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Hollywood fighting
copyright change
Oct. 03, 2002
By Craig Linder
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WASHINGTON
-- The motion picture industry fought back Wednesday against
legislation it said would essentially undo copyright
provisions written into the controversial Digital Millennium
Copyright Act.
The bill,
introduced Wednesday by Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., would
allow consumers to make their own copies of such digital
entertainment as movies, music and books.
"Enhancing consumer rights and technology
development are the key to copyright protection," Lofgren said
in a statement.
The measure also
would allow consumers who have purchased a digital work to
sell or give away their copy of that work in the same way that
they would be able to barter, sell or trade traditional
copies.
Lofgren was spurred to
introduce the measure because she said entertainment industry
proposals to restrict the way content can be used has shifted
the balance of power in copyright law away from consumers and
toward the firms that hold those copyrights.
"We need innovative technologies to help the
consumer stay within the limits of the law and to protect the
rights of copyright holders," she said. "Silicon Valley is
poised to work with consumers and the entertainment industry
to create the needed balance for the digital world."
But entertainment industry
representatives said a provision of her bill that would allow
consumers to circumvent technologies designed to prevent
piracy would essentially gut the protections afforded to
copyright holders under the DMCA.
"This legislation effectively repeals the
anti-circumvention provisions of the Digital Millennium
Copyright Act," MPAA chief Jack Valenti said in a statement.
"It would deny content owners the ability to protect their
works by technological means."
Lofgren is a member of the House Judiciary
Committee and sits on the House subcommittee that oversees
intellectual property and copyright law. She also represents
Silicon Valley, home to many of the technology companies that
have chafed at the DMCA's anti-circumvention restrictions.
With its introduction coming just 10
days before Congress is slated to adjourn for the year, it is
unlikely that Lofgren's measure will be able to gain approval
from both the House and Senate. Lawmakers, however, often use
bill introductions late in the congressional session as a way
to build momentum for legislation they hope to see acted upon
in the next Congress, which begins in January.
Even with the short timetable
remaining for action on the Lofgren measure, industry
lobbyists are taking it seriously. Valenti said its enactment
could force copyright holders into a "choice of protecting
their valuable works by not making them available in digital
formats or losing all control over unauthorized reproduction
and distribution."
Craig
Linder is a reporter for States News Service.
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