Wyden-Clarke Bill Will Remove IP Barriers To Patient Care During COVID-19 Pandemic. Following the introduction of the Critical Medical Infrastructure Right-to-Repair Act of 2020 introduced by Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Rep. Yvette D. Clarke (D-NY), Re:Create Executive Director Joshua Lamel issued the following statement of support: “We must do all that we can to support health care providers and give them the medical equipment and resources they need to safely care for patients suffering from COVID-19. While our current copyright laws recognize right-to-repair exemptions, Senator Wyden’s bill allows for emergency repairs to life-saving devices at a critical time. By removing legal barriers that hinder swift fixes to medical equipment, health care providers won’t lose time when it comes to saving lives.”
Fair Uses Are A Pervasive Aspect Of Copyright Law. The Electronic Frontier Foundation posted a blog capturing the impactful arguments made during the recent Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Intellectual Property hearing on the DMCA and fair use. The blog highlights a quote from testimony delivered by Sherwin Siy, lead public policy manager for the Wikimedia Foundation: “That fair uses aren’t rare exceptions to the exclusive rights of copyright law but a pervasive, constantly operating aspect of the law. Fair use not only promotes journalism, criticism, and education, it also ensures that our everyday activities aren’t constantly infringing copyrights. Especially now that so much of our lives are conducted on camera and online.”
Library Of Congress Annual Book Festival Goes Virtual On 20th Anniversary. The annual Library of Congress National Book Festival will commemorate its 20th anniversary this year with a virtual celebration. A blog that takes a look back at key festival milestones over the years notes that this change, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, will have the benefit of “further increasing accessibility by truly making this a national festival that anyone can attend.”
Burning Man 2020 Goes Online. The famous art festival, typically held in the Nevada desert, will look a bit different this year. Thanks to modern technology Burning Man’s 2020 week-long festival will be held entirely online. CNET reports that there will be “interactive virtual universes full of theme camps, art projects, art tours, and live performances; a virtual temple; and a version of the climactic big burn.”
Record Labels Want Twitch Users To Pay For Music. The emergence of Twitch as a platform for streaming music since the pandemic began has caused record labels to take notice. In June, Twitch streamer Ryann Weller received a copyright claim from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for a 30-second clip of a song that was played on one of his livestreams back in 2018. According to a CNN Business report, RIAA sent out 1,817 copyright notices to Twitch users just in the month of June. Prior to the dramatic increase this summer, RIAA had only sent 710 notices to Twitch users since the association first began sending them in 2017. This is a perfect example of the DMCA successfully working to address copyright infringement.
Get To Know The Organization for Transformative Works. Re:Create’s Get to Know Our Members blog series recently heard from the Organization for Transformative Works, which was established by fans to provide access to and preserve the history of fanworks and fan culture. In the blog, the organization’s legal chair Betsy Rosenblatt says that broadly applicable DMCA safe harbors that discourage invalid takedowns and encourage fair use are crucial to the new generation of user-creators.