US lawmakers plan sweeping review of copyright

April 25, 2013

A key U.S. lawmaker has unveiled plans for a comprehensive review of the laws surrounding copyright in the United States to determine whether they are still relevant in the digital age. Bob Goodlatte, a Virginia Republican and chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, said Wednesday that his committee will begin its review in the coming months. When the review is finished, the committee could propose revisions to the current copyright law to help it better apply to an era where almost every citizen has become a publisher. “There is little doubt that our copyright system faces new challenges today,” he said, according to a transcript of remarks delivered at the Library of Congress. “The Internet has enabled copyright owners to make available their works to consumers around the world, but has also enabled others to do so without any compensation for copyright owners.” America’s copyright laws have been occasionally updated to accommodate new technologies since the first Copyright Act was passed into law in 1790. But the quick pace of technological change has meant the current law, enacted in 1976, fails to directly address copyright and how it applies to technologies that are commonplace today. To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

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