Michael Schlesinger

International Intellectual Property Alliance

2101 L Street, NW, Suite 1000

Washington, DC 20037

Tel: (202) 833-4198

For a pdf version of Mr. Schlesinger's full biography, click here.

MICHAEL SCHLESINGER represents the International Intellectual Property Alliance^â (IIPA^Ò), a private sector coalition of seven U.S. trade associations which represent over 1,900 companies producing and distributing materials protected by copyright laws throughout the world, including: business applications software; entertainment software on all platforms; theatrical films, television programs, home videos, and digital representations of audiovisual works; music, records, CDs, and audiocassettes; and textbooks, tradebooks, reference and professional publications and journals (in both electronic and print media). Michael monitors copyright law and enforcement developments worldwide, focusing on activities and issues in Asia, the Middle East and Africa.

In addition to his IIPA representation, Michael is Of Counsel to the law firm of Greenberg Traurig, LLP, specializing in international copyright law and trademark law. Michael has spoken on copyright issues around the world. Media appearances include Voice of America, WorldNet, and PBS’ Nightly Business Report. Since 2002, Michael has traveled to high schools in the Washington region to give presentations on “copyright awareness” (several of these were in conjunction with the Copyright Society of the USA’s programs). Michael was a Fellow of the Sorensen Institute for Political Leadership (housed at the University of Virginia) in 2002. Michael is Professorial Lecturer in Law at George Washington University Law School (teaching International Copyright Law), and is on the faculty of the Munich Intellectual Property Law Center (MIPLC), a program of the Max Planck Institute in Germany.

Michael’s publications include: Overview of Global Implementation of TPMs: Emerging Global Standards, Fordham University School of Law Fourteenth Annual Conference on International Intellectual Property Law & Policy, April 2006 (publication forthcoming); WIPO Treaties Implementation Globally: The Key Issues, Fordham Twelfth Annual Conference, International Intellectual Property Law and Policy, April 2004 (with Mihály Ficsor); Exceptions and Limitations on the Prohibition of Circumvention of Technological Protection Measures, ALAI 2001 Congress, June 2001; Copyright and the Information Revolution in the Arab World, Georgetown University, Center for Contemporary Arab Studies, April 2001; Crimes of Copyright Infringement Explained: the Prospect for Strong Judicial Enforcement Against Copyright Infringement, in Chinese Intellectual Property Law and Practice (Kluwer Law Books, October, 1999); Intellectual Property Law in China, Parts 1 and 2, East Asian Executive Reports (1997).

Before representing the IIPA, Michael studied copyright law with Professor Jane Ginsburg at Columbia University, where he earned his J.D. in 1996. Before that, he lived and worked as a Shansi Association Fellow in Japan; he speaks Japanese and is conversational in Chinese. Michael received his A.B. with a double major in History and Music from Oberlin College (1989). He is a member of the Virginia State and District of Columbia bars. Michael has been admitted to the courts of the Commonwealth of Virginia, the District of Columbia, the 4^th Circuit Court of Appeals, the 5^th Circuit Court of Appeals, and the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. Michael composes music in his spare time (soundtrack recently appeared on “Discovery” [Blueberry Shoes Productions]) and performs regularly in community shows (latest role Cable in South Pacific at American Music Stage).