US Congress has announced its first policy proposals on copyright law, starting with a reform of the United States Copyright Office (USCO).
The proposal was unveiled on December 8 by House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Virginia) and Ranking Member John Conyers, Jr. (D-Michigan). In a joint video statement, the two Congressmen said this was the first step in a series of proposals aimed at modernising the US copyright system. They said that they “intend to periodically release policy proposals on select, individual issue areas within the larger copyright system that are in need of reform where there is a potential for consensus.”
This first proposal, contained in a document titled “Reform of the U.S. Copyright Office”, identifies “important reforms to help ensure the Copyright Office keeps pace in the digital age,” according to a joint statement by the House Judiciary Committee.
Stakeholders welcomed the news that copyright reform was entering a new phase, following two years during which the Judiciary Committee reviewed all aspects of US copyright law. Keith Kupferschmid, CEO of public interest organisation Copyright Alliance, which regroups copyright holders, told Music Week that the decision from Congressmen Goodlatte and Conyers to start the copyright reform process with the Copyright Office was a positive step. “We are very happy with the proposal,” said Kupferschmid who has been advocating for a long time for a reform of the USCO.
The current Copyright Office is under the wing of the Library of Congress, without autonomous budgets and IT infrastructure and the Register of Copyrights is appointed by the Librarian of Congress. A crisis arose in October when the new Librarian of Congress, Dr. Carla Hayden, removed Register of Copyrights Maria Pallante from her office and reassigned her to other tasks within the Library. Subsequently Pallante resigned, amid much criticism and worries from the creative industries.
The proposed reform includes:
- Maintaining the Copyright Office Structure as part of the Legislative Branch to provide independent and timely advice to Congress on copyright law and policy.
- Establishing to Copyright Office as an entity having autonomy over its budget and technology needs. [It is not specified whether or not the USCO will continue to be hosted by the Library of Congress.]
- Having the Register subject to the same nomination and consent process as other senior government officials. The next Register and all that follow should be subject to a nomination and consent process, most likely with an appointment by the President of the United States and a vetting by the Senate.
- Capping the term of employment of the Register to a 10-year term limit, subject to potential re-nomination.
- Adding to the Copyright Office several new positions to advise the Register including a Chief Economist, Chief Technologist, and a Deputy Register.
- Creating permanent and ad-hoc advisory committees that would provide information regarding changes in the marketplace and proposals for policies to the Copyright Office. Members of these committees should reflect a wide range of views and interests.
- Rolling out a plan to modernise the USCO, following the recent recommendations from the Office itself which proposed an IT modernisation plan with an estimated cost of $165 million over five years. The Committee “urges the quickest rollout possible” of this plan.
- Establishing a database of registered works available to the public and allowing copyright owners to include additional metadata, such as standardised identifiers, for a fee.
- Hosting within the USCO a small claims system that should handle low value infringement cases as well as bad faith Section 512 notices.
The Committee will now take written comments from interested stakeholders until January 31, 2017 and which will be made publicly available after the comment period closes.
“The proposal reflects our concerns about the Office's autonomy, its budget, staffing and IT, and that the Register be nominated by the President and confirmed by Congress,” said the Copyright Alliance's Kupferschmid. “We are pleased that this is the first proposal out of the gate and we hope that this can proceed to the legislative process pretty quickly. This is an issue that has support from all stakeholders. Copyright issues can be divisive, but this issue has significant support amongst lot of different stakeholders and could move quickly.”
A more dissenting voice came from advocacy group Public Knowledge, which published earlier this year a very critical – and much criticised report – about the Copyright Office. The organisation's General Counsel Ryan Clough said: “Like any other government agency the Copyright Office needs rigorous accountability and oversight. It is unclear whether the current proposal would eliminate all supervision by the Librarian of Congress, making the Copyright Office a free-floating regulatory agency housed within the legislative branch.”
Former Copyright Office General Counsel and Associate Register of Copyrights Jacqueline C. Charlesworth told Music Week: "I am grateful for the time and effort that Chairman Goodlatte, Ranking Member Conyers and other Members of the House Judiciary Committee have devoted over the past several years to the challenging task of reviewing and modernising our nation's copyright law. It is very exciting to see the first fruits of these labours – especially the prospect of providing the Copyright Office the autonomy and resources it needs to function effectively in today's world.”
Labels body the RIAA also welcomed the announcement. In a statement, RIAA Chairman & CEO Cary Sherman said, This is a welcome first step by the leadership of the House Judiciary Committee. We agree that modernising the Copyright Office should be a key priority of the next Congress. This immediate focus of the committee is timely because it affords the House and Senate – which have now both said that reform of the Copyright Office is critical – an opportunity to weigh in on the structure and leadership of that office.”
Sherman also appreciated that it was only the “start of this process” by the Judiciary Committee. He added, “More than ever, music is fundamentally undervalued, with broken, outdated laws threatening the entire music community and distorting the marketplace.”
Goodlatte and Conyers said that other issues will be tackled in due time. They said: “Nothing should be read into the fact that we are only releasing a policy proposal on one topic today. This is just the beginning of this stage of the copyright review, and we intend to release policy proposals on music licensing issues and other individual issue areas in time.”
