About the IAPP

Michele Woods is the Director of the Copyright Law Division at the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), a post she has held since 2012. She leads the Division’s assistance to Member States for updating national copyright and related rights laws, as well as joining and implementing WIPO copyright and related rights treaties.  She also serves as Secretary to the WIPO Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights (SCCR), overseeing the work of the Secretariat for the Committee.

Michele was the Secretary for the Diplomatic Conferences that adopted the texts of the Beijing Treaty on Audiovisual Performances in June 2012 and the Marrakesh Treaty to Facilitate Access to Published Works for Persons Who Are Blind, Visually Impaired or Otherwise Print Disabled in June 2013.

Before joining WIPO, Michele was the Associate Register for Policy and International Affairs in the United States Copyright Office.  Michele represented the Copyright Office on many U.S. bilateral and multilateral delegations, including to WIPO, and on the Special 301 Sub-Committee of the U.S. Trade Representative.  She also oversaw domestic policy matters, working with the U.S. Congress on copyright legislation, and served on the Copyright Office Review Board for final administrative appeals of refusals of copyright registration.

Prior to joining the Copyright Office, Michele practiced intellectual property law with a focus on copyright as Counsel in the Intellectual Property and Technology Group at the law firm of Arnold & Porter LLP, in Washington, D.C.

Michele earned her JD and LL.M. degrees from the Duke University School of Law. A graduate of Princeton University, she also holds a Master of Studies from Oxford University.