April 18, 2014 9:41AM # Copyright on the (Cato) Docket May 7th By [Jim Harper](https://www.cato.org/people/jim-harper) --- SHARE This week, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and the National Telecommunications and Information Administration [announced](http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2014-04-16/html/2014-08627.htm) four upcoming hearings on issues raised in the Department of Commerce Internet Policy Task Force’s July 2013 paper, “[Copyright Policy, Creativity, and Innovation in the Digital Economy](http://www.uspto.gov/news/publications/copyrightgreenpaper.pdf).” The hearings will be held in or near Nashville, Boston, Los Angeles, and San Francisco in May, June, and July. Cato will host its own hearing early next month on [Tom W. Bell’s new book *Intellectual Privilege*](https://www.cato.org/events/intellectual-privilege). That event will occur May 7th at the Cato Institute in Washington, D.C. In the book, Bell treats copyright as a statutory privilege that threatens not just constitutional rights, but natural rights, too. He argues for a new libertarian view of copyright that reconciles the desire to create incentives for creators with our inalienable liberties. Bell’s vision is of a world less encumbered by legal restrictions and yet richer in art, music, and other expressive works. [Register now](https://www.cato.org/events/intellectual-privilege) for what is sure to be a lively discussion of this perennially interesting issue on May 7th! ##### Related Tags [Technology and Privacy](https://www.cato.org/technology-privacy) [![Creative Commons License](/build/cato_2020/images/creative-commons.svg)](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/) This work is licensed under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/).