The COVID-19 pandemic upended life in March 2020. Almost everything was forced online to stop the spread of the novel coronavirus, and libraries were not exempted. When the pandemic hit, many libraries were forced to get creative on how to safely interact with their patrons. Libraries had started to invest in enabling online access to books and other materials before…

On September 27, Re:Create joined a number of organizations in urging President Biden to include copyright in the WTO TRIPS waiver for COVID-19. The waiver should not be limited to patents for vaccines; copyright applies to the algorithms in mRNA vaccines and the software in medical equipment. Re:Create previously praised the Biden-Harris Administration when Trade Representative Katherine Tai announced U.S….

The annual Library of Congress National Book Festival kicks off this week with the theme “Open a Book, Open the World.’ In line with the theme, this year’s event features a story map that features books from across the globe. The festival’s broad integration of social media also tells the story of how important the Library of Congress, home to…

The giant record labels, their association, and their lobbyists have succeeded in getting a number of members of the U.S. House of Representatives to pressure Twitter to pay money it does not owe, to labels who have no claim to it, against the interests of its users. This is a playbook we’ve seen before, and it seems to work almost…

Today, President Biden issued an “Executive Order on Promoting Competition in the American Economy.” Among other provisions, the order aims to address anticompetitive terms imposed by manufacturers that restrict third-party repair or self-repair of consumer goods that are powered by software. The order encourages the chair of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to consider undertaking a rulemaking on “unfair anticompetitive…

Public Knowledge believes it’s vitally important to protect Americans’ access to trustworthy sources of news. Some of our team can quote from memory the numbers related to news deserts and laid-off reporters in this country. And we are advocating on multiple fronts for policies to sustainably fund newsgathering, mitigate the impact of disinformation on digital platforms, and protect the democratic benefit of a thriving free press. We have a particular…

I’m perplexed by the District Court’s recent ruling in Apple Inc. v. Corellium, LLC that highlights an interesting tension in copyright law. A company can still violate copyright law even if a court has already found that it’s not infringing any copyright. Here’s how: Section 1201 of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act makes it illegal to circumvent digital locks that protect copyrighted material….

In a win for libraries and their users, Maryland is the first in the nation to enact a state law ensuring that libraries can license e-books and audiobooks under the same terms available to consumers. The new law (Maryland House Bill 518) requires that publishers offer reasonable terms to public libraries when negotiating licenses for digital content. As the president of the Maryland Library…

Spotify Provides New Access To Music For Podcasts. Reggie Ugwu with The New York Times featured the “Black Girl Songbook” podcast to demonstrate the benefits of an innovative new music arrangement between Spotify and podcasters. The arrangement gives podcast publishers access to full songs in the platform’s music catalogue, which are difficult and expensive to attain on their own. “Unlike…

Biden Administration Supports IP Waiver To Help Fight COVID. U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai announced this week the Biden Administration’s support for waiving IP protections for COVID-19 vaccines. Citing the goal of getting “as many safe and effective vaccines to as many people as fast as possible,” Tai’s announcement stated: “This is a global health crisis, and the extraordinary circumstances…