This year has been difficult for every individual and company in the country. During a global pandemic, which has caused widespread economic damage and uncertainty, startups are struggling—struggling to find funding, struggling to navigate existing government relief programs, and struggling to maintain jobs and operations (let alone sustain growth). And across the country, people are looking to Washington for support…

On October 7, 2020, the Supreme Court will hold oral argument in Google v. Oracle, potentially one of the most consequential copyright cases in decades. This post will explain the complex facts and issues before the Court. For further background on the case, see here. What is the case all about? We’ll start with what the case is not about….

When TikTok selected Oracle as its technology partner in response to President Trump’s executive order that the Chinese firm ByteDance divest its control of TikTok’s U.S. operations, there was widespread speculation in the press that the choice was motivated by the support Oracle’s Chairman and CEO have provided to President Trump. It was assumed that TikTok and Oracle hoped that…

Section 1201 Hearing. During a U.S. Senate Intellectual Property Subcommittee hearing on Section 1201 of the DMCA, Blake Reid from the University of Colorado Law School addressed the “substantial” need for reforms to Section 1201. In his prepared statement, Prof. Reid wrote: “Section 1201’s scope has crept like a fast-growing weed over the past two decades, transforming what Congress intended…

Startup Internet platforms operating in the European Union may soon face complex and expensive rules to avoid liability when their users are accused of copyright infringement. This week Engine submitted comments to the European Commission arguing for fair, balanced, and proportional implementation of the recent copyright policy directive known as Article 17. In our comments, we urged the Commission and…

During the Article 17 (formerly #Article13) discussions about the availability of copyright-protected works online, we fought hand-in-hand with European civil society to avoid all communications being subjected to interception and arbitrary censorship by automated upload filters. However, by turning tech companies and online services operators into copyright police, the final version of the EU Copyright Directive failed to live up…

Next Register Of Copyrights Must Be Accountable To American Consumers. With the next Register of Copyrights likely announced soon, Re:Create’s Joshua Lamel penned a column calling for the next Register to assume the Office with accountability to ALL stakeholders in the copyright system. The announcement “provides a historic opportunity to rebalance priorities and truly recenter the American public as the…

The CASE Act Won’t Solve DMCA Abuse Problems Supporters of the problematic CASE Act like to argue that the CASE Act will cure many problems that it won’t solve. Abuse of the DMCA silences critics and censors free speech, but the CASE Act will do absolutely nothing to address these problems. Here are just some of the reasons why the…

“With the next Register of Copyrights likely being announced soon, Re:Create reiterates our call that the next Register assume the Office with accountability to ALL stakeholders in the copyright system, including American consumers and new creators,” said Josh Lamel, executive director of Re:Create. “The Copyright Office has made encouraging progress in recent years to modernize its capabilities for the 21st…

As this year continues, with the ongoing need for precautions and changes to operations due to the Coronavirus, many major events have shifted from in-person to virtual. The most recent of these significant events to follow this pattern are the Democratic and Republican National Conventions, which were held last week and this week respectively. Even without the physical, in-person aspect…