CO Suggests Congress Should Refine, Not Replace DMCA

Refining the Digital Millennium Copyright Act might be better than scrapping the statute and starting from scratch, the Copyright Office wrote Sens. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., and Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., Monday. Tillis and Leahy asked May 29 how CO would design a modern anti-piracy framework starting from scratch (see 2006090063). The Senate Intellectual Property Subcommittee, which Tillis chairs, plans to release draft legislation in December for updating the DMCA. The original balance of this law between platforms and rights holders has shifted, acting Register of Copyrights Maria Strong wrote, citing complaints from rights holders about the burden they shoulder in flagging content. Strong noted tech industry stakeholders are largely satisfied with how the act is working. Altering the framework could have significant impacts on operations and business models of platforms with a disproportionate impact on small businesses and startups, Strong wrote: “This fact may caution in favor of refining the current system, rather than starting from scratch. There may also be practical reasons to refine the current system rather than scrap notice-and-takedown entirely, including international obligations and the adoption of similar systems by a number of our trading partners.”