Intellectual Property Bill Passes House Subcommittee

Variety reported last week that the House IP Subcommittee passed the Prioritizing Resources and Organization for Intellectual Property Act . The bill calls for expanding anitpiracy efforts with the creation of an Executive coordinator of antipiracy efforts, offering grant money to states, and stiffer fines for willful intellectual property offenses.

This is, of course, only one step on a bill's journey to becoming a law. Click here for a good explanation of the legislative process.

A good primer on IP law is "Patent, Copyright, and Trademark: An Intellectual Property Desk Reference," by Rich Stim, published by Nolo. Click here for an electronic version of the 2006 edition (library card required). We also have the 2007 edition in paper at the Government Information Center Reference Desk.