Following the Money Behind Intellectual
Property Law
Aram SinnreichAssociate Professor
ICA ConferenceMay 28, 2017
@aram
@aram
IP Lobbying: Top Clients
1. RIAA
2. Schering-Plough
3. BSA
4. PhRMA
5. BMI
6. MPAA
7. Nat’l Restaurant Assn
8. Roche
9. Alliance for American Innov
10.Bristol-Myers Squibb
1998
1. Alphabet
2. PhRMA
3. Comcast
4. Biotech Industry Org
5. Intel
6. AstraZenica
7. iHeartMedia
8. Microsoft
9. Amgen
10.BSA
2015
Media/Comm
Pharma/Biotech
@aram
IP Lobbying: What We Don’t KnowHow much is spent to lobby whom for what?
Blanket dollar figure
Blanket/compound issue
Blanket target
Specific lobbyist names
$3.6 billion (federal) 2011-15
Top lobbying recipients, 2016:• Mitch McConnell, $3.7M• Orrin Hatch, $3.4M• Chuck Schumer, $2.7M
84% of Alphabet lobbyists have“revolving door” profiles, incl.• Rep. Susan Molinari • Rep. Richard Gephardt• Tony Podesta
Top 40 Federal Donors:Comms, Electronics
& Pharma, 2015-16
AlphabetPhRMA
Comcast
AstraZeneca
Microsoft
Amgen
NCTA
PfizerEli Lilly
AT&T
QualcommVerizon
Oracle
GlaxoSanofiAbbVie
CiscoFacebook Newsweb
Saban
Asana
DreamWorks Disney
Duchossois
Allied Wallet
Bad Robot
Time Warner
Hubbard
CelgeneMerckNovo NordiskNovartisAstellasBristol-MyersBayerAllerganBoehringer
Mutual Pharmaceutical
Teva
@aram
Campaign Finance: Connecting the Dots
Top 48 Lobby Clients: Copyright, Patent& Trademark, 2015
Top 40 Federal Donors:Comms, Electronics
& Pharma, 2015-16
Alphabet
PhRMA
Comcast
BIO
Intel
AstraZeneca
iHeartMedia
Microsoft
Amgen
BSA
NCTA
SoundExchange
Yahoo!
NAB RIAA
Pfizer
SprintEli Lilly
ESA
AT&T
CTA
Intuit
QualcommVerizon
Zebra
Apple
Viacom
Oracle
RELX
Spotify
Biogen
Glaxo
Pandora
Sanofi
App DevAlliance
Intellectual Ventures
AbbVie
AICPA
Cisco
eBay
Dell/EMC Facebook
GM
MPAA
InterDigital
Roche
Visa
Newsweb
Saban
Asana
DreamWorks Disney
Duchossois
Allied Wallet
Bad Robot
Time Warner
Hubbard
CelgeneMerckNovo NordiskNovartisAstellasBristol-MyersBayerAllerganBoehringer
Mutual Pharmaceutical
Teva
Endo
@aram
Campaign Finance: Connecting the Dots
Top 48 Lobby Clients: Copyright, Patent& Trademark, 2015
Top 40 Federal Donors:Comms, Electronics
& Pharma, 2015-16
Alphabet
PhRMA
Comcast
BIO
Intel
AstraZeneca
iHeartMedia
Microsoft
Amgen
BSA
NCTA
SoundExchange
Yahoo!
NAB RIAA
Pfizer
SprintEli Lilly
ESA
AT&T
CTA
Intuit
QualcommVerizon
Zebra
Apple
Viacom
Oracle
RELX
Spotify
Biogen
Glaxo
Pandora
Sanofi
App Dev Alliance
Intellectual Ventures
AbbVie
AICPA
Cisco
eBay
Dell/EMC Facebook
GM
MPAA
InterDigital
Roche
Visa
Newsweb
Saban
Asana
DreamWorks Disney
Duchossois
Allied Wallet
Bad Robot
Time Warner
Hubbard
CelgeneMerckNovo NordiskNovartisAstellasBristol-MyersBayerAllerganBoehringer
Mutual Pharmaceutical
Teva
Bold denotes member org
Endo
@aram
Campaign Finance: Connecting the Dots
Top 48 Lobby Clients: Copyright, Patent& Trademark, 2015
Top 40 Federal Donors:Comms, Electronics
& Pharma, 2015-16
Alphabet
PhRMA
Comcast
BIO
Intel
AstraZeneca
iHeartMedia
Microsoft
Amgen
BSA
NCTA
SoundExchange
Yahoo!
NAB RIAA
Pfizer
SprintEli Lilly
ESA
AT&T
CTA
Intuit
QualcommVerizon
Zebra
Apple
Viacom
Oracle
RELX
Spotify
Biogen
Glaxo
Pandora
Sanofi
App Dev Alliance
Intellectual Ventures
AbbVie
AICPA
Cisco
eBay
Dell/EMC Facebook
GM
MPAA
InterDigital
Roche
Visa
Newsweb
Saban
Asana
DreamWorks Disney
Duchossois
Allied Wallet
Bad Robot
Time Warner
Hubbard
CelgeneMerckNovo NordiskNovartisAstellasBristol-MyersBayerAllerganBoehringer
Mutual Pharmaceutical
Teva
Bold denotes member org
Endo
@aram
Campaign Finance: Connecting the Dots
App Dev Alliance
Top 48 Lobby Clients: Copyright, Patent& Trademark, 2015
Top 40 Federal Donors:Comms, Electronics
& Pharma, 2015-16
Alphabet
PhRMA
Comcast
BIO
Intel
AstraZeneca
iHeartMedia
Microsoft
Amgen
BSA
NCTA
SoundExchange
Yahoo!
