Every three years, people try to patch a poorly crafted copyright law Share
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Analysis Right-to-repair advocates are arguing with the US government over what legal powers people have to fix or upgrade their own kit without paying manufacturers.
On June 22, 2020, the US Copyright Office put out a call for petitions to renew existing exemptions to the copyright law that prohibits bypassing the digital locks that control access to software and hardware, and to propose new exemptions.
The law, Section 1201 of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) of 1998, makes it illegal to undo so-called technical protection measures controlling access to copyrighted works and products, irrespective of the purpose of that circumvention. It forbids, for example, decrypting a DVD that contains a copyrighted motion picture – an operation that amounts to illegal math.
A proposed law in the US could see the streaming of copyrighted material become a felony offense, potentially leading to a prison sentence.
According to Protocol, the bill currently being explored includes the Copyright Alternative in Small-Claims Enforcement Act (which would see a new avenue for copyright owners to file infringement claims), the Trademark Modernization Act (which reinforces sanctions in case of trademark violation) and a felony streaming proposal.
The latter could have an important impact on content creators in the games industry. The proposal essentially draws a parallel between the rise of streaming and the rise of piracy.
It argues that illegal streaming is an offense against the right of public performance and wants the same level of felony penalties to be applied to such a violation compared to reproduction and distribution violations.
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There aren’t enough game consoles in the world for our upcoming locked-down holiday. Good luck finding a PS5 for Christmas. As Nintendo similarly struggles to keep up with demand, the number of people searching iFixit for Switch repair guides has more than tripled since last year. Traffic to our Joy-Con controller repair page started growing dramatically on March 14 the day after President Trump declared a national emergency. It’s been surging ever since. At a time when so many of us are turning to games for fun, stress relief, and social connection, it is imperative for our collective sanity that we press every game console into service.
What New Mechanical Licensing Collective Means For Indie Songwriters
The MLC – or Mechanical Licensing Collective – is a new U.S.-based organization tasked with administering mechanical licenses for digital audio. So what does this mean for songwriters and their royalties, and do they still need have traditional publishers?
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What the new Mechanical Licensing Collective means for songwriters
In official music biz terms, the MLC is a new U.S.-based Mechanical Rights Organization (MRO) designated by the U.S. Copyright Office to issue and administer the digital audio mechanical blanket license in accordance with the Music Modernization Act to DSPs in the United States.