Re:Create Recap – January 25, 2018

Don’t Be Fooled By Hollywood’s Latest Fiction. In yet another attempt to push heavy-handed enforcement measures, Hollywood and members of the entertainment industry are calling for more stringent copyright enforcement. “The gatekeepers of the entertainment industry claim to represent ‘creators’ yet they routinely ignore the interests of millions of bloggers, podcasters, internet video stars and Etsy artisans who rely on balanced copyright provisions to utilize online platforms,” Re:Create Executive Director Josh Lamel told Consumer Electronics Daily. “Fair use and safe harbors are essential parts of the American intellectual property framework and actually make IP stronger. If NAFTA covers intellectual property, fair use and safe harbors must be explicitly included.”

Correcting The “Balance” In Copyright. Open Media’s Ruth Coustick-Deal penned a blog post explaining how large, wealthy companies use copyright as a legal and financial weapon. “Copyright law is not enforced equally or fairly: its powers are most easily given to those who already have wealth and status, and its enforcement is disproportionately punitive towards individuals,” wrote Coustick-Deal. Big brands take advantage of the imbalance in the current copyright system to profit from the public domain and artistic expressions like slang while aggressively enforcing infringement against smaller entities.

Q&A With The Fandom Community. The Organization for Transformative Works profiled Re:Create Executive Director Josh Lamel on how fans can become better advocates for new creators. Lamel explained how there are “significant personal stories that not enough people are telling here in DC” about the fan community. “We’re living in a period of history with so much creativity, so many diverse voices — all recognizing technology’s value in bringing art, music, commentary, news, photography and so many other forms of freedom of expression to billions of people across the world,” he concluded.

Safe Harbors: Protecting Digital Age Library Stacks. In a recent Copyright Week blog post, the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) explained that the elimination of safe harbor provisions would jeopardize libraries and the services they offer to the public. IFLA noted that libraries often create sharing sites to encourage the creation of content among users and organize online collaboration between academic institutions. “Should libraries be responsible for accidental infringements?…To remove [safe harbors] would create either unbearable risk, or lead to the restriction or ending of Internet access and use in our institutions. At a time that the Web is becoming ever more indispensable for access to information, this would be a disaster,” wrote IFLA.

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