Submission + - Lessig and Internet Archive Launched Petition to Amend Copyright Extension Bill (actionsprout.io)
EqualCitizens.US writes: Equal Citizens.US, a democracy reform group founded by Harvard Law Professor Lawrence Lessig, partnered with Internet Archive to launch a petition calling on the Senate Judiciary Committee to fix the CLASSICS Act. The petition calls for a simple amendment requiring artists and rights holders to register for the proposed copyright extension.
The petition opposes the copyright extension in the CLASSICS Act in its current form, which grants blanket copyright protection to all audio works created before 1972, as it would effectively remove many works, including some popular audio documentaries, podcasts, etc., from the public arena. In a letter addressed to the Senate Judiciary Committee , a coalition led by Lessig argues that registration requirement would limit the Act’s impact, allowing Congress to protect artists and modernize copyright laws without negatively impacting public access to culture:
“Registration as a condition of extended protection would narrow the field of affected work substantially, and give anyone desiring to use a protected work a clear indication of the rights holder. For work not registered, the law could expressly allow that work to pass into the public domain, giving archives and individuals a clear opportunity to preserve and share that work.”
This petition is part of a larger continued effort by a coalition of internet freedom and democracy reform groups to oppose the copyright extension in the CLASSICS Act. Last month, 42 prominent intellectual property scholars signed a letter expressing similar concerns with the copyright extension in the CLASSICS Act, and urging the Senate Judiciary Committee to reject the Act as written currently.
The petition opposes the copyright extension in the CLASSICS Act in its current form, which grants blanket copyright protection to all audio works created before 1972, as it would effectively remove many works, including some popular audio documentaries, podcasts, etc., from the public arena. In a letter addressed to the Senate Judiciary Committee , a coalition led by Lessig argues that registration requirement would limit the Act’s impact, allowing Congress to protect artists and modernize copyright laws without negatively impacting public access to culture:
“Registration as a condition of extended protection would narrow the field of affected work substantially, and give anyone desiring to use a protected work a clear indication of the rights holder. For work not registered, the law could expressly allow that work to pass into the public domain, giving archives and individuals a clear opportunity to preserve and share that work.”
This petition is part of a larger continued effort by a coalition of internet freedom and democracy reform groups to oppose the copyright extension in the CLASSICS Act. Last month, 42 prominent intellectual property scholars signed a letter expressing similar concerns with the copyright extension in the CLASSICS Act, and urging the Senate Judiciary Committee to reject the Act as written currently.
