December 22, 2020
AAP COMMENTS ON DMCA REFORM DISCUSSION DRAFT LEGISLATION FROM SENATOR THOM TILLIS
Today Senator Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Intellectual Property Subcommittee, released the Digital Copyright Act of 2021, his much anticipated discussion draft of legislation to modernize and reform the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). Below is a comment from Maria A. Pallante, President and CEO of the Association of American Publishers (AAP), on the draft legislation:
“On behalf of the publishing industry, we thank Chairman Tillis for his purposeful efforts to evaluate and improve the DMCA framework by conducting a year-long series of hearings and releasing a discussion draft today aimed at possible legislative reforms. The DMCA has a tremendous impact on everyone who drives and benefits from the whirl of modern commerce—from copyright owners to online services providers to consumers and users of creative content.”
“Regrettably, the once-innovative DMCA safe harbor system is now deeply damaged and no longer separates lawful copyright transactions from egregious online infringement. Rather, the safe harbors provide broad and unwarranted immunity to bad faith actors—some of whom monetize piracy—unfairly burdening copyright owners to locate and identify infringements and, worst of all, to engage in an interminable game of whack-a-mole that provides little, if any, relief from the pervasive violation of their rights. This is not a small problem, it is a crisis, and it was thoroughly documented by the U.S. Copyright Office in a 250-page report on its comprehensive five-year study of the DMCA’s safe harbor framework, released in May of this year.”
“In releasing the discussion draft, Chairman Tillis has taken an important step forward in addressing a serious problem. We look forward to working together with Chairman Tillis and Members of the Senate and House Judiciary Committees as this legislative dialogue progresses.”
A link to the draft legislation can be found here.
# # #