The domestic industries reliant on copyright and its exceptions, and in some cases balancing the two, have become more important economically as sources of growth, high-paying jobs, and exports. And these industries have undergone a technological revolution that raises questions about the feasibility of some types of copyright protection, how incentives for content creation, distribution, and use are changing, and the copyright system's impact on technological innovation.

In the course of preparing this report, the committee met three times. At two of these meetings, presentations were made by individuals from government and the private sector. The committee commissioned four original background papers that are summarized in this report.

These papers were discussed in an online forum and with invited participants in a public workshop in Washington, DC, on June 8, 2011, at which the newly appointed Register of Copyrights, Maria Pallente, made opening remarks. The June 2011 workshop consisted of two parts: a facilitated discussion with approximately forty invited legal scholars, economists, government officials, and representatives of content owners and civil society organizations; and a more unstructured discussion with a larger group of respondents to a public announcement. The first part of the workshop was instrumental in helping to formulate the framework of research questions and data needs described in this report, both of which were further elaborated in the broader exchange and in the committee's deliberations.

For logistical reasons the online discussion preceded rather than followed the workshop and focused entirely on the commissioned paper drafts.

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