DMCA Needs Revision, Not Intended as 'Game of Whac-A-Mole,' MPAA's Fried Says

MPAA Senior Vice President-Government and Regulatory Affairs Neil Fried took issue with Internet Association CEO Michael Beckerman's Medium opinion piece last week that warned against legislative proposals that would revamp the existing safe harbor provisions and notice-and-takedown framework in Digital Millennium Copyright Act Section 512 (see 1606230029). The current DMCA language places too much of the burden for identifying copyright infringement on content creators while putting little onus on online service providers like YouTube, Fried said in a blog post. “Congress did not intend the DMCA to create a relentless game of Whac-A-Mole,” he said. “But that's what we're left with, because technology companies are not truly collaborating.” The best way for Beckerman to accomplish his goal of forestalling legislative changes to DMCA is for tech firms “to work together with creators, rather than just offering more of the same,” Fried said Sunday. He said MPAA's Where to Watch search engine directs viewers to fully legal online sources for movies and TV shows “since other search engines continue to direct audiences to unlawful sites.” If tech firms “would engage voluntarily and collaboratively with the creative community on solutions that work for everyone, we might be able to meet Congress's objectives for the DMCA without having to change the law,” Fried said. IA didn't comment.