Washington — Senator Thom Tillis, R-NC, has introduced a discussion draft of a controversial copyright bill that reads like a Christmas wish list for Hollywood and big content companies, and takes cues from contentious copyright reforms in Europe. Among other sweeping changes to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), the bill increases the role of federal agencies in regulating copyright, gives greater power to copyright holders to file small claims suits and also adds rules and penalties impacting how internet companies take down copyright infringement online. The Computer & Communications Industry Association looks forward to working with Senator Tillis’ office to address our serious substantive concerns.
CCIA represents tech companies that are both rightsholders and benefit from the liability protections. Many CCIA members are highly successful content creators and benefit from copyright protection, in addition to limitations and exceptions like Section 512 of the DMCA.
The following can be attributed to CCIA President Matt Schruers:
“Industry works to provide new tools for greater compensation for creators and lawful alternatives for consumers. Unfortunately this discussion draft would not benefit individual creators and would impose notice and staydown provisions that are not just too severe but unconstitutional.”
“The U.S. leads the world in the technology and content sectors, in large part due to flexible regulatory proposals like the DMCA that have encouraged innovation and creativity online. We should not be abandoning important U.S. copyright precedent and contemplating controversial copyright proposals from the European Union.”