Digital Piracy: House bill
would weaken copyright law

In the days of cassette tapes, the recording industry simply

didn’t expend many resources to track down high school

students who made copies of a popular song for their friends.

Technology, however, has made piracy exceedingly easy, and

that’s why the motion picture and music recording industries

are so incensed by a bill pending in a U.S. House committee. The

bill would legalize the limited, noncommercial reproduction of

copyright material from CDs and DVDs.

Congressional backers Rep. Rick Boucher, a Virginia Democrat, and

Rep. John Doolittle, a California Republican, contend the bill

balances the strict protections of copyright law with consumer

rights.

Instead of buying a second copy of a favorite movie, customers

could legally circumvent anti-copying technologies to make a copy

for their own personal use. The congressmen insist the bill

doesn’t weaken copyright protections because existing

copyright law allows the limited noncommercial, personal use of

certain material without liability.

But as the movie and music recording industries point out, this is

a very slippery slope. While it might be convenient for someone to

make a second copy of “Spider-Man 2’’ for a

friend, technology and the proposed change in copyright law would

make it far more difficult to police illegal copies. Movie

companies and artists have a right to reap the benefits of their

creative labors, and this proposed change amounts to legally

sanctioned mass piracy.

And there are other impacts. The bill would undermine the incentive

for other nations to protect intellectual property rights of U.S.

companies. It’s hard to argue for strong property rights

protection overseas when those same rights aren’t protected

in the United States.

There always will be tension between new technologies and the

rights of individuals to use copyright materials. But the rights of

individuals to use copyright material must be moderated with common

sense and fairness.

This measure tilts too far the wrong way and should be scrapped.

It’s not a win for consumers; it’s a road map for

piracy.

Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service

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