WIPO, Geneva
Richard Owens is Director of the Copyright E-Commerce, Technology and Management Division at the World Intellectual Property Organization in Geneva, Switzerland (www.wipo.int). His work lies at the intersection of copyright, digital technologies and the Internet, involving issues such as the proposed WIPO broadcasting treaty, emerging online business models, the copyright liability of Internet intermediaries including P2P service providers, the rights of users and consumers of digital content, digital rights management (DRM), standards and interoperability issues, open source software, and copyright collective management.
Before joining WIPO, Mr. Owens was International IPR Adviser for British Music Rights (BMR) in London, the lobbying and public affairs voice of UK composers, songwriters and music publishers. While in London he also contributed to UK implementation of the EC Copyright and E-Commerce Directives, and participated in RightsWatch, an EC-funded project aimed at developing self-regulatory notice-and-takedown procedures for the European Union under the E-Commerce Directive. He began his career as an attorney at the US Federal Communications Commission in Washington, followed by three years as a copyright specialist and negotiator in the USPTO’s Office of Legislation and International Affairs (OLIA).
A national of the United States of America, Mr. Owens received a Bachelor of Arts from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (Phi Beta Kappa), and received his Juris Doctor degree from the George Washington University National Law Center, Washington DC.
Before joining WIPO, Mr. Owens was International IPR Adviser for British Music Rights (BMR) in London, the lobbying and public affairs voice of UK composers, songwriters and music publishers. While in London he also contributed to UK implementation of the EC Copyright and E-Commerce Directives, and participated in RightsWatch, an EC-funded project aimed at developing self-regulatory notice-and-takedown procedures for the European Union under the E-Commerce Directive. He began his career as an attorney at the US Federal Communications Commission in Washington, followed by three years as a copyright specialist and negotiator in the USPTO’s Office of Legislation and International Affairs (OLIA).
A national of the United States of America, Mr. Owens received a Bachelor of Arts from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (Phi Beta Kappa), and received his Juris Doctor degree from the George Washington University National Law Center, Washington DC.