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Jaci McDole

Jaci McDole

Former Senior Policy Analyst

Information Technology and Innovation Foundation

Email: [email protected]

Twitter: @jacimcdole

Jaci McDole was a former senior policy analyst covering intellectual property (IP) and innovation policy at the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF). She focused on IP and its correlations to global innovation and trade. McDole holds a double B.A. in Music Business and Radio-Television with a minor in Marketing, an MS in Education, and a J.D. with a specialization in intellectual property (Southern Illinois University Carbondale).

McDole came to ITIF from the Institute for Intellectual Property Research, an organization she co-founded to study and further robust global IP policies. Her previous work includes stints with a small record label and a nonprofit royalty collective. Projects and collaborations include a study of the WHO Essential Medicines List, a report on closing the IP gender gap, updating the Trade Secret Protection Index, and various articles published as part of ITIF’s “Innovate4Health” series.

Recent Publications

March 28, 2023

Court’s Rejection of the Internet Archive’s Excuse For Pirating E-Books Is a Victory for Copyright

The court rightly refused to encourage or support the Internet Archive's blatant theft and violations of copyright protections in Hachette v. Internet Archive.

March 6, 2023

Comments to the Attorney General of Australia Regarding Australia’s Copyright Enforcement Review

The world’s leading creative countries still have a long way to go before they can say they’ve significantly reduced digital piracy, but many are finally taking steps in the right direction toward this goal. Australia has adopted many of the best policies to better target copyright infringement, but there are a few missing that policymakers should consider.

December 14, 2022

End the Archaic Argument That Copyright Is Only for the Rich

Creators, industries, the economy, businesses large and small, and more than 5 million U.S. workers rely on copyright. Meanwhile, the patronage system is archaic and irrelevant in the digital age. Policymakers must ignore these unfounded, outdated, and repetitious attacks on creators’ rights, focusing instead on updating copyright laws rather than abolishing them.

December 9, 2022

Don’t Delay! Stop the Expanded TRIPS Waiver Today

There is nothing meritorious about an expanded TRIPS waiver for COVID-19 therapeutics and diagnostics IP. Just like the TRIPS waiver for COVID-19 vaccines, the expanded waiver proposal is unnecessary, inappropriate, and harmful. The United States and its allies must not allow it to continue.

December 1, 2022

IP and the Metaverse: The Challenges of Protecting Trade Dress and Design Patent Rights in the Metaverse

As more content creators migrate to the metaverse—creating immersive, interactive, 3D virtual environments and placing virtual products within them—IP owners may face challenges in acquiring and enforcing trade dress and design patents for purely digital goods. To address this challenge, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) should issue guidance clarifying the rights associated with trade dress and design patents, especially essential terms like “functionality” and “secondary meaning,” to ensure digital goods receive IP protections just like their physical counterparts.

October 7, 2022

Why the SMART Copyright Act Is a Smart Idea

Digital piracy is a significant threat to industries and economies. Congress must act to protect American creators, and enacting the SMART Copyright Act is a smart next step.

September 19, 2022

IP and the Metaverse: The Digital Millennium Copyright Act Will Face Serious Challenges in the Metaverse

With the development of the metaverse and other Web3 technologies creating more challenges for protecting rightsholders from online theft, Congress should update the DMCA to foster greater use of innovative technologies to protect copyright online.

August 4, 2022

Publishers Want to Deter Theft Not Kill Libraries

Internet Archive is not a noble, Robin Hood organization being bullied by the hierarchy for helping the poor and needy, despite the story EFF and its anti-IP allies continue to spin. Rather, this is a simple case of an organization stealing from creators to justify its “information wants to be free ideology,” then trying to redirect blame, hoping to garner sympathy for its wrongdoing rather than simply compensating rightsholders.

July 8, 2022

Senate Democrats’ Drug Price Proposal Would Slow the Pace of New Drug Discovery

Congress should ignore pressure from progressive activists who want to use drug price controls to move to a government-led drug discovery and production system and instead focus on more pragmatic reforms.

June 24, 2022

Postmortem on a Pyrrhic Victory for IP Foes at the WTO

The WTO’s approval of a TRIPS waiver for IP related to COVID-19 vaccines is essentially a shotgun blast completely missing the broadside of a barn.

May 13, 2022

Stealing Mickey Mouse: Tit for Tat Legislation Is Bad Policymaking

On May 10, 2022, Senator Josh Hawley introduced the Copyright Clause Restoration Act of 2022, a bill whose sole intent is to deprive Disney of copyright protections in retaliation for the company’s “woke” stance on social issues. This move is petty, unconstitutional, overall bad policymaking, and violates U.S. obligations under the World Intellectual Property Organization Copyright Treaty (WCT). The Senate Judiciary Committee should let this bill die.

More publications by Jaci McDole

Recent Events and Presentations

April 26, 2023

IP Stories: Women and IP (A World IP Day Event)

WIPO’s theme for World IP Day 2023 is “Women and IP: Accelerating Innovation and Creativity.” To celebrate, ITIF highlights the stories of a few of the women who rely on IP rights to accelerate innovation and creativity. Join us for these first-hand accounts of how IP enables and benefits creators, innovators, and society alike.

April 26, 2022

IP Stories: Innovating for a Better Future (A World IP Day Event)

Please join ITIF, Geneva Network, Hudson Institute, the Center for Intellectual Property and Innovation Protection, Property Rights Alliance, and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce as we learn the stories of a few of the individuals and SMEs who rely on IP rights to innovate for a better future.

December 2, 2021

2021 Global Trade and Innovation Policy Alliance Annual Summit

The GTIPA’s annual summits bring together alliance members with world-leading experts to explore creative solutions to the difficult economic, trade, and innovation challenges facing the international community.

April 29, 2021

How Intellectual Property Has Played a Pivotal Role in the Global COVID-19 Response

ITIF hosted an expert panel discussion about the report and the vital role IP has played throughout the pandemic.

February 18, 2021

Intellectual Property's Impact on Global Health & Life-sciences Innovation

Stephen Ezell and Jaci McDole presented about Intellectual Property’s Impact on Global Health and Life-sciences Innovation to students at the University of Akron Law School on February 18, 2021.

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