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Ep17 Tim’s Travails: This month we interview Keith Kupferschmid – Chief Executive Officer of the Copyright Alliance
September 2026 — This month on IP attorney and author Timothy Trainer’s podcast/video show Tim interviews Keith Kupferschmid, Chief Executive Officer of the Copyright Alliance.
Today’s Topic: Getting inside the practice of modernizing copyright law
About our guest: Keith Kupferschmid is President and CEO of the Copyright Alliance, a position he has held since 2015. In this role, he is responsible for overseeing all aspects of the Copyright Alliance’s operations—including strategy, government affairs, communications, membership, and liaising with boards and committees.
Kupferschmid’s extensive work on the Hill has contributed to modernizing copyright law, culminating in the enactment of the Music Modernization Act (MMA), the Copyright Alternative in Small-Claims Enforcement Act (CASE Act), and the Protecting Lawful Streaming Act (PLSA), among others. He has also raised the profile of the Copyright Alliance within the creator community and strived to garner additional rights and protections for creators across the country through education, advocacy initiatives, and speaking opportunities. Kupferschmid has testified before Congress and various federal and state government agencies on key copyright issues, has held leadership positions in the American Bar Association (ABA) and American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA), serves on the boards of Washington Area Lawyers for the Arts (WALA) and the U.S. Intellectual Property Alliance (USIPA), and was selected to be a member of the Library of Congress’ Copyright Public Modernization Committee (CPMC).
Before joining the Copyright Alliance, Kupferschmid served as the General Counsel and Senior Vice President for Intellectual Property for the Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA) for 16 years. Prior to that, he worked at Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner; the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office; the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative; and the U.S. Copyright Office. Learn more: copyrightalliance.org
Photos of Tim by AnnaGibbs.com
About Tim’s Travails: In this podcast/video series, IP attorney and author Tim Trainer introduce us to experts around the country who have insight into the law, international trade, and more, to help us better understand our world in 2025 and beyond. Tim, himself, fits the bill for he worked for three decades for the US government and private law firms focusing on international trade, and has developed a deep understanding of global economics and politics. Writing books is his passion.
The author of seven books as of 2025, he has penned several non-fiction tomes, including his first book, Customs Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights; the 15th edition was published in 2020. Thomson Reuters’ Aspatore Books published Tim’s next title in 2015, Potato Chips to Computer Chips: The War on Fake Stuff. Fiction was a genre he always wanted to try. In 2017, Pendulum Over the Pacific was released by Joshua Tree Publishing. “This political intrigue story is set in Tokyo and Washington, D.C., and centers on trade tensions between the U.S. and Japan in the late 1980s,” Tim explains.
In 2023, his first series hit bookstores: “The China Connection.” In December 2024, he followed it with “The China Factor.” Coming in the Fall of 2026 is “The China Dilemma.” Learn all about Tim and his books: TimothyTrainer.com.
