Biden promises 'right person' as new U.S. copyright czar

Vice President Joe Biden lauded Hollywood at a gala dinner in Washington, D.C. on Tuesday evening, assailed movie piracy, and promised film executives that the Obama administration would pick "the right person" as its copyright czar.

Just days after four Pirate Bay defendants were found guilty in Sweden, Biden warned of the harms of piracy at a private event organized by the Motion Picture Association of America in the sumptuous, newly renovated Great Hall of the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C.

"It's pure theft, stolen from the artists and quite frankly from the American people as consequence of loss of jobs and as a consequence of loss of income," Biden said, according to a White House pool report.

Biden blasted China, saying its intellectual property laws remain "largely ineffective" and will end up "strangling their own creative juices," and compared it to what he described as India's more effective anti-piracy regime. He singled out Canada, a close U.S. ally, as needing stronger laws; it never signed the treaty that led to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, and a proposal to adopt anti-circumvention restrictions was never adopted.

He also addressed President Obama's forthcoming decision about who will be named the intellectual-property enforcement coordinator, better known as the copyright czar. Copyright industry lobbyists sent a letter Monday to the president asking him to pick someone sympathetic to their concerns, while groups that would curb copyright law sent their own letter urging the opposite approach.

We "will find the right person for intellectual property czar," Biden said.

Under a law approved by the U.S. Congress last October, Obama is required to appoint someone to coordinate the administration's IP enforcement efforts and prepare annual reports.

Senators attending the MPAA gala included Richard Durban (D-Illinois); Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.); Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.), Judd Gregg (R-N.H.); Amy Klobuchar (D-Minnesota); Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont); Roger Wicker (R-Mississipi); and Ben Nelson (D-Nebraska).

An unspoken reason for the MPAA event--which included a symposium earlier in the day with remarks from top House Democrats and Commerce Secretary Gary Locke--was the loss of $246 million in tax breaks when the Senate revised the economic stimulus bill earlier this year. An MPAA report released Tuesday appears designed to avoid a repeat of that setback, listing the number of movies being filmed in each state.

Earlier in the day, Locke also talked up more government action against peer-to-peer piracy. "The recent revelation that an illegal copy of the upcoming movie "Wolverine" had been posted on the Internet prior to its theatrical release underscores the problem the industry faces...As a former prosecutor, I believe in the full and impartial enforcement of the law," he said.

On copyright, President Obama has signaled a more pro-industry approach than his predecessor, which has alarmed advocates of less restrictive laws.

The president chose as top Justice Department officials the music industry attorney who pulled the plug on Grokster and another longtime Recording Industry Association of America ligitator. The Obama administration recently sided with the RIAA in a file-sharing suit, and Biden was a staunch RIAA and MPAA ally as a U.S. senator.

"I think sometimes you underestimate the impact you have, and not just entertaining but uplifting," Biden told the audience at the MPAA event. "I wish I could inspire the way you do."

[kojacked]

The U.S. government is lacking a balanced view in my opinion. They are 100% behind the MPAA and RIAA and 0% behind fair use. That's a shame. I'm all for supporting cracking down on piracy but c'mon and throw a bone to the fair use law. Make the RIAA and MPAA accountable for those they have falsely accused. Better regulate monopolists like Clear Channel. If you ignore the consumer you are basically saying "I enjoy the payola I get from the RIAA and MPAA".

[monkeyfun14]

What fair use?<br /><br />What fair use was involved in TPB?

[d3vildog69]

The Fair use in that they didn't store anything illegal. Just torrents... Nothing wrong with that.

[kojacked]

"Fair Use" is when a YouTube video of a toddler dancing that has a barely audible copyrighted song playing in the background isn't issued a take-down notice.

[gerrrg]

Yeah, they should protect all those pseudo-reality-based shows, such that no one should be allowed to record any of them, period. And all mainstream pop stars should have extreme DRM protections, such that you can only play their MP3s 10 times and that's it; they'll disintegrate into garbled ones and zeros. Crappy software should have super-duper extreme DRM protections, too, that prevent any distribution. Any movies with less than 2 stars should be immediately placed under strong DRM protection, which would prevent the resale, rebroadcast and copying of.<br /><br />Anyone caught violating these tough new restrictions should be considered enemies of the state, out and out terrorists that threaten the existence of the American Way. We'll turn them into front line targets in the next wars in Somalia and Sudan.

