Digital Music Conference Promises Politics

W A S H I N G T O N, Jan. 10 -- You might expect a music-technology conference addressing topics like copyright law and Internet song swapping to meet in glitzy Hollywood orwired Silicon Valley, not starchy Washington.

But the first annual Coalition for the Future of MusicPolicy Conference is taking place today and Thursday on theshores of the Potomac, not the Pacific, in a sign of thegrowing federal role in the debate over who controlsintellectual property in the Age of Napster.

Experts say that as the music industry grapples with a hostof digital-age challenges, it’s inevitable that the battle willshift from courtrooms and boardrooms to the chambers ofCongress.

Congress first waded into the debate in 1998 when it passedthe Digital Millennium Copyright Act, which strengthened U.S.copyright law to protect music, movies and software fromdigital piracy.

Hailed by the music industry, the law has been criticized byothers who say it restricts “fair use” rules that allow thepublic to make copies of protected material for personal use.

“Both Silicon Valley and La La Land are turning theirattention to Washington because Washington has the ability tosignificantly mess things up,” said James Boyle, a DukeUniversity law professor and critic of the 1998 law, who willspeak at the conference on Wednesday.

Thus, in a schedule packed with industry heavyweights andhipster musicians, the biggest star is keynote speaker Sen.Orrin Hatch, the Utah Republican whose Judiciary Committeehosted a round of last summer’s heavyweight Metallica vs.Napster bout. (See related stories in right column.)

New Bills on the Horizon

Hatch advocated a hands-off approach in the wake of the Julyhearings, saying Napster should reach a settlement with themusic establishment. Since then, the controversialmusic-sharing system has signed revenue-sharing agreements withtwo music companies: industry giant BMG, through a deal with its parent company is Bertelsmann AG, and indie label Edel.(See related stories in right column.)