Steven J. Metalitz

Steve Metalitz is a partner in the Washington, DC office of Mitchell, Silberberg & Knupp LLP. For more than 15 years, he has advised trade associations and companies in the film, music, software, videogame and publishing industries on domestic and international anti-piracy and other copyright matters. Besides intellectual property, his practice also focuses on privacy and e-commerce issues.

Since 1994, Steve has been counsel to the International Intellectual Property Alliance (IIPA), the leading coalition of the U.S. copyright industry on international copyright law and enforcement issues. He has also represented copyright coalitions on a wide range of legislative and policy initiatives. In this role, as counsel to the Creative Incentive Coalition (CIC), Steve led in the development and drafting of what became the Digital Millennium Copyright Act in 1998. He has also represented virtually all copyright industry groups in each of the four Copyright Office rulemaking proceedings held pursuant to the DMCA since 2000. For the Coalition for Online Accountability (COA), Steve represents the interests of copyright industry companies, associations and organizations on matters that come before the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN). He recently completed serving his sixth term as President of the Intellectual Property Constituency of the ICANN’s Generic Names Supporting Organization.

Previously, Steve was General Counsel to the Information Industry Association, and held senior staff positions in the U.S. Senate, including Chief Counsel and Staff Director of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Patents, Copyrights and Trademarks, and Chief Nominations Counsel to the Judiciary Committee, after beginning his legal career in private practice in Charleston, South Carolina. Steve has taught copyright law courses and seminars as an adjunct professor at George Washington University Law School, has lectured widely here and abroad on copyright and e-commerce topics, and is a frequent witness before Congressional subcommittees. He holds degrees from the University of Chicago (A.B. with honors) and Georgetown University Law Center (J.D.), is a member of the District of Columbia and South Carolina bars, and is admitted to practice before numerous federal courts.