Copyright Stakeholders Expect Serious Debate at Commerce Department Meeting in December
Many copyright stakeholders said they expect a contentious public meeting Dec. 12 to discuss comments filed earlier this month on the Commerce Department’s green paper. It said it considered a “new framework for addressing online privacy issues” to balance consumer protections with the interests of rights holders on the Internet (http://1.usa.gov/h454cu). Many of the consumer copyright advocates we spoke with expressed disagreement with rightsholders, especially over statutory damages against copyright infringers. How the first-sale doctrine should be applied digitally, where to improve the notice-and-takedown provision of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act and whether the federal government can assist in the development of a “robust online licensing environment” (http://1.usa.gov/1iQ1GWh) were among questions Commerce asked copyright stakeholders to address in the response to its August green paper (CD Aug 1 p12).
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Stakeholders said they expect this round to move at a snail’s pace, with competing interests entrenched on both sides. Most copyright stakeholders “aren’t used to compromise,” said Tim Greene, a resident fellow at Stanford Law School’s Center for Internet and Society (CIS), who helped draft comments by CIS and the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) (http://bit.ly/1aWsvDN). “User centric groups have a much better seat at the table” thanks to the defeat of the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and PROTECT IP Act (PIPA), he said.
Copyright stakeholders are in an “information gathering stage” to decide how best to adapt copyright law to the digital age, said David Sohn, Center for Democracy & Technology general counsel. The sense among some advocates is that copyright law “has gone pretty far in providing protections to holders,” he said. Exorbitant statutory damages can harm “good-faith behavior,” he said.
Some rightsholders feel differently. “We're adherents to compulsory statutory licenses,” said Rich Bengloff, American Association of Independent Music president. Statutory licenses need “some bite” if they are going to have an effect and “even the playing field,” he said.
The Motion Picture Association of America’s “focus is on working with all stakeholders in the Internet ecosystem to develop voluntary initiatives to protect creative works online,” said a spokeswoman. “We are very engaged in this process and look forward to continuing this discussion.” Almost 100 people have registered for Commerce’s meeting, said Hollis Robinson, training program specialist at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, which is co-hosting the event.
The meeting should “amplify” the comments on the green paper and provide an outlet to find “common ground” among copyright stakeholders, said Mitch Stoltz, EFF staff attorney. He doesn’t believe groups such as MPAA and the Recording Industry Association of America have “abandoned the notion of a law that would allow them to shut down websites that they want shut down -- whether that law looks like SOPA/PIPA or not,” said Stoltz.