Brussels – The European Commission has asked for public input on several copyright issues from whether people can take pictures of monuments and where they can share those photos to role of publishers in the copyright value chain. The Computer & Communications Industry Association will analyze this further, but appreciates the European Commission offering this consultation and its willingness to…

Re:Create Hosts SXSW Panel On Future Of Copyright. The Re:Create Coalition convened a panel of policy experts at this year’s South by Southwest (SXSW) Interactive in Austin last Friday, March 11. A crowd of tech experts, entrepreneurs and coalition allies listened to panelists–composed of a fanworks leader, social justice advocate, futurist and veteran reporter–debate topics of discussion such as increased…

It seems clear enough that copyright law ought not prevent users from programming a digital device that they own outright. We at R Street have said this before about tractors and in our recent filing with the Copyright Office, we got the chance to say it about digital toasters, too. The fact is, lots of things we buy these days…

Re:Create Kicks Off “Day In the Life” Infographic Series. To coincide with the start of South By Southwest (SXSW), the Re:Create Coalition launched a fair use infographic series starting with the “Fair Use at SXSW” infographic. It helps explain how the average festival attendee interacts with copyright law — and uses protected material fairly — throughout the day. Activities highlighted…

You may not know it, but you would likely be violating copyright law every day and subject to hefty fines if it wasn’t for a legal doctrine called fair use.  We recognize that as important as fair use is, it is a complicated principle that needs help explaining.  So, Re:Create is launching a series of “day in the life” infographics…

The Copyright Office is off to a busy 2016, as are those who file comments in Copyright Office proceedings. A few weeks after the first round of comments in its Senate-requested inquiry into software-enabled consumer products, and just a few weeks before taking comments on the Digital Millennium Copyright Act’s (DMCA) notice-and-takedown regime, the Office accepted its first round of…

Every year, tens of thousands of people swarm to Austin, Texas for SxSW – one of the biggest annual gatherings of technologists, activists and entrepreneurs in the country. Here at R Street, we think this is a great opportunity to promote free-market ideas and interact with the broader policy community and its stakeholders. But the landscape of events can be…

  Today, Public Knowledge filed an amicus curiae brief in Perfect 10 v. Giganews before the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The Electronic Frontier Foundation, the American Library Association, the Association of College and Research Libraries, and the Association of Research Libraries joined Public Knowledge in this brief arguing that online services are not directly liable for any potential…

As we’ve covered in recent months here at the R Street Institute, the U.S. Justice Department is in the midst of its review (and possible modification) of the agreements (called “consent decrees”) that govern the operation of the nation’s two leading performance rights organizations (PROs). These groups – the American Society of Composers and Publishers (ASCAP) and Broadcast Music Inc….

Re:Create Calls For Balanced Copyright Law In USTR Report. The United States Trade Representative (USTR) hosted a public hearing on March 1 to take comments from interested parties for its upcoming 301 report, which highlights countries whose intellectual property laws and policies can create problems for US companies doing business in those countries. In the Medium blog post, USTR Report…