New Fair Use Bill in Congress
Does Boucher’s measure have a chance this time?
By Andrew Albanese -- Library Journal, 4/1/2007
Congressional Rep. (and LJ 2006 Politician of the Year [LJ 9/15/06, p. 26–27]) Rick Boucher (D-VA), along with John Doolittle (R-CA) and Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), has introduced the Freedom and Innovation Revitalizing U.S. Entrepreneurship (FAIR USE) Act of 2007, legislation designed to protect the fair use rights of users of digital media.
The bill would also give libraries the explicit right to circumvent technological protections for the purpose of preservation of works in their collection. It’s the second attempt to enact legislation on behalf of the rights of users. Boucher, who has been an outspoken critic of the 1998 Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), said he was determined to see sweeping provisions of that legislation—passed with the heavy support of motion picture studios, the recording industry, and publishers—redressed.
Among its aims, the legislation proposes to codify specific exemptions to section 1201 of the DMCA, which prohibits breaking encryption to access content, even for applications qualified as fair use, including the exemptions recently approved by the Librarian of Congress that allow consumers to “circumvent” digital locks in six areas. The bill also would limit statutory damages against individuals and firms that may be found to have engaged in infringement.