[Idolon]

You sir, should be considered a terrorist yourself. Piracy will never stop, the only thing that will change is how it works and how people access it. It wouldnt be such a widespread issue if people didnt release music cds for 20$ when it has maybe one or two good songs on it. 50 bucks for a game that can be beaten in 2 hours with no replay value. 20-30 dollars for movies that millions were spent on just so it can tank out in a couple of months because no one liked it. Things like this are why piracy is alive and strong and will continue with or without any ******** from riaa or mpaa. A couple years ago I bought Rainbow Six Lockdown, along with 3 of my friends at the same time. We went home and installed, game wouldnt run on any of our machines. Checked the forums, tons of people with the same problem. Anxiously await a patch for 4 months, nothing. Took it back to the store and raised hell until i got my money back. And that is a prime example of why i will continue to pirate anything and everything that slightly interests me. Several times i have bought legitimate copies after trying a pirated version. My hard earned money will be spent the way i want it to be spent, not faithfully handing out thousands of dollars a year for entertainment that can hardly fit the bill. All you clowns spending millions on this crap, find another way.

[zkauf1]

Idolon, i think you might have a problem with sarcasm...

[TogetherinParis]

If you plan justice, please find it in your hearts to give me, even a little justice for all the wrongs I have suffered. I have found a cure for crime, drug addiction, and perversion, but no one is interested, even the FBI or the Bureau of Prisons! <br />- <br />Coined "Inclusive" and "Inclusive Democracy" concepts from math term.<br />Original creator of "Lights On! Tampa!" art display/contest.<br />Proposed "Floating Riverwalk" for Tampa<br />Proposed "Water Taxi" for Tampa<br />Proposed Lee Roy Selmon Expressway 43 bridge extension to St. Pete w/rail link, civilian air port use for Mac Dill Field.<br />Developed pheromone chewing gum cure for delinquency, criminal behavior, drug addiction and sexual perversion.<br />Proposed GA's HOPE Scholarship Program (precursor to Bright Futures), college for millions.<br />Proposed "Don't ask, Don't tell", Law &#38; Rule Obeying Gays in the Military executive order &#38; 1st thing timing<br />Proposed Tuskeegee Presidential Apologies and generous NIH Victim Restitutions.<br />Presidential advisor to President Bubba "Bill" Clinton, Hillary Clinton 1972<br />Presidential advisor to Presidents George W. &#38; G. H. W. Bush, 1971<br />(George H.W. Bush led the plumbers in killing JFK &#38; many others)<br />Wrote poems for Dead Poets Society (&#38; sax solo)<br />lyrics "Light and Day" Spotless Mind<br />Stories, characters, speeches for Braveheart, Independence Day, Armageddon, Deep Impact, Titanic, Good Will Hunting (I wrote the notes/problems in the film), Cast Away, LOR, Wag the Dog, Lost in Translation, V for Vendetta, Juno, Forrest Gump, Night at the Museum, Shawshank Redeption, The Matrix I, II), Austin Powers, Green Mile, Cast Away, Gladiator, Mystic River, 300, Galaxy Quest, Vanilla Sky, A Beautiful Mind, Raiders of the Lost Ark, The Simpsons Movie, etc.. And TV shows: Morning Edition, Touched by an Angel, Bones, Justice, House, Lost, Numbers, and Fringe (of course). <br />Found three ways to mitigate hurricanes (saved Houston from Ike flooding), potential treatment for autoimmune disease and cancer. Invented the port doubler for laptops, a room temperature superconductor, artificial gills. All this and nobody cares? Where are my old friends?

[man_w_balls]

I was going to comment on how Biden sucks and nothing good can come of anything Biden does [he IS NEO-CHENEY] <br />but then I read the above comment and my train of thought was derailed! <br /><br />Elaborate please - ***? Strange ramblings or actual meaningfulness?!?

