Copyright legislation explained at last?

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: "sbaker () steptoe com" <sbaker () steptoe com>
Date: October 21, 2004 9:36:45 AM EDT
To: "'dave () farber net'" <dave () farber net>
Cc: "Albertazzie, Sally" <SAlbertazzie () steptoe com>
Subject: Copyright legislation explained at last?

From Steptoe & Johnson's E-Commerce Law Week, Issue 323:
 
Maybe It's the Republicans Who Sing Versus the Ones Who Don't . . .

Where do Republicans stand on the question of expanded intellectual 
property liability? Though the party dominates all three branches of 
government, it's getting harder and harder to tell what Republicans 
really think about aggressive enforcement of the laws that make Barbra 
Streisand and Aaron Spelling rich. On the one hand, the Justice 
Department, led by conservative John Ashcroft, has just written a 
report on IP policy that goes deep into the tank for Hollywood, while 
Majority Leader Frist and Judiciary Chairman Hatch joined their 
Democratic counterparts in proposing S. 2560, yet another expansion of 
third-party liability for IP violations. (Both Ashcroft and Hatch are 
known for their singing and their songwriting, while Frist's home state 
includes Nashville. Perhaps there's a pattern there?) On the other 
hand, the legislation that all these Republicans joined to endorse 
ended up being stalled, probably fatally, by a coalition of business 
interests and the American Conservative Union, at the same time that 
the Supreme Court refused to hear the RIAA's appeal of a decision over 
file-sharing subpoenas. The singing might explain everything, if 
Justice Scalia weren't such a notorious opera buff.

For more on the singing Republican conspiracy, see 
http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/ashpic1.html and 
http://www.orrinhatchmusic.com/default.aspx.

To subscribe to E-Commerce Law Week, click here.

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