The Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property, and the
Internet of the House Judiciary Committee has announced two
upcoming hearings on copyright, to continue the “House Judiciary Committee’s
ongoing review of U.S. copyright law.” The first will be on Thursday,
July 25, entitled “Innovation
in America: The Role of Copyrights.” The date of the second has not
been announced yet, but the announcement says it will also be held before the
upcoming August recess.
Chairman Goodlatte and Subcommittee Chairman
Coble also released a statement
announcing the hearing, which suggests that the second hearing will be on
technology, to complement the first hearing on copyright: “The copyright
and technology sectors are core parts of our nation’s economy. They are
the job-creating engine that can help rebuild our economy. Over the next
several weeks, the Courts, Intellectual Property, and the Internet Subcommittee
will hold two hearings that will focus on the important role that both the
copyright and technology industries play in our nation. We look forward to
hearing from all of the witnesses.”
There have already been two hearings on copyright during the
113th Congress: March 20’s “The
Register's Call for Updates to U.S. Copyright Law” with the Register of
Copyrights Maria Pallante, and May 16’s “A Case
Study for Consensus Building: The Copyright Principles Project” with
several law professors, a former General Counsel of the Copyright Office, and
an Assistant General Counsel from Microsoft.
As I pointed
out recently on DisCo, there has been a growing consensus in the government
around the importance of balanced copyright policy. Congress should
consider this balance as it reviews the effectiveness of our copyright laws.
