Court Confirms Georgia’s Laws Not Protected By Copyright. On October 19, a federal appeals court ruled that annotations of Georgia’s legal code are “intrinsically public domain material” and cannot be copyrighted. The Associated Press explained the case’s background after the state of Georgia sued an internet nonprofit for allowing online access to Georgia’s laws to people for free. “The resulting…

Re:Create Op-Ed: Trade Deals Should Better Serve Public Interest. With the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) trade deal falling short of fully guaranteeing fair use, Re:Create Executive Director Joshua Lamel called for the USTR to place a higher priority on reflecting America’s legal standards in a Morning Consult op-ed. “Negotiations can take on an almost-transactional nature as USTR focuses on business rather…

By Joshua Lamel, Executive Director of the Re:Create Coalition For many in the United States, a renegotiated North American Free Trade Agreement makes a lot of sense. The original agreement, dating back to the Clinton administration, was a predecessor to the emergence of the digital economy. The negotiations presented both hopeful opportunity and risks for various stakeholders, including internet companies,…

President Signs Marrakesh Treaty Into Law. On Wednesday, President Trump signed into law the Marrakesh Treaty Implementation Act. The signing took place five years after the international copyright community adopted the treaty, which will facilitate access to published works for persons who are blind, visually impaired or otherwise print disabled, according to a Library of Congress blog. Following passage of…

Libraries: Keep Copyright Office In Library Of Congress. An article in American Libraries Magazine from Alan S. Inouye urged libraries and librarians to contact their representative and oppose S. 1010, which would remove the Copyright Office from the Library of Congress. American Libraries Association (ALA) copyright counsel Jonathan Band was a witness at last week’s hearing, where he stated that…

**SPECIAL EDITION** Important copyright policy debates took place on Capitol Hill this week as the Senate Rules Committee held a hearing on the Register of Copyrights Selection and Accountability Act (S.1010) and the House Judiciary Committee took up the CASE Act (H.R. 3945). Members of the Re:Create Coalition, including several who delivered testimony at the two hearings, along with other…

Music Modernization Act Viewed As Improvement Over Earlier Version. Following Senate passage of the Music Modernization Act on September 19, multiple organizations weighed in welcoming the bill and its “substantial revisions” to support the public domain. Public Knowledge noted that previous versions of the bill would have prevented pre-1923 recordings from entering the public domain until 2067 and credited Senator…

New Copyright Directive Approved By EU Will Be “Catastrophic.” In a story on the set of new controversial copyright laws approved by the European Parliament on September 12, The Verge quoted critics who have attacked the bill provisions as “catastrophic” and “disastrous.” Specifically, the “link tax” (Article 11) provision of the bill will give publishers and papers a way to…

ICYMI: Time To Get Fair Use Right In Trade Deal. Following the U.S.-Mexico trade agreement announced this week, Re:Create Executive Director Joshua Lamel urged the inclusion of critical fair use provisions as negotiations continue with Canada. “Though the new trade agreement does make progress in modernizing copyright issues, we are concerned it may not include fair use language. At best…

Time To Get Fair Use Right In Trade Deal. Following the U.S.-Mexico trade agreement announced this week, Re:Create Executive Director Joshua Lamel urged for the inclusion of critical fair use provisions as negotiations continue with Canada. “Though the new trade agreement does make progress in modernizing copyright issues, we are concerned it may not include fair use language. At best this…