Peter Loge
03-04-2008, 04:18 AM
A bill strengthening copyright protection, called the PRO-IP Act, was introduced in the House in December. Yesterday the Copyright Alliance, of which Vin Di Bona Productions is a member and on whose Board I serve, sent a letter to the Hill urging the legislation not be weakened.
A copy of the letter is here:
http://www.copyrightalliance.org/files/u6/Copyright_Alliance_Letter_on_HR-1201.pdf
Details on bill are here, via the National Journal's CongressDaily AM
JUDICIARY
Group Urges Rejection Of Possible Amendments On IP
A trade group representing AT&T, Microsoft, NBC Universal, News Corp., Time Warner and more than 40 other firms that support legislation to bolster intellectual property protection Monday urged sponsors of a House bill to reject possible amendments they claim would dilute copyright law and in some instances eliminate rights of content creators.
...
The Copyright Alliance is worried that Reps. Rick Boucher, D-Va., and Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., might push for language to loosen the Digital Millennium Copyright Act's anti-circumvention provisions. Boucher introduced a standalone bill to make those changes one year ago and in previous sessions of Congress.
...
As introduced, the bill would boost civil and criminal penalties for infringers; create an executive-level office to oversee domestic and global copyright and trademark coordination, and establish a permanent IP division within the Justice Department.
Existing law provides for penalties of up to $30,000 for each nonwillful violation and up to $150,000 per willful violation, and critics have argued that the legislation would wrongly triple or quadruple damages. That provision has to come out, one source said. "The bill can't move with it."
Some stakeholders have concerns with sections that would require mandatory forfeiture of all property related to the commission of copyright infringement and require that works be registered before a criminal copyright action could commence. The Bush administration has criticized the proposed Justice Department reorganization.
...
By Andrew Noyes
A copy of the letter is here:
http://www.copyrightalliance.org/files/u6/Copyright_Alliance_Letter_on_HR-1201.pdf
Details on bill are here, via the National Journal's CongressDaily AM
JUDICIARY
Group Urges Rejection Of Possible Amendments On IP
A trade group representing AT&T, Microsoft, NBC Universal, News Corp., Time Warner and more than 40 other firms that support legislation to bolster intellectual property protection Monday urged sponsors of a House bill to reject possible amendments they claim would dilute copyright law and in some instances eliminate rights of content creators.
...
The Copyright Alliance is worried that Reps. Rick Boucher, D-Va., and Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., might push for language to loosen the Digital Millennium Copyright Act's anti-circumvention provisions. Boucher introduced a standalone bill to make those changes one year ago and in previous sessions of Congress.
...
As introduced, the bill would boost civil and criminal penalties for infringers; create an executive-level office to oversee domestic and global copyright and trademark coordination, and establish a permanent IP division within the Justice Department.
Existing law provides for penalties of up to $30,000 for each nonwillful violation and up to $150,000 per willful violation, and critics have argued that the legislation would wrongly triple or quadruple damages. That provision has to come out, one source said. "The bill can't move with it."
Some stakeholders have concerns with sections that would require mandatory forfeiture of all property related to the commission of copyright infringement and require that works be registered before a criminal copyright action could commence. The Bush administration has criticized the proposed Justice Department reorganization.
...
By Andrew Noyes