The Re:Create Coalition, which advocates for "a balanced copyright system" and claims to be supporting "a pro-innovation, pro-creator, and pro-consumer copyright agenda," has sent a letter to members of US Congress urging them to "promote equitable copyright policy for every sector of society" in the next two years.
"Copyright law and its impact on speech, content creation and dissemination have a large influence on all of us. Attempts to increase the protections provided by US copyright law may serve an important purpose, but in doing so we must remain mindful that a heavy-handed approach will only stifle free speech, creativity and the economy writ large. The US government should seek the appropriate balance in copyright law to unlock the full potential of all people’s innovative and creative spirit," reads the letter.
Policy points highlighted by the coalition include:
> DMCA:
For Re:Create, the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998 has balance mechanisms in place that are "largely working" although "ever since the DMCA passed in 1998, the entertainment industries have been trying to get rid of its balancing provisions." With regards to Section 512 of the DMCA, which introduced a notice and takedown regime for handling allegations of infringement online, the coalition recommends that the DMCA’s regime should "largely be left alone, although there is a need to strengthen the penalties for abusive and fraudulent notices, and to make it easier to file counter-notices on non-infringing content."
On DMCA's Section 1201, which deals with the use of digital rights management (DRM) software and the rules around it, the coalition recommends to amend it "to include a nexus requirement that the reason for breaking DRM is for an infringing use of the underlying copyrighted material," as contained in a proposed legislation previously introduced by Senator Wyden and Rep. Lofgren.
> Fair use:
Noting that fair use "is an essential part of our copyright system" and is "enshrined" into the US Code as Section 107 of the Copyright Act, the coalition wrote that fair use is "the yin to copyright enforcement’s yang, coexisting with each other, incentivising creativity and innovation." It added: "Our recommendations around fair use are to ensure it is serving its purpose and allow it to flourish. As the US embarks on exporting our copyright policy through trade agreements, we need to make sure that balancing provisions like fair use and Section 512 are also included, as otherwise we are exporting the yin without the yang."
> Creativity:
Stating that "we are all creators in today’s society, and copyright law should encourage this creativity," the coalition warned of "gatekeepers [that] have seen their gates crashed, and want to try to use copyright law to put the gates back up." It added: "They want stricter rules around copyright enforcement to increase their profits at the expense of creativity as a whole. This is not copyright’s purpose, and efforts to do this should be stopped. This is another reason why we support the balancing provisions of Section 512 of the DMCA and fair use. Copyright should empower creativity, not block it."
> CASE Act:
While a small claims copyright court "is a good idea," the coalition believes that the CASE Act, which was passed by Congress at the end of 2020 as part of a larger Appropriation Bill, is "unconstitutional, unworkable and needs to be fixed."
> Access to digital content for schools and libraries:
The coalition believes it is time "to modernise our laws to allow schools and libraries to succeed in a digital environment" in particular by allowing schools and libraries to "be able to lend to students and patrons in order to fulfill their purpose in society." Schools and libraries should be "granted the opportunity to access digital copies without onerous restrictions and make them available to students and patrons in an accessible manner."
> Internet access:
Under current copyright law, writes the coalition, internet access providers are "encouraged to work with copyright holders on creating procedures that eventually lead to kicking someone off the internet based on allegations of copyright infringement." As a result, copyright law "should be amended to ensure that no one loses access to the internet based on allegations of copyright infringement."
> Public domain:
The coalition stated that "a vibrant public domain is a core component of creativity and knowledge" and that "thanks to the public domain" the works of Mozart "are free to play," 'Alice in Wonderland' "can be adapted into a movie" and today’s libraries can "digitise and preserve their rare books collections."
"Understanding that a cultural commons is vital to future creativity, we support a vibrant public domain and copyright term should not be extended," it reads. "We encourage you to take due care as you approach that work to ensure that the current explosion of creative and innovative energy unleashed by technology continues to drive every aspect of American society and industry forward," concludes the letter.
Re:Create Coalition's membership includes the Electronic Frontier Foundation, the American Library Association, Public Knowledge and the Consumer Technology Association, among others.
