Published
Tue, Dec 22, 2020, 23:49
- The new bill, passed this week, makes it a felony to operate an illegal streaming platform.
The latest US Covid-19 relief package includes a bill aimed at illegal streaming platforms.
The relief package, voted through this week and awaiting the President's signature, contains a number of bills unrelated to Covid-19. As Pitchfork reports, one such bill is North Carolina Republican Senator Thom Tillis's Protecting Lawful Streaming Act, which aims to punish those who run illegal streaming platforms or streaming platforms that violate copyright law. The new law makes it a felony offense to operate an illegal streaming platform, with a maximum prison sentence of ten years. Individual users will not be targeted or prosecuted.
"The shift toward streaming content online has resulted in criminal streaming services illegally distributing copyrighted material that costs the U.S. economy nearly $30 billion every year, and discourages the production of creative content that Americans enjoy," Tillis has claimed.
This bill is part of a larger effort to reform copyright law in the US from Tillis, who is the current Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Intellectual Property. Today, he released a draft of a bill called The Digital Copyright Act Of 2021 (DCA) that aims to replace the landmark DMCA (Digital Millennium Copyright Act) that currently governs digital copyright.
Among the measures proposed in the DCA are lowering the standards for copyright claims (which would no longer have to be as specific for rightsholders claiming violations, such as illegally uploaded videos or songs), moving the Copyright Office from the Library Of Congress to the Department of Congress, appointing a Register of Copyrights (chosen by the President) and allowing the federal government to create standards for copyright protection that service providers must adhere to.
The DCA bill is currently a discussion draft, and anyone affected by the proposals or involved in the creative industry is invited to contribute their opinion before March 5th. You can find more information on the proposed bill here.
The Covid-19 relief bill, passed by Congress yesterday, also notably includes $15 billion in federal aid for venues, theaters and other institutions as part of the Save Our Stages act.