Creativity, Commerce, & Culture: Lessig vs. Valenti

USC Annenberg

November 29, 2001

In the new digital environment, what impact do intellectual property rights have on innovation and creativity? Do copyrights and patents hamper or enhance artistic life? How is our creative culture being shaped by changes in law and technology? A spirited exchange between Jack Valenti, President of the Motion Picture Association of America, and Lawrence Lessig, Stanford Law Professor and author of The Future of Ideas: The Fate of the Commons in a Connected World. The event is co-sponsored by the USC Annenberg School's Norman Lear Center and by the Center for the Public Domain, a Durham, North Carolina-based philanthropic foundation.