Representatives Judy Chu (D-CA) and Tom Marino (R-PA) have introduced the Copyright Office for the Digital Economy Act (CODE Act), which calls for better legislation on the role of the Copyright Office in the digital age.
The Association of American Publishers (AAP) and the American Library Association (ALA) have differing opinions on what the bill means to the publishing industry. The AAP supports the discussion draft saying that the draft takes a “critical first step towards crafting legislation to equip the Copyright Office with the tools and authority necessary to realize the full potential of copyright and creativity in the digital age.” ALA president Courtney Young, on the other hand, thinks that the legislation “does little to address significant technology challenges impacting the U.S. Copyright Office.”
“The bill’s proposal to make the Copyright Office an independent agency does not address the longstanding problems facing the agency, specifically that the Copyright Office’s information technology systems are woefully inadequate in serving both rights holders and the public in the digital environment,” Young wrote in a statement. “Much of the Copyright Office’s shortcomings were detailed in a Government Accountability Office report published in March 2015. Instead of independent authority, the Copyright Office needs resources—both in the form of funding and technical expertise—to bring it out of the typewriter age.”
The ALA is urging the U.S. Congress to support investment in a digital transformation.