Advocates Call For Balance In Obama IP Appointments

Several recent Obama appointees selected to oversee different aspects of IP policy had immediately before their appointments represented copyright industries, says a letter signed by 19 US-based public interest groups sent to the president last week [pdf].

There is a critical need to balance the interests of authors “in the control and exploitation of their writings” and society’s “competing interest in the free flow of ideas,” the letter adds – quoting a key Supreme Court case on copyright law. The remaining positions within the US Patent and Trademark Office, within the office of the US Trade Representative, and within the Department of state should be filled with a recognition that “overzealous expansion and enforcement of copyright… can quash innovative information technologies [and] prohibit the public from accessing and using its cultural heritage.”

Further, the letter says, the administration should make appointments “mindful of the need to account for unintended structural biases” – including the potential imbalances caused by a named but as-yet unfilled position dedicated to IP enforcement (the so-called “IP Tsar”), which should be balanced via the creation of posts dedicated to promoting public discourse and advanced innovation.