[infinitely]

This makes me really mad. I didn't vote Biden in so he could kneel down to Hollywood's interests. I'm sick of the ******* copyright gerrymandering ********. I want the god damn sunny bono copyright act repealed and I want some actual PROGRESSIVE, LIBERAL, and REALISTIC copyright laws passed. As an artist I'm disgusted with the way things are going. It's stifling creativity when people can't sample small portions of work without paying massive amounts of money (it's called a collage, people) not to mention the excessive penalties for bootlegging and the myriad other issues that aren't being addressed to suit the people's interest.

[monkeyfun14]

How are they sampling on TPB if they don't know who you are?

[baconstang]

What are you blathering about? Any artist can post samples or entire songs on My Space to help with gaining an audience. Methinks you no artist.

[infinitely]

You idiot. I was talking about (like I already said) using small parts of previous music to create song collage. You completely missed the point.

[svgtom]

How is sampling creative? If you're really an artist, come up with some original work.

[moil4gold49]

How is sampling creative, you ask? It is extremely creative. It is taking something, and making it into something different, something more...or even something less. The legal term used (as part of Fair Use) is that sampling is "Transformative". <br /> <br />Other "sampling" examples that are absolutely creative: <br /> <br />- taking a naturally occuring fungus and transforming it into penicillin. A useful sampling, I would think. <br /> <br />- taking a sail from sailing, and a board from surfing, and inventing the windsurfer. Nothing AT ALL new about a windsurfer, but it is a transformative sampling of existing inventions. <br /> <br />Dude, you suggest our artist "come up with some original work". You are myopic, and one of the many who have either been fooled, or are so foolish as to think that invention comes from magic and appears in the inventor's brain as an isolated "spark" of invention. Music, art, movies (according to you) all appear as entirely creative works to a single person, who then should OWN all forms of revenue for that invention. A much more reasonable theory, borne out by...i dunno...reality, suggests that when we invent something "we stand on the shoulders of giants". That means that almost all invention is actually not spark appearing out of the ether, but the flame of a candle that is passed from one artist to another with varying amounts of sampling. <br /> <br />Call it sampling, learing, cultural heritage, copying, combination...if we didn't build on the achievments of prior humans, we would each need to truly start from scratch: spending our full days gathering fruit and pulling lice out of each other's back hair with our handy opposable thumbs. <br /> <br />(PS: Opposable thumbs idea courtesy of Charles Darwin, all rights reserved.)

[Imalittleteapot]

I hope the war on pirates works as well as the war on drugs is working now. Oh wait, never mind.

[Inconnux]

I hope the right person isn't some idiot who just bends over for the RIAA and MPAA...

[unknown unknown]

Just a another demonstration how corrupt and in pockets of industry our government really is. They should all be thrown in prison for corruption. It's really hard to respect laws passed by congress when you know this is what goes on. It's not surprising from Biden, he's been an MPAA and RIAA brown noser for as long I can remember. The guy is a shill. <br /><br />"Biden blasted China, saying its intellectual property laws remain "largely ineffective" and will end up "strangling their own creative juices,""<br /><br />Actually overly restrictive IP laws choke off innovation, and the U.S is rapidly moving in that direction.<br />We've seen it with patent law and have started to patch that. Now we have to learn the same lesson with copyright it seems. Nobody creates in a vacuum and when everything is tied up for more than a century and every use and every derivative requires payment, it just become too expensive for anyone else to do anything.

[infinitely]

You're totally right.

[CaribDigita]

Why do you need a copyright czar??? Either the copyright office approves or they don't.... What needs reforming there?

[CaribDigita]

The recording industry said a legit download service could not be profitable. Apple bought one of them out and proved them wrong... And still they complain....

[baconstang]

And so do people for having to pay 99 cents.

[CaribDigita]

As a Comedian in Trinidad and Tobago said... Change?!?!?! If I want change, I'll goto the bank......

[rmva]

You mean I won't be able to steal movies anymore?

[Imalittleteapot]

Nope. Sorry. They're gonna get rid of all piracy. Just like they got rid of all the drugs, terrorists, and sexual offenders. Um...darn it! I did it again! I keep forgetting that they don't know what they're doing!

[MusicandLight]

Dan Glickman will be available soon. lol

[Stefaninafla]

The fact that an elected government official used the word 'czar' to describe an appointed government position is worrisome in and of itself.

