The US government omnibus spending bill includes several proposals for controversial copyright-based laws, including the felony streaming proposal.
Protocol reports the US omnibus spending bill also includes three controversial copyright-based laws- the CASE Act, the Trademark Modernization Act and a felony streaming proposal. The omnibus bill combines multiple proposals that affect the spending of the US government in the coming year, and must be passed due to the risk of a government shutdown.
While originally intending to be finalized by December 11th, that deadline was extended to December 18th. Major issues in the bill being discussed include the defense budget, President Trump’s border wall, and COVID-19 related funds. A common criticism of the omnibus is controversial laws being included in a “must pass” bill.
The CASE Act (as we previously reported) also known as the Copyright Alternative in Small-Claims Enforcement Act of 2019 would create a small claims court for copyright infringement. The bill has been criticized by some, fearing it will result in prosecution of people simply creating orsharing memes, creating parodies, reviews, and other forms of transformative works.
Democratic Senator Ron Wyden also told Protocol his concerns over the Act being abused by copyright trolls. “Passing the CASE Act without reforms will unleash a host of lawsuits against innocent internet users and restrict their ability to defend themselves against trolls. […] It is tremendously disappointing that powerful lobbying groups may be close to attaching this flawed legislation to a must-pass spending bill without commonsense changes to protect Americans from predatory copyright trolls.”
Meanwhile, the Trademark Modernization Act would (in IPWatchDog’s words) “restore the rebuttable presumption of irreparable harm when a trademark violation has been proven.” While intended to prevent fraudulent trademark claims and filings from China, some fear it would benefit those who trademark without intending to use it, only to spring it upon those who unwittingly violate it later (trademark trolls).
The final is the felony streaming proposal. As the name implies, it would grant the Department of Justice permission to charge those who stream copywritten content with a felony; typically reserved for murder, rape, grand theft, kidnapping, and tax evasion.
Those guilty of a felony in the US lose the right to vote, to certain licences, cannot possess a gun, and are ineligible for government assistance or welfare. Due to the nature of the crime could include listening to music uploaded to YouTube, many are concerned the punishment far outweighs the crime.
Protocol reports that 18 organizations from tech trade, advocacy groups, and library associations- including the Internet Association, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, and American Library Association- have objected to the proposed laws in a joint letter.
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