Bill Patry's guest appearances

Bill Patry

The Biblio File: Hosted by Nigel Beale

The Biblio File hosted by Nigel Beale

Whose Song Is It Anyway?

Donald Trump

Quentin Tarantino

Nicholson Baker

Tom Doherty

Harlan Coben

Cory Doctorow

Yann Martel

Sydney Smith

George Eliot

Larry Thompson

Alex Ross

Lawrence Krauss

Margaret MacMillan

Lionel Trilling

Steven Heller

OwlTail

Bill gives a heartfelt account of his career from private practice, law making, professor, to Senior Copyright Counsel at Google, and what most people might not know is that Bill is also a life long musician. He gives us insights into the challanges of law making, we talk about the US test for copyright infringement particularly in the cases of Blurred Lines, Stairway To Heaven. Bill explains why he would do away with expert witnesses in copyright infringement cases and shares the one thing he thinks needs changing in US copyright law…

Bill gives a heartfelt account of his career from private practice, law making, professor, to Senior Copyright Counsel at Google, and what most people might not know is that Bill is also a life long musician. He gives us insights into the challanges of law making, we talk about the US test for copyright infringement particularly in the cases of Blurred Lines, Stairway To Heaven. Bill explains why he would do away with expert witnesses in copyright infringement cases and shares the one thing he thinks needs changing in US copyright law…

Bill Patry, Google

In 1841 Thomas Babington Macaulay observed that “it is good that authors should be remunerated; and the least exceptionable way of remunerating them is by a monopoly. Yet monopoly is an evil. For the sake of the good we must submit to the evil; but the evil ought not to last a day longer than is necessary for the purpose of securing the good.” In his new book Moral Panics and the Copyright Wars, highly regarded copyright lawyer Bill Patry concurs with Macaulay, arguing that ‘copyright should last only as long as is necessary to ensure that works that would not have been created but for the incentive of copyright are created.’ The book at once demonstrates how copyright is a utilitarian government program – not a property or moral right - and deplores the manner in which debate has deteriorated into a battle between oversimplified metaphors; language which demonizes everyone involved – pirates and orphans alike. This has led to bad business and bad policy decisions. "Unless we recognize that the debates over copyright are debates over business models," says Patry, "we will never be able to make the correct business and policy decisions." A former copyright counsel to the U.S. House of Representatives, policy adviser to the Register of Copyright, law professor and author of the definitive 'Patry on Copyright', the man, currently copyright counsel to Google, is a centrist and advocate of balanced copyright laws, and, perhaps most significantly, the owner of a kickin’ pair of running shoes Moral Panic concludes with a call not for strong or weak copyright laws but more effective ones, designed to maximize the creation of new works and learning, and minimize obstacles which prevent others from accessing and building upon them. Listen here as Patry, speaking as a concerned, informed citizen not as a Google employee, works his way out from Macaulay’s lucidity, a sampling of which I cite to start off our conversation

In 1841 <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Babington_Macaulay,_1st_Baron_Macaulay" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Thomas Babington Macaulay</a> observed that “it is good that authors should be remunerated; and the least exceptionable way of remunerating them is by a monopoly. Yet monopoly is an evil. For the sake of the good we must submit to the evil; but the evil ought not to last a day longer than is necessary for the purpose of securing the good.” In his new book <a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/moral-panics-and-the-copyright-wars-9780195385649?cc=us&amp;lang=en&amp;" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Moral Panics and the Copyright Wars</a>, highly regarded <a href="http://moralpanicsandthecopyrightwars.blogspot.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">copyright lawyer Bill Patry</a> concurs with Macaulay, arguing that ‘copyright should last only as long as is necessary to ensure that works that would not have been created but for the incentive of copyright are created.’ The book at once demonstrates how copyright is a utilitarian government program – not a property or moral right - and deplores the manner in which debate has deteriorated into a battle between oversimplified metaphors; language which demonizes everyone involved – pirates and orphans alike. This has led to bad business and bad policy decisions. "Unless we recognize that the debates over copyright are debates over business models," says Patry, "we will never be able to make the correct business and policy decisions." A former copyright counsel to the U.S. House of Representatives, policy adviser to the Register of Copyright, law professor and author of the definitive 'Patry on Copyright', the man, currently copyright counsel to Google, is a centrist and advocate of balanced copyright laws, and, perhaps most significantly, the owner of a kickin’ pair of running shoes Moral Panic concludes with a call not for strong or weak copyright laws but more effective ones, designed to maximize the creation of new works and learning, and minimize obstacles which prevent others from accessing and building upon them. Listen here as Patry, speaking as a concerned, informed citizen not as a Google employee, works his way out from Macaulay’s lucidity, a sampling of which I cite to start off our conversation

Copyright Expert Bill Patry on Orphans and Pirates