Department of Commerce's Internet Policy Task Force Releases Report on Digital Copyright Policy

The Department of Commerce released a green paper on Copyright Policy, Creativity, and Innovation in the Digital Economy to advance discussion on a set of policy issues critical to economic growth.

The Green Paper discusses the goals of maintaining an appropriate balance between rights and exceptions as the law continues to be updated; ensuring that copyright can be meaningfully enforced on the Internet; and furthering the development of an efficient online marketplace. The green paper is the most thorough and comprehensive analysis of digital copyright policy issued by any administration since 1995. The report is a product of the Department of Commerce’s Internet Policy Task Force (IPTF) with input from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA). Through the IPTF, the USPTO and NTIA will solicit further public comments and convene roundtables and forums on a number of key policy issues.

In the Green Paper, the IPTF proposes the following actions:

• Establishing a multistakeholder dialogue on improving the operation of the notice and takedown system under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA).
• Soliciting public comment and convening roundtables on:
• The legal framework for the creation of remixes;
• The relevance and scope of the first sale doctrine in the digital environment;
• The application of statutory damages in the context of individual file-sharers and secondary liability for large-scale online infringement;
• The appropriate role for the government, if any, to help improve the online licensing environment, including access to comprehensive public and private databases of rights information.