George York

George York is a Senior Vice President for International Policy at the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). George is responsible for RIAA’s international policy engagement, including on copyright and trade policy in bilateral, plurilateral and multilateral settings.  George also leads the Digital Creators Coalition, a broad and diverse group of creative community organizations focused on international copyright and trade policy.  Prior to joining RIAA, George was the Deputy Assistant United States Trade Representative in USTR’s Office of Intellectual Property and Innovation, and covered Europe as well as international organizations.  George was the lead intellectual property negotiator in the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (T-TIP) negotiations with the European Union, was the U.S. head of delegation to the WTO Council for Trade-Related Intellectual Property Rights, and served on the U.S. delegation to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, including the Paris Agreement negotiations.  Prior to returning to USTR, George also served as a Trade Counsel for the United States House of Representatives Committee on Ways and Means, where he was responsible for intellectual property, climate change and the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations among other issues.  Before working for the Committee on Ways and Means, George was an Associate General Counsel with USTR, serving in both Geneva and Washington, D.C.  While in USTR’s General Counsel’s Office, George was the lead U.S. attorney on the WTO China – Market Access dispute concerning market access for U.S. copyright-intensive goods in China, and covered intellectual property and climate change issues.  After graduating from Brown University (BA), the London School of Economics (MSc), and Columbia Law School (JD), he was an associate in the International Trade Group of the law firm of Mayer Brown, LLP.  George is married to Julia York and they have two sons, Oliver and Henry.