Uh oh, here we go again. Just this past January, I wrote an op-ed about copyleftprofessors using the American Law Institute (ALI) to underhandedly slip some copyleft crib notes to federal judges. The project paused and I thought ALI would put an end to it. But they are back after waiting many months to wage an attack when opponents least expect it.
You see, last week songwriters, recording artists, producers, publishers, performing rights societies, digital service providers, and record labels all gathered together in Washington D.C. to celebrate the passage of the Music Modernization Act (MMA). Congress passed the MMA unanimously and the President signed it on October 11. I spent five long years helping to get this legislation passed, but I was happy to join other music creator advocates pounding the pavement on Capitol Hill, drafting and reviewing comment papers, gathering stakeholders together to talk through issues, analyzing and remarking on the various stages of the legislation, and banging away on our phones, email, and social media to assemble an online music army to fight for songwriters' and music creators' rights.
It was hard work and we still have a lot of work to do to implement the law, but this is how it should be done in a democracy.
Unfortunately, not everyone plays by the rules. For years, big technology companies have been lobbying Congress to roll back copyright protections so it's easier for them to profit off creative works without including songwriters, artists, or other copyright holders (or getting their consent). They've bought and paid for copyleft academics to testify before Congress and speak at conferences espousing an "anything goes" view of copyright. As a matter of fact, they tried to stop the Music Modernization Act several times and fought to kill critical reforms in Europe. But they've been losing out -- because in a democracy, coin-operated "experts" are no match for real engagement from people who really care, like songwriters and other creators and copyright holders.
But having lost in their bid to change the rules, these same tech giants have now moved on to trying to buy the refs – a backroom sneak attack that would stack the deck even further against creators trying to protect their rights.
I'd bet very few artists, musicians, or songwriters have heard of the American Law Institute or its new "Copyright Restatement" project. The ALI is a group of prominent lawyers and judges who write influential summaries of the law called "Restatements." These Restatements are used as cheat sheets or "Cliff's Notes" by judges, scholars and lawmakers who need to understand the law. The ALI's projects are trusted and admired for playing it straight and have always been known for their neutrality, clarity and precision.
But not this time. The copyright project is being led by some of the most notoriously anti- creator copyleft irritators, many with financial ties to big tech companies – with a goal of tilting the playing field and producing a very biased Copyright Restatement that shortchanges songwriters, artists, and the copyright holders. The Copyright Office of the United States, the non-partisan lead copyright adviser to Congress, has called the ALI's project an effort "to create a pseudo-version of the Copyright Act that does not mirror the law precisely as Congress enacted it."
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