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The Centre for Content Promotion (CCP) and the Applied Research Centre for Intellectual Assets and the Law in Asia (ARCIALA) have partnered on a thought leadership initiative which aims at exploring and discussing current and emerging political, legal, and business developments in the areas of creativity, innovation, and commerce. The initiative consists on a series of lectures featuring acclaimed international speakers and compelling topics —the Insight & Analysis Lecture Series.
The lectures will take place at Singapore Management University. Guest speakers will have an allocated time for their presentations, followed by engagement with a distinguished commentator and a Q&A session with audience attendees. Each lecture will be followed by a reception, which will provide further opportunities for informal networking between the speakers and attendees.
THIRD LECTURE - SECONDARY LIABILITY FOR ONLINE COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT: RECENT DEVELOPMENTS
SYNOPSIS
Secondary liability for copyright infringement has been a hotly contested issue in a number of international jurisdictions. In the United States (U.S.), secondary copyright liability has traditionally been determined through case law. Whereas earlier cases involved responsibility for the performances of musical compositions in dance halls, or the sale of counterfeit recordings in retail outlets, more recent cases have involved internet service providers’ (ISPs) liability for the unauthorized distribution and communication of copyrighted works. In 1998, the Digital Millennium Copyright Act enacted specific ‘safe harbor provisions’ in order to limit ISPs’ liability as long as they abide by certain statutory requirements. Yet in December 2015, a U.S. District Court held that Cox Communications, one of the country’s biggest ISPs, could not avail itself of a safe harbor defense. A federal jury thereafter held Cox liable for willful contributory copyright infringement.
What are the practical implications of this decision for ISPs? What facts were central to the decision and others, and what might the outcome have been if the case had been litigated here in Singapore? Fordham University Law Professor Hugh Hansen, Founder of the Fordham Intellectual Property Law & Policy Conference and Director of the Fordham IP Institute will discuss these issues during this lecture. Follow-up remarks will be provided by Lam Chung Nian, Head of the Intellectual Property, Technology & Media, Telecommunications and Data Protections Practices at Wong Partnership.
SPEAKER
Hugh Hansen has taught intellectual property law for many years. His focus is on a legal realist understanding of how courts, agencies, legislatures and the private sector interact with IP law and each other. In the same vein, he founded and directs the Fordham Intellectual Property Law & Policy Conference, and the Fordham IP Institute. The Director General of the WIPO called the Fordham IP Conference ‘the Davos of the IP world.’ Professor Hansen has written one IP book and edited many others. He speaks frequently in the U.S. and abroad. The U.S. State Department sponsored a speaking tour for Professor Hansen in Japan, and Melbourne University did the same in Australia. In intellectual property law matters, Professor Hansen has been lead counsel, a consultant and expert witness in the U.S., UK, German and Polish courts. Managing Intellectual Property Magazine named Professor Hansen one of the 50 most influential people in IP in the world three times.
COMMENTATOR
Lam Chung Nian heads the Intellectual Property (“IP”), Technology & Media, Telecommunications and Data Protection Practices at WongPartnership LLP. He is a tutor for IP law in the Preparatory Course Leading to Part B of the Singapore Bar Examinations, an Associate Faculty at UniSIM and lecturer at the Graduate Certificate in IP Law programme, a course jointly organised by the IP Academy (Singapore) and the Faculty of Law, NUS. Chung Nian is a Fellow of the CIArb and is appointed to the WIPO Panel of Film and Media Mediators, Arbitrators and Experts, as well as the panel of mediators for the IPOS-WIPO initiative for Mediation for Proceedings Instituted in the IPOS. He is the Vice Chair of the IBA Communications Law Committee, Hon Secretary of the Asian Patent Attorney Association (Singapore Chapter), member of the International Trademark Association, and sits on the IP Committee of the Law Society of Singapore.
MODERATOR
Frank Rittman is Founding Director of the Centre for Content Promotion. An independent consultant operating primarily in the fields of media, entertainment, and cross-market development, Frank most recently served as the Senior Vice President, Deputy Managing Director and Asia-Pacific Regional Policy Officer for the Motion Picture Association, a trade association representing six international producers and distributors of filmed entertainment. Prior to that Frank was the Vice President of International Affairs for the National Music Publishers’ Association and The Harry Fox Agency, Inc. A native New Yorker, Frank began his career as the Director of Contracts & Copyrights for the Macmillan Publishing Company and his professional appointments include serving as a former Chairman of the New York County Lawyers’ Association Entertainment Law Committee, as well as on the Board of Directors of CASBAA, the non-profit association representing the pay-TV interests in the Asia Pacific region.
WELCOME ADDRESS
Irene Calboli is Lee Kong Chian Fellow, Visiting Professor, and Deputy Director of the Applied Research Centre for Intellectual Assets and the Law in Asia (ARCIALA), School of Law, Singapore Management University. She is also a Professor of Law at Texas A&M University School of Law. Before joining SMU, Irene held a visiting professorship at the Faculty of Law of the National University of Singapore from 2012 to 2015. She is a prolific author and has published several books, articles, and reports on a varieties of areas of intellectual property law. Her current scholarship focuses on the intersection between intellectual property and international trade. Irene is an elected member of the American Law Institute and an associate member of the Singapore Academy of Law. She is currently serving, inter alia, as a member of the Executive Committee of the Intellectual Property Section of the Association of American Law Schools and a member of the Legislation and Regulation Committee of the International Trademark Association.
The next Insight & Analysis Lecture will be delivered on 17 February 2017 by Mike Weatherley, Executive Vice President and Chief Finance Officer, Motion Picture Licensing Corporation.
Participants who wish to claim CPD Points are reminded that they must comply strictly with the Attendance Policy set out in the CPD Guidelines. This includes signing in on arrival and signing out at the conclusion of the activity in the manner required by the organiser, and not being absent from the entire activity for more than 15 minutes. Participants who do not comply with the Attendance Policy will not be able to obtain CPD Points for attending the activity. Please refer to www.sileCPDcentre.sg for more information.
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