Niskanen Center Joins Re:Create Coalition
In Support of Balanced Copyright
WASHINGTON – The Re:Create Coalition, a diverse coalition of trade associations, nonprofits, advocacy groups, and think tanks advocating for balanced copyright, announced today that the Niskanen Center has joined as its newest member.
The Niskanen Center works to promote an open society that welcomes political, cultural, and social change. Based on the belief that innovation and technological progress are driving forces for economic growth, it supports a regulatory environment that fully accounts for the risks and benefits of emerging technologies that are a critical wellspring for the engines of economic growth.
“The expansion of our nation’s copyright laws and the capture of copyright policy have allowed for large media gatekeepers to limit opportunities for new creators and innovators that are becoming an increasingly significant part of our economy,” said Re:Create Executive Director Joshua Lamel. “We need to make sure copyright policies are viewed through the lens of whether they serve the purpose of promoting creativity as originally intended by the Constitution. The Niskanen Center’s work on the captured economy elevates these issues and will strengthen our work to engage and inform policymakers.”
“Our original copyright system was designed to promote creativity by creating a system that would provide only those protections necessary to bring creative works into the world. Now, we have a system that keeps ideas beyond the reach of those who wish to contribute to the artistic landscape while enriching those who hold the rights to them,” said Brink Lindsey, Vice President for Policy at Niskanen and co-author of The Captured Economy: How the Powerful Enrich Themselves, Slow Down Growth, and Increase Inequality. “Niskanen is eager to be a part of the Re:Create Coalition to promote fair and balanced copyright laws as a way to help free the captured economy from policy constraints that are hindering innovation, economic growth, and free expression.”
The following groups are also members of the Re:Create Coalition: American Association of Law Libraries, American Library Association, Association of Research Libraries, Center for Democracy & Technology, Computer and Communications Industry Association, Consumer Electronics Association, Electronic Frontier Foundation, Engine, FreedomWorks Foundation, Media Democracy Fund, New America’s Open Technology Institute, Organization for Transformative Works, Public Knowledge, R Street Institute and the Medical Library Association.