[rnaoncfixd]

Yes. This is the correct answer.

[BtmnHatesRbn]

How about this: copyright lasts only two years and trademarks for 14 months. That's it. So that way, all can enter the culture freely, be used freely, and companies like CNET's master, CBS, doesn't stay a multi-billion dollar Democrat corporation...

[infinitely]

No, that's too lenient. There's a fair place in the middle. Honestly, it was pretty fair before the Sonny Bono copyright act for both parties. You know, the one Disney pushed through because they were about to lose copyright on Mickey Mouse. With the passage of that act, congress made it clear that as long as you have enough money, you can push copyright indefinitely. It's disgusting.

[the_ricochet]

Btmn, you're an idiot.

[moil4gold49]

Not sure if you're serious, but you're wrong on trademark. Trademark is not intended to confer ownership of the name of brand to the company, but is actually intended to protect the consumer from fraudsters "posing" as the company in question. <br /> <br />Thus, only Coke can produce Coke. Let's say I produce a drink, call it Coke, and put it on shelves. Trademark law is designed to protect the shopper from buying my crappy, corn-syrup-laced drink while thinking they are buying Coke. <br /> <br />That kind of protection should last indefinitely. It's not defined as ownership, but as consumer confusion prevention.

[biffhenerson]

Thing are changing. It just takes a long time. In the future nearly everything of value will become pay per use. Television, movies, music, software, etc. The concept of buying a license to use something that is copyright protected has confused many people into thinking that they own it and can do with it whatever they choose including copy it and give it to others. The solution is to get rid of the ability to purchase it or at least the perception that they are purchasing it. Only provide the ability to use it for a recurring fee. Want to copy and steal it? Everything will become virtually unbreakable DRM thus making the cost of breaking it far greater than the $.05 cost of the pay per use. Even today, I still buy the CD and rip my own because the quality of the rips on-line are often poor and a waste of my time. Or, perhaps a better way to disiminate the product world wide quickly would to make the item freely copyable with no DRM but charge whoever has the copy a fee if they want to use it. Reguardless of what the solution is or when it is finally implemented, you can be rest assured that the solution will cost you more money and be more difficult to violate their copyright. It will just take time to move that direction.

[Imalittleteapot]

I hope and pray everyday that they'll invent uncrackable DRM. It would be the greatest thing ever to happen to open source and open technologies. On the old computers at work my boss swore by MS Office. Only use MS Office. Open Office sucks. Everything else sucks. Only Windows and Office. Well we don't have any kind of MSDN subscription or anything.<br /><br />When he decided to swap out for all new computer systems and was told how much all new licenses for Office were going to cost we switched to Open Office real quick. REAL QUICK. Like in a couple hours. And it was only a few machines. He could have afforded it. Other businesses afford it, but he's cheap. REAL cheap.<br /><br />Well, the thing is, home users are cheap. I'm not cheap. I'll buy my own copy of Office any day which I do have all legal and legit, but most home users either pirate or download free software. Even though DRM is crackable I've noticed many home users switching to open source stuff anyway because it's just as good. Well for what they do anyway. Why break the law when you don't have to?<br /><br />Uncrackable DRM would mean some home users which don't have enough money to buy things like Office or a copy of 7, even if they wanted to, wouldn't have a choice anymore. They couldn't choose to download a cracked copy because there wouldn't be one.<br /><br />That means when they lose their Windows disk instead of downloading a cracked copy of XP they download a copy of Linux. Instead of downloading a cracked copy of Office they download OO. Instead of getting a cracked copy of Photoshop they'll download something else like GIMP or Paint.NET. Alright, so maybe you can afford it, just not your friends right? Well after a few years, if all your friends are using OO and GIMP and FF and you're exchanging data with them, what are you going to download to make it easier on you? The open source programs of course. Why pay all this money for Office when all your broke butt friends are sending you ODFs from their Linux machines anyway right?<br /><br />Sure, maybe those programs aren't as good, but most users don't really know how to use all the features in those programs anyway. But it doesn't really matter because they'll have no choice anymore. They'll have to suck it up and use open source if they like it or not.<br /><br />A few decades go by and open source gets more popular by the day. Eventually schools and businesses realize that hey, we're paying for this Windows crap and this Office crap and nobody even knows how to use it! Everyone at home is using Linux and OO and the GIMP. Since that's what they already know how to use and since it's free, why don't we just go ahead and use it too!<br /><br />That's why MS and Adobe will never make uncrackable DRM. As for music and movies. Well, if I can see it I can record it. If I can hear it I can record it. Good luck trying to make uncrackable DRM for that. You have to unencrypt it eventually. My brain doesn't understand stuff when it's still encoded in AACS. You gotta take the DRM off so I can watch it.<br /><br />But, if they could make DRM uncrackable on music and movies? That would be fantastic. Kids will never be able to buy and watch as much media as they're stealing now! That means kids seeing less violence in movies. They see less sex in movies because they see less movies. Hearing less violent and sexual rap lyrics. Not being able to hear Britney Spears? How is that a problem? Uncrackable DRM would be the savior of our society! And maybe, just maybe, THE KIDS MIGHT ACTUALLY GO OUTSIDE AND PLAY FOR A CHANGE! Nobody would have to see Hollywood's crap propaganda anymore. Locked up tight in uncrackable DRM is exactly where all that crap belongs!

