Hollywood is going to explain how it thinks search engines enable copyright infringement that hurt its businesses.
Former Connecticut Sen.-turned-Hollywood-lobbyist Chris Dodd will unveil at a press conference on Wednesday morning the results of a recent study examining the “role of search engines in introducing audiences to infringing content,” according to a media advisory.
The press conference will precede a House Judiciary Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property, and the Internet hearing examining intellectual property.
Dodd, chairman and CEO of the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), will be joined by Republican Reps. Howard Coble of North Carolina and Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee, and Democratic Reps. Adam Schiff and Judy Chu of California.
Search engines are the most common way for Internet users to find new content online. A search engine that scans the entire Web, like Google or Bing, is only one use of the technology. Facebook’s internal search engine, Graph Search, allows users to search for content specific to the Facebook network.
Dodd and the MPAA’s allies — including the Recording Industry Association of America — have been at odds with Google and the Internet community in the regulatory realm over the enforcement of intellectual property laws in cyberspace for several years.
The highest-profile confrontation took place when major Internet companies like Google and Wikipedia blacked out their websites in protest against the Stop Online Piracy Act in January 2012.
In October 2012, Dodd reached out to members of the tech community to attempt to heal the rift between Hollywood and Silicon Valley.