Changes To DMCA Would Hurt Consumers The Most. In a National Journal report on Senator Tillis’ efforts to change the DMCA, Re:Create Executive Director Joshua Lamel warns how American consumers will be hurt the most. “There needs to be a recognition that if they’re going to do something like notice-and-staydown or mandatory filtering, what they’re really doing is making it much…

GitHub recently reinstated the repository for youtube-dl, a popular free software tool for downloading videos from YouTube and other user-uploaded video platforms. GitHub had taken down the repository last month after the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) abused the Digital Millennium Copyright Act’s notice-and-takedown procedure to pressure GitHub to remove it. By shoehorning DMCA 1201 into the notice-and-takedown process, RIAA potentially…

Library Of Congress Celebrates 20 Years Of Veterans History Project. The Library of Congress celebrated the 20th anniversary of its Veterans History Project this week with a series of virtual concerts and panel discussions. Started by Congress in 2000, the Veterans History Project was created to compile stories and recollections from U.S. war veterans and make them accessible to the…

On October 20, Twitch streamers woke up to find that thousands of their videos had been permanently, and without advance notice, wiped from the platform. Not only did Twitch blatantly violate the law (leaving it vulnerable to user lawsuits), the incident also shows how the Digital Millennium Copyright Act fails utterly at protecting individual speech […]

After the world went into lockdown for COVID-19, Makers were suddenly confined to their workshops. Rather than idly wait it out, many of them decided to put their tools and skills to use, developing low-cost, rapid production methods for much-needed PPE and DIY ventilators in an effort to address the worldwide shortage. It might sound outlandish to think that hobbyists and…

Get To Know Our Members: American Library Association. This week, Re:Create featured a Q&A with Carrie Russell, director of public policy and advocacy at the American Library Association (ALA). Read here to learn why balanced copyright policies are so important to the libraries, librarians and the people who use them. Online Dance Group Keeps Seniors Connected During COVID. While COVID-19 precautions…

ALA Blog Re:Create has launched a blog series, Get to Know Our Members, to help others better understand the type of work Re:Create members do and why they are so motivated by copyright issues. For this post, we heard from Carrie Russell, director of public policy and advocacy at the American Library Association. 1: What is your organization’s mission? Our…

Two Million Creators Making Six-Figures. Forbes covered a new report by investment firm SignalFire that found globally, there are over 50 million people who consider themselves online creators, with two million of them earning six-figure salaries on YouTube, Instagram, Twitch and other platforms. These numbers are significant considering the majority of content on these platforms is created by individuals and…

Copyright Law Should Not Be Used As A Weapon To Limit Interoperability. In a Wall Street Journal op-ed in advance of the Google v. Oracle Supreme Court oral arguments, Google’s Kent Walker and Microsoft’s Brad Smith made a strong case in support of software interoperability and argued why companies should not be able to use copyright law as a weapon…

The Big Story: Congress must keep startups in mind while reviewing the DMCA. The House Judiciary Committee held a hearing this week about § 512 of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (“DMCA”)—a critical area of the law for startups which provides a balanced and certain framework for addressing allegations of online copyright infringement. As we have explained, if Congress were to consider any revisions, it is…