President Signs Marrakesh Treaty Into Law. On Wednesday, President Trump signed into law the Marrakesh Treaty Implementation Act. The signing took place five years after the international copyright community adopted the treaty, which will facilitate access to published works for persons who are blind, visually impaired or otherwise print disabled, according to a Library of Congress blog. Following passage of…

Libraries: Keep Copyright Office In Library Of Congress. An article in American Libraries Magazine from Alan S. Inouye urged libraries and librarians to contact their representative and oppose S. 1010, which would remove the Copyright Office from the Library of Congress. American Libraries Association (ALA) copyright counsel Jonathan Band was a witness at last week’s hearing, where he stated that…

**SPECIAL EDITION** Important copyright policy debates took place on Capitol Hill this week as the Senate Rules Committee held a hearing on the Register of Copyrights Selection and Accountability Act (S.1010) and the House Judiciary Committee took up the CASE Act (H.R. 3945). Members of the Re:Create Coalition, including several who delivered testimony at the two hearings, along with other…

Music Modernization Act Viewed As Improvement Over Earlier Version. Following Senate passage of the Music Modernization Act on September 19, multiple organizations weighed in welcoming the bill and its “substantial revisions” to support the public domain. Public Knowledge noted that previous versions of the bill would have prevented pre-1923 recordings from entering the public domain until 2067 and credited Senator…

New Copyright Directive Approved By EU Will Be “Catastrophic.” In a story on the set of new controversial copyright laws approved by the European Parliament on September 12, The Verge quoted critics who have attacked the bill provisions as “catastrophic” and “disastrous.” Specifically, the “link tax” (Article 11) provision of the bill will give publishers and papers a way to…

ICYMI: Time To Get Fair Use Right In Trade Deal. Following the U.S.-Mexico trade agreement announced this week, Re:Create Executive Director Joshua Lamel urged the inclusion of critical fair use provisions as negotiations continue with Canada. “Though the new trade agreement does make progress in modernizing copyright issues, we are concerned it may not include fair use language. At best…

Time To Get Fair Use Right In Trade Deal. Following the U.S.-Mexico trade agreement announced this week, Re:Create Executive Director Joshua Lamel urged for the inclusion of critical fair use provisions as negotiations continue with Canada. “Though the new trade agreement does make progress in modernizing copyright issues, we are concerned it may not include fair use language. At best this…

New Copy This Podcast With FreedomWorks’ Wayne Brough. In the 13th episode of Re:Create’s Copy This podcast, host Kirby Ferguson spoke with FreedomWorks Chief Economist Wayne Brough to help break down the complex and evolving relationship between conservatives and copyright law in the digital age. Tune in to learn more about how the internet is forcing new conversations about copyright…

Brussels — The European Commission published today it’s “Progress Report towards an effective and genuine Security Union”. This report includes the first reporting following the publication in March of the Recommendation on measures to effectively tackle illegal content online. The Computer & Communications Industry Association shares the Commission’s goal of fighting illegal content online and welcomes its acknowledgment that progress…

Brussels — The Legal Affairs Committee of the European Parliament today adopted its report on the copyright proposal. MEPs adopted upload filters for online platforms and narrowly voted to introduce a publishers’ right, the so-called “link tax”.  The report is expected to be up for discussion at the European Parliament plenary session, likely in early July. Hundreds of academics, civil…