Are lawyers the driving force behind artistic freedom? Astonishingly, that’s the impression you get when you read the Copyright Alliance’s account of a recent panel on music copyright hosted at George Mason University. To be clear, they note the importance of creators, in the sense that: Intellectual property drives economic and artistic freedom, thereby supporting a professional class of musicians…

Today the Copia Institute released a report entitled The Carrot or the Stick? Innovation vs. Anti-Piracy Enforcement.  The idea of evaluating carrots, or incentives, versus sticks, meaning penalties, in the context of IP enforcement is a subject frequently explored here at DisCo  [1] [2] [3].  In general, government policies tend to focus on sticks to the exclusion of carrots, even…

Next Librarian Of Congress Pivotal For Copyright Reform. After Librarian of Congress James Billington stepped down on September 30, Max Lewontin with The Christian Science Monitor highlights the tech industry’s interests in a modernized Library of Congress and U.S. Copyright Office in the Oct. 5 article: Why Silicon Valley Cares So Much About Who Will Lead the Library of Congress….

Why Silicon Valley cares so much about who will lead the Library of Congress  After years of debate over the Library of Congress’ failure to adapt to changing digital technology, the resignation of its longest-serving Librarian represents a new opportunity to move into the digital age. By Max Lewontin, Staff writer OCTOBER 5, 2015 Hector Emanuel/For The Christian Science Monitor…

A problem: On July 17, the Environmental Protection Agency advised the Copyright Office against granting temporary exemptions to the copyright laws prohibiting the circumvention of the technological protection measures (TPMs) designed to prevent access to vehicles’ embedded software.  The agency warned that, without the TPM’s and the prohibition of their circumvention under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), car owners…

Re:Create Coalition Urges Congress To Modernize Copyright Office. As the head of the Library of Congress – the agency that houses the U.S. Copyright office – stepped down after 28 years, Re:Create members are calling for reforms to modernize the office. In a letter to U.S. House Judiciary Committee members, the coalition writes: “The diverse groups signing onto this letter…

A coalition of technology groups is cautioning Congress against spinning off the Copyright Office into an independent agency, saying a strong case hasn’t been made. The Re:Create coalition on Wednesday said no one has put forward a convincing explanation that the office’s current technological deficiencies would be corrected if it left its current home in the Library of Congress. “The…

On September 30, 2015, the Re:Create Coalition released a letter supporting modernization of the Copyright Office while opposing the establishment of the Copyright Office as an independent agency (as suggested in a discussion draft bill by Representatives Chu (D-CA) and Marino (R-PA)).  It points out that while some have claimed that consensus exists to make the Copyright Office an independent…

Today, the re:Create Coalition, of which the Center for Democracy & Technology is a member, sent a letter to Congress regarding Copyright Office modernization. As the letter notes, while we all share the goal of helping the Office meet the administrative and policy challenges of a digital age, there are diverse views of how to accomplish that goal. In CDT’s view,…

Dear Member of Congress, We write today to discuss Copyright Office modernization, an important issue with serious implications for all Americans. We represent all parts of the “information ecosystem”—creators, innovators, users—and, consequently, are dedicated to safeguarding freedom of expression and the vibrant public domain from which it draws and to which it contributes. Collectively, the members of Re:Create operate over…