implications but also because strong copyright laws enable creative professionals, as well as those who work throughout the industry, to earn a living. For example, per the latest International Intellectual Property Alliance (IIPA) report, core copyright industries added 1.8 trillion to the U.S. economy, employed 9.6 million American workers, and contributed 103 billion in annual wages.
Strengthening our domestic IP and copyright laws can be done in a number of different ways—including through their continued modernization (such as through modernizing the DMCA to ensure we are able to successfully combat piracy in the digital age, and ensuring that AI does not thwart creator rights by infringing copyright, as just a couple of examples); improving mechanisms to help copyright holders enforce their online rights and protect their works; educating both consumers and creators about the importance of respecting copyright; and addressing what typically constitutes fair use under copyright law so that it’s clearly understood by everyone.
The U.S. government has done much to strengthen domestic IP and copyright laws. But there are still many opportunities to continue that work. By providing a clear and modernized framework and legal system, stronger copyright laws can foster an environment where new ideas and technologies are developed and protected. And being able to balance protections with innovation is also essential to a healthy and dynamic creative ecosystem. All of these concepts are ones that I look forward to seeing this year’s debaters learn, embrace, and put into practice as they begin their careers in the years ahead.
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