"Copyright law and its impact on speech, content creation and dissemination have a large influence on all of us. Attempts to increase the protections provided by US copyright law may serve an important purpose, but in doing so we must remain mindful that a heavy-handed approach will only stifle free speech, creativity and the economy writ large. The US government should seek the appropriate balance in copyright law to unlock the full potential of all people’s innovative and creative spirit," reads the letter.
Policy points highlighted by the coalition include:
> DMCA:
For Re:Create, the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998 has balance mechanisms in place that are "largely working" although "ever since the DMCA passed in 1998, the entertainment industries have been trying to get rid of its balancing provisions." With regards to Section 512 of the DMCA, which introduced a notice and takedown regime for handling allegations of infringement online, the coalition recommends that the DMCA’s regime should "largely be left alone, although there is a need to strengthen the penalties for abusive and fraudulent notices, and to make it easier to file counter-notices on non-infringing content."
On DMCA's Section 1201, which deals with the use of digital rights management (DRM) software and the rules around it, the coalition recommends to amend it "to include a nexus requirement that the reason for breaking DRM is for an infringing use of the underlying copyrighted material," as contained in a proposed legislation previously introduced by Senator Wyden and Rep. Lofgren.
> Fair use:
Noting that fair use "is an essential part of our copyright system" and is "enshrined" into the US Code as Section 107 of the Copyright Act, the coalition wrote that fair use is "the yin to copyright enforcement’s yang, coexisting with each other, incentivising creativity and innovation." It added: "Our recommendations around fair use are to ensure it is serving its purpose and allow it to flourish. As the US embarks on exporting our copyright policy through trade agreements, we need to make sure that balancing provisions like fair use and Section 512 are also included, as otherwise we are exporting the yin without the yang."
> Creativity:
Stating that "we are all creators in today’s society, and copyright law should encourage this creativity," the coalition warned of "gatekeepers [that] have seen their gates crashed, and want to try to use copyright law to put the gates back up." It added: "They want stricter rules around copyright enforcement to increase their profits at the expense of creativity as a whole. This is not copyright’s purpose, and efforts to do this should be stopped. This is another reason why we support the balancing provisions of Section 512 of the DMCA and fair use. Copyright should empower creativity, not block it."
> CASE Act:
While a small claims copyright court "is a good idea," the coalition believes that the CASE Act, which was passed by Congress at the end of 2020 as part of a larger Appropriation Bill, is "unconstitutional, unworkable and needs to be fixed."
Writes the coalition: "We urge Congress to reconsider the current law and adjust it to prevent entrapping your constituents in $30,000 quasi-lawsuits. The easiest fix would be to make participating in a CASE Act tribunal an opt-in process and to remove the right to seek statutorily directed damages as opposed to actual damages. Right now, the legislation only gives a short time period to opt-out of a CASE Act tribunal. Additionally, no matter what the actual harm is, it could put someone on the hook for $15,000 in damages for a single infringement and $30,000 for two."
> Access to digital content for schools and libraries:
The coalition believes it is time "to modernise our laws to allow schools and libraries to succeed in a digital environment" in particular by allowing schools and libraries to "be able to lend to students and patrons in order to fulfill their purpose in society." Schools and libraries should be "granted the opportunity to access digital copies without onerous restrictions and make them available to students and patrons in an accessible manner."
> Internet access:
Under current copyright law, writes the coalition, internet access providers are "encouraged to work with copyright holders on creating procedures that eventually lead to kicking someone off the internet based on allegations of copyright infringement." As a result, copyright law "should be amended to ensure that no one loses access to the internet based on allegations of copyright infringement."
> Public domain:
The coalition stated that "a vibrant public domain is a core component of creativity and knowledge" and that "thanks to the public domain" the works of Mozart "are free to play," 'Alice in Wonderland' "can be adapted into a movie" and today’s libraries can "digitise and preserve their rare books collections."
"Understanding that a cultural commons is vital to future creativity, we support a vibrant public domain and copyright term should not be extended," it reads. "We encourage you to take due care as you approach that work to ensure that the current explosion of creative and innovative energy unleashed by technology continues to drive every aspect of American society and industry forward," concludes the letter.
Re:Create Coalition's membership includes the Electronic Frontier Foundation, the American Library Association, Public Knowledge and the Consumer Technology Association, among others.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.