REGISTER | ADD TO CALENDAR | PERMALINK
On Friday – Saturday, 23–24 October 2026, at 09:00–16:35 EDT (13:00–20:35 UTC) on Friday and 09:30–13:15 EDT (13:30–17:15 UTC) on Saturday, the Kernochan Center for Law, Media and the Arts at Columbia Law School and the Berkeley Center for Law & Technology (BCLT) will host a hybrid symposium ‘Origins, Evolution, and Possible Futures of the 1976 Copyright Act‘ at Jerome Greene Hall, Room 104, New York, and online.
It is the second half of a bi-coastal symposium marking the fiftieth anniversary of the Copyright Act of 1976. The first event, held at Berkeley in April 2026, covered the Act’s origins, its central reforms, and the strain technological change has placed on it. This second event looks at how public and private institutions work under the 1976 Act – the roles of Congress, the U.S. Copyright Office, the judiciary, and private ordering – and considers how copyright law might be reformed for new technologies, most pressingly artificial intelligence. Essays from the event will be published in the Columbia Journal of Law & the Arts.
Registration is required and fees apply, with a discounted rate for online attendance: private practitioners $499 ($375 online); in-house counsel $150 ($125 online); academics, non-profit and government employees $25; all students and Columbia faculty/staff free. A financial-hardship policy is available, and New York CLE credit is offered for in-person attendance.
DAY 1 – FRIDAY 23 OCTOBER 2026
09:00 EDT (13:00 UTC) — WELCOME & SYMPOSIUM INTRODUCTION
09:10 EDT (13:10 UTC) — PAPER PANEL I – MAKING THE 1976 ACT: THE ROLE OF CONGRESS
Jessica Litman – University of Michigan Law School
Peter Menell – UC Berkeley School of Law
Tom Merrill – Columbia Law School
Molly Van Houweling – UC Berkeley School of Law
10:55 EDT (14:55 UTC) — DISCUSSION PANEL I – COPYRIGHT REFORM IN CONGRESS: INSIDERS’ PERSPECTIVES
Joe Keeley – Keeley Law & Policy, former Chief IP Counsel, U.S. House Judiciary Committee
Eric Schwartz – Mitchell Silberberg & Knupp, former Assistant Counsel, U.S. House of Representatives
11:55 EDT (15:55 UTC) — DISCUSSION PANEL II – COPYRIGHT ADJUDICATION UNDER THE 1976 ACT: VIEWS FROM THE BENCH
The Hon. Judge Pierre Leval – U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
The Hon. Judge Jon Newman – U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
13:40 EDT (17:40 UTC) — PAPER PANEL II – APPLYING AND DEVELOPING THE 1976 ACT: THE ROLE OF COURTS
Shyam Balganesh – Columbia Law School
Bruce Boyden – Marquette University Law School
Pam Samuelson – UC Berkeley School of Law
Erik Stallman – UC Berkeley School of Law
15:25 EDT (19:25 UTC) — PAPER PANEL III – PRIVATE ORDERING AND ITS INTERACTION WITH THE 1976 ACT
Niva Elkin-Koren – Tel Aviv University
Kristelia García – Georgetown Law
Xiyin Tang – UCLA School of Law
DAY 2 – SATURDAY 24 OCTOBER 2026
09:30 EDT (13:30 UTC) — DISCUSSION PANEL III – IMPLEMENTING THE COPYRIGHT ACT: A CONVERSATION WITH REGISTERS OF COPYRIGHT
Ralph Oman – George Washington University Law School, former Register of Copyrights
Maria Pallante – Association of American Publishers, former Register of Copyrights
Shira Perlmutter – Register of Copyrights, U.S. Copyright Office
Karyn Temple – Motion Picture Association, former Register of Copyrights
10:45 EDT (14:45 UTC) — PAPER PANEL IV – THE ROLE OF THE COPYRIGHT OFFICE
Dave Fagundes – Emory University School of Law
Saurabh Vishnubhakat – Cardozo School of Law
Philippa Loengard – Columbia Law School
Caitlin McGrail – Columbia Law School
11:55 EDT (15:55 UTC) — PAPER PANEL V – REFORMING THE 1976 ACT — DIRECTLY AND INDIRECTLY
Jane Ginsburg – Columbia Law School
Paul Goldstein – Stanford Law School
Jennifer Rothman – University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School
13:05 EDT (17:05 UTC) — SYMPOSIUM CONCLUSIONS
#Copyright #CopyrightLaw #IPLaw #AI