The Verge: On March 23rd, Reps. Bob Goodlatte and John Conyers introduced a controversial bipartisan bill with over 100 years of history behind it, though you wouldn’t know it from its boring name and seemingly boring topic. It’s called the Register of Copyrights Selection and Accountability Act of 2017 — the key part is that it makes the Register of Copyright a political position appointed by the President and approved by the Senate. That’s in contrast to the current state of affairs, which has been in existence since the creation of the Copyright Office in 1897.
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1 comment:
What an odd topic. Congress getting involved in the film industry seems like two things that don’t mesh well together. I actually really love this original Copyright Act:” Spofford realized that by housing the copyright registration function within the library, it would mean that everyone wishing to obtain a copyright would have to send a deposit copy, and the library’s collection would magically grow. The Copyright Act of 1870 made this arrangement the law.” Seems like a great way to make sure one than one copy of a film is preserved. So many older films are lost to time since there was only one copy, and it was usually stored improperly, or was filmed on a degenerative film. I see that the invention of the internet decidedly throws a wrench into this process. Since the internet allows for data and ideas to be transferred instantaneously, it’s harder to keep a handle on your copyright when it can be lost quickly.
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