[infinitely]

That may be the stupidest thing I've every heard. You sicken me.

[man_w_balls]

Out in the real world, people are starving, dying of disease for lack of affordable health care, and being murdered in the name of religion. <br />And this copyright crap is what our leaders spend their time on ???? <br />[CNET editor's note: Obscene language deleted.]

[baconstang]

Yeah! So steal some music and movies for the poor kids!

[rnaoncfixd]

A simple "no" would've worked.

[El_Segfaulto]

I have to agree with you, but should preface that by suggesting that you switch to decaf.<br /><br />Our elected officials aren't representing the people any more, just the corporations that can afford to pay their way into office. I think in terms of politics and the economy, copyright infringement is slightly above gay marriage, and slightly below "less filling vs. less taste" in overall importance.

[cohaver]

I made a statement about this last year when Biden and Obama had a secret meeting in Denver with media companies. Problem is Fair use of the Copyrighted media you buy and your right to back up that media . And Privacy rights how far will they go to check your personal computers for this media. <br />Democrats warn us of Republican big brother. But Democratic big brother targets little guy who makes a mistake . Not large operation such as http://www.divxcrawler.com/ . We as Customers need a fair use clause for media we buy at Current Price of this media some type of rights should be included . Media Companies need better understanding of Current Technology and have better outlets for there media . Bar code Faking for CD and DVD been around for years RIAA should spend a little time on the Docks or at Dollar store Warehouse distribution centers Checking media . All problems world faces making another million for the EMI or Dream Works Seems Little Self Centered.

[C.Schroeder]

[Earlier in the day, Locke also talked up more government action against peer-to-peer piracy. "The recent revelation that an illegal copy of the upcoming movie "Wolverine" had been posted on the Internet prior to its theatrical release underscores the problem the industry faces]<br /><br />Which means the movie was leaked by someone WHO WORKS WITHIN THE MOVIE INDUSTRY or WAS STOLEN FROM THE STUDIO DURING POST PRODUCTION! That has absolutely NOTHING to do with retail consumer piracy or DRM. If it had been a book, would you blame the plain paper copier manufacturers? Of course not, but only because the courts have established plain paper copiers have substantial non-infringing uses. But, there was a time in the '70s when that was very much in question.<br /><br />Remember, these are the same people that a decade ago thought they should be paid for each temporary copy of a copyrighted work as it traversed the computers comprising the Internet while in transit from point A to point B.

[Monkeydung]

The US govt is now run by the Movie/Music Maffia's with Biden as their little lapdog. <br /> <br />Rock On Piratebay!!!

[scottthesculptor]

copyright law needs some serious revision <br />long dead artists have the copyright for their works handed down through generations or bought by people too rich to bother creating anything but wealth for themselves. <br /> <br />That's what a "Copyright Czar" should be concerned with. <br />Not some trivial file sharing of mindless entertainment. <br /> <br />But, of course, whoever has the money buys the laws . . .