NAB RIAA
Pfizer
SprintEli Lilly
ESA
AT&T
CTA
Intuit
QualcommVerizon
Zebra
Apple
Viacom
Oracle
RELX
Spotify
Biogen
Glaxo
Pandora
Sanofi
App Dev Alliance
Intellectual Ventures
AbbVie
AICPA
Cisco
eBay
Dell/EMC Facebook
GM
MPAA
InterDigital
Roche
Visa
Newsweb
Saban
Asana
DreamWorks Disney
Duchossois
Allied Wallet
Bad Robot
Time Warner
Hubbard
CelgeneMerckNovo NordiskNovartisAstellasBristol-MyersBayerAllerganBoehringer
Mutual Pharmaceutical
Teva
Bold denotes member org
Endo
@aram
Campaign Finance: Connecting the Dots
MPAA
Disney
Top 48 Lobby Clients: Copyright, Patent& Trademark, 2015
Top 40 Federal Donors:Comms, Electronics
& Pharma, 2015-16
Alphabet
PhRMA
Comcast
BIO
Intel
AstraZeneca
iHeartMedia
Microsoft
Amgen
BSA
NCTA
SoundExchange
Yahoo!
NAB RIAA
Pfizer
SprintEli Lilly
ESA
AT&T
CTA
Intuit
QualcommVerizon
Zebra
Apple
Viacom
Oracle
RELX
Spotify
Biogen
Glaxo
Pandora
Sanofi
App Dev Alliance
Intellectual Ventures
AbbVie
AICPA
Cisco
eBay
Dell/EMC Facebook
GM
MPAA
InterDigital
Roche
Visa
Newsweb
Saban
Asana
DreamWorks Disney
Duchossois
Allied Wallet
Bad Robot
Time Warner
Hubbard
CelgeneMerckNovo NordiskNovartisAstellasBristol-MyersBayerAllerganBoehringer
Mutual Pharmaceutical
Teva
Bold denotes member org
Endo
@aram
Campaign Finance: Connecting the Dots
Teva
Top 48 Lobby Clients: Copyright, Patent& Trademark, 2015
Top 40 Federal Donors:Comms, Electronics
& Pharma, 2015-16
Alphabet
PhRMA
Comcast
BIO
Intel
AstraZeneca
iHeartMedia
Microsoft
Amgen
BSA
NCTA
SoundExchange
Yahoo!
NAB RIAA
Pfizer
SprintEli Lilly
ESA
AT&T
CTA
Intuit
QualcommVerizon
Zebra
Apple
Viacom
Oracle
RELX
Spotify
Biogen
Glaxo
Pandora
Sanofi
App Dev Alliance
Intellectual Ventures
AbbVie
AICPA
Cisco
eBay
Dell/EMC Facebook
GM
MPAA
InterDigital
Roche
Visa
Newsweb
Saban
Asana
DreamWorks Disney
Duchossois
Allied Wallet
Bad Robot
Time Warner
Hubbard
CelgeneMerckNovo NordiskNovartisAstellasBristol-MyersBayerAllerganBoehringer
Mutual Pharmaceutical
Teva
MembershipBold denotes member org
Endo
@aram
Campaign Finance: Connecting the Dots
@aram
“Dark Money” in a Nutshell
💰
“Non-political”Activities
PoliticalCandidates
50.01%
49.99%
Non-CandidatePolitical Activities
$$$ 501(c)
ShellCorp
Anonymous contribution
$$$Anonymous ownership
SuperPAC
@aram
Does “Dark Money” Buy IP Policy?
SuperPAC
“Non-political”Activities
PoliticalCandidates
Non-CandidatePolitical Activities
$$$
ShellCorp
Anonymous contribution50.01%
49.99%
$$$Anonymous ownership
US Chamber of Commerce • 2nd biggest “dark money” spender, 2016 ($29B) • Biggest lobbying client, 2016 ($104B) • Lobbied for PRO-IP (2008); SOPA (2012); TPP (2016)
💰
@aram
Does “Dark Money” Buy IP Policy?
SuperPAC
“Non-political”Activities
Sen. Thom Tillis
Non-CandidatePolitical Activities
$$$
ShellCorp
Anonymous contribution50.01%
49.99%
$$$Anonymous ownership
US Chamber of Commerce • 2nd biggest “dark money” spender, 2016 ($29B) • Biggest lobbying client, 2016 ($104B) • Lobbied for PRO-IP (2008); SOPA (2012); TPP (2016)
• $48M in “dark money”• Top Source: US CC • Co-sponsor of S.1890• (Which was lobbied for by US CC)
💰
@aram
Next Steps
‣ Big Data Scrape of Fed/State Records
‣ Compile issue-based totals for lobby money recipients
‣ Correlate these figures with voting records & campaign finance totals
‣ Expand analysis of lobbying/finance overlapping sponsor datasets
‣ Reform spending/transparency laws!