Copyright Alliance Director: We're Not Behind Policy Initiatives

By Scott M. Fulton, III, BetaNews

May 23, 2007, 12:17 PM

Responding to our story yesterday regarding the movement on Capitol Hill to strengthen copyright enforcement through the imposition of performers' copyright fees on both terrestrial and Internet radio broadcasters, the director of the Copyright Alliance, Patrick Ross, told BetaNews it's a mistake for anyone - including us - to attribute certain advocated copyright policies to the Alliance, although they share key members and supporters.

"The Copyright Alliance has taken no position on any specific policy initiative to date, including radio performance royalties," Ross wrote. "The Copyright Alliance is a very, very broad coalition of organizations that are bound by copyright, from artists' groups and unions to corporations and trade associations, from professional and amateur sports to music, movies, video games, photography, graphic art, book and magazine and newspaper publishing, business software and, yes, broadcasting. Our focus is on a broader educational mission of copyright as an engine for creativity, jobs and growth."

The Recording Industry Association of America, the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, and the Recording Artists' Coalition have representatives in both the SoundExchange coalition - which would serve as the beneficiary of performance royalties - and the Copyright Alliance. However, the Alliance does have a broader membership base which also includes Microsoft, Major League Baseball, and movie studios; while SoundExchange has representation by the big four recording labels.

Rep. Howard Berman (D - Calif.), an ally of SoundExchange and a proponent of the performers' copyright tier, did speak at the Alliance's launch last week: "I appreciate your effort to form one collective voice on copyright reform," a statement quotes Berman as having said. "As you know, copyright legislation is one of the most complicated and important areas in U.S. law. Digitization and related technologies beg some changes to the copyright laws, and I wish you the best of luck and my support as you roll out the Copyright Alliance."

BetaNews asked Ross whether his Alliance is comfortable with members acting on behalf of legislation on which it has taken no public position. Furthermore, what means can the Alliance take a stand on, with regard to furthering its stated goals of strengthening respect for copyright in America?

"The Copyright Alliance is an umbrella organization. I claim no power to tell my membership how to act in the policy arena," Ross responded. "If you look at our 29 members on our Web site, you can find dozens of cases where the Alliance members are competing against each other in the market and on Capitol Hill. That is the very point of the Copyright Alliance. That competition often hides the fact that all of these artists' groups, unions, corporations and trade associations agree on the importance of copyright, a very important message indeed. I would invite you to read the policy principles on our web site for more guidance on how the Copyright Alliance will operate."

Ross went on to write that the Los Angeles Times article we cited gave us the impression that the sources listed were acting on the Alliance's behalf, and assured us they were not. However, he didn't shut the door completely on the possibility of supporting policy initiatives in the future. "When we take a position in a policy matter we will make it clear it is the Copyright Alliance doing so; it won't be one of our members. We also have no connection to Rep. Berman or any other member of Congress, although he was kind enough to speak at our launch event."

Over the coming weeks, Ross added, the Alliance will be adding several more members.