House Judiciary Committee Leaders Offer Plan To Reform Copyright Office

Reform Proposal

House Judiciary Committee Chairman BOB GOODLATTE (R-VA) and Ranking Member JOHN CONYERS (D-MI) released a proposal for reform of the U.S. Copyright Office TODAY (12/8).

Saying that "The 20th Century statutory framework for the U.S. Copyright Office is not sufficient to meet the needs of a modern 21st Century copyright system" and calling for "a significant investment of funds and changes to how the Office operates are required," the plan includes keeping the Office in the Legislative Branch but changing the appointment of the Register to a nomination and consent process and imposing a 10-year term limit subject to potential renomination.  Advisory committees would be established on both permanent and ad-hoc bases with term limits for members; the proposal also endorses the Office's $165 million, three-year IT modernization plan and proposes a small claims system to handle "low value infringement cases as well as bad faith Section 512 notices."

NAB President and CEO GORDON SMITH said, “NAB appreciates the work of Chairman GOODLATTE and Ranking Member CONYERS in taking this important step forward in the Judiciary Committee's review of the copyright law. As proposals from leadership in both the House and Senate Judiciary Committees recognize, a modern Copyright Office is essential to the ability of copyright owners and users to effectively serve consumers in today's digital marketplace. NAB looks forward to working with members on both sides of the aisle to continue to address this consensus issue next Congress.”

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