With reports that there could be a renegotiated NAFTA agreement in the next several weeks, below is Re:Create’s recap of resources to help readers better understand how balanced copyright will help keep America winning online.
Public Interest Groups And Tech Organizations Urge Balanced Copyright System In NAFTA. A compilation of letters from various public interest groups and tech organizations to U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer demonstrates the importance of preserving existing copyright laws in the agreement, including fair use and safe harbors. In its letter, the Center for Democracy and Technology wrote, “Preserving a balance between protection and use of copyrighted works is fundamental to our freedom of expression and plays a critical role in the United States’ thriving success in the internet economy.”
Re:Create Letter To USTR Fact Checks Misleading Claims By Music Industry. In a separate letter to U.S. Trade Representative Lighthizer, the Re:Create Coalition called out the misleading claims by the RIAA and other music industry representatives in their efforts to block safe harbors from the agreement. The letter states, “By seeking to remove DMCA 512 from U.S.-led trade agreements, RIAA is encouraging other countries to tinker with their industrial policy frameworks to increase regulation, liability, and outright blockage of U.S. services. This will harm not just the tech industry and U.S. creators, but also a wide range of traditional U.S. businesses and small and medium-sized businesses that leverage U.S. platforms to export to a global audience.”
CCIA Study: Fair Use Industries Employ 1 In 8 American Workers. In its 2017 study on the impact of fair use on the U.S. economy, the Computer & Communications Industry Association (CCIA) found that fair use industries (including educational institutions, consumer device manufacturers, software developers and internet search/host providers) comprised one-sixth of the American economy in 2014, contributing $2.8 trillion to the GDP and employing 1 in 8 U.S. workers.
Re:Create Op-ed: Don’t Believe The Hollywood Narrative On Copyright In NAFTA. Re:Create Executive Director Joshua Lamel’s op-ed in The Hill lays out concerns with the entertainment industry’s misinformation campaign during the NAFTA negotiations. Lamel writes, “Hollywood and friends want plenty of penalties and other provisions about enforcement of their rights in the agreement, but nothing at all about two essential limits on their monopoly copyright powers that literally have made the United States’ internet economy possible and the envy of the world.”