US Lays Out Process For Public Input To Copyright Policy Reform

The United States Patent and Trademark Office has helped to outline the process for public comments and participation in the ongoing reform to the US copyright system. The focal point for discussion is a “green” paper issued in July, on which a hearing is scheduled for 30 October. [Update: the hearing has been rescheduled for 12 December due to the government shutdown, see here.]

A 4 October blog by USPTO Chief Policy Officer and Director for International Affairs Shira Perlmutter describes the process.

She said input being solicited “on copyright policy and innovation as outlined in the recent U.S. Department of Commerce Internet Policy Task Force (IPTF) green paper titled Copyright Policy, Creativity, and Innovation in the Digital Economy and on this blog. You may have learned from a USPTO press release or a Federal Register Notice from the USPTO and the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) of an IPTF public meeting that—barring a need to reschedule due to the current government shutdown—we’re holding on October 30th.”

Perlmutter added: “As explained in the Federal Register Notice, we are particularly seeking comments on five specific topics raised in the green paper: (1) establishing a multistakeholder dialogue on improving the operation of the notice and takedown system for removing infringing content from the Internet under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA); (2) the legal framework for the creation of remixes; (3) the relevance and scope of the first sale doctrine in the digital environment; (4) the application of statutory damages in the contexts of individual file sharers and of secondary liability for large-scale infringement; and (5) the appropriate role for the government, if any, to help improve the online licensing environment, including access to comprehensive databases of rights information.”

Early comments have been requested by 15 October, but, she said, “Anyone can still participate in the meeting even if they don’t submit comments by October 15th. The actual deadline for comment submission is two weeks after the meeting, on November 13th.”