[bestbits] Fwd: Public Knowledge Launches Report on Systemic Bias at the U.S. Copyright Office

[Carolina Rossini]

More information available at publicknowledge.org/press-release/
<http://publicknowlede.us2.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=1cc299b535534e10c267b2c8e&id=fcc5a40e50&e=f0c13dd6b4>
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Contact: Shiva Stella <shiva at publicknowledge.org>  (o) 202-861-0020    (c)
405-249-9435
------------------------------

For Immediate Release
September 08, 2016

*Public Knowledge Launches Report on Systemic Bias at the U.S. Copyright
Office*
Today we’re releasing our newest report, “Captured: Systemic Bias at the
U.S. Copyright Office
<http://publicknowlede.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=1cc299b535534e10c267b2c8e&id=dca8ddb794&e=f0c13dd6b4>.”
This report examines the role of industry capture and the revolving door
between the major entertainment industries and the Copyright Office, and
the implications that capture has had on the policies the Office embraces.
In the report, we investigate how the Copyright Office:

   - Regularly contorts basic questions of copyright law in ways that
   further the monopoly interests of major rightsholders;
   - Advocates for expanded copyright with fewer limitations, exceptions,
   and consumer protections;
   - Strives to insert itself into more and farther-flung policy debates,
   claiming “expertise” and issuing decisions on topics far beyond its mandate;
   - Makes decisions based on predetermined outcomes, prioritizing its own
   views over input from non-self-interested stakeholders; and
   - Is frequently overturned or ignored by courts, Congress, and other
   agencies.

The following can be attributed to Meredith Rose, Policy Advocate at Public
Knowledge:

“The Copyright Office is one of the starkest examples of a captured agency
operating within the government today. With limited accountability a
pattern of favoritism toward industry and rightsholder groups, it is
unsurprising that they have staked out tenuous positions and advocate for
expansive copyright monopolies. It is clear from its positions--both
implicit and stated--that the Copyright Office often acts more as an
advocate for profit-maximizing entertainment industries, rather than as an
impartial organ of government.

“It is clear that the Office has grand visions of its own position within
policy debates, no matter how passingly they touch on copyright issues. The
Copyright Office not only embraces, but actively furthers its mission
creep. In the last year alone, we have seen it opine on everything from
farm equipment, to emissions standards, to antitrust market analysis, to
aerospace safety specifications, to broadcast rules. Its desire for
relevance, left unchecked, represents a worldview in which all policy
debates are treated as secondary to the interests of monopoly rightsholders
to maximize control over, and extract maximum profit from, their creations.

“To even begin to address the Copyright Office’s systemic problems, we
must, as a nation, have a serious discussion about the Office’s
relationship to industry, its accountability, and its intended role within
the government.”

You may view the report here
<http://publicknowlede.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=1cc299b535534e10c267b2c8e&id=4e250f2d49&e=f0c13dd6b4>.
You may also view this full release
<http://publicknowlede.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=1cc299b535534e10c267b2c8e&id=8955cdf50f&e=f0c13dd6b4>
.

###

*Public Knowledge* is a Washington D.C.- based public interest group
working to defend consumer rights in the emerging digital culture. More
information is available at http://www.publicknowledge.org
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-- 

# # #
# • #
# # #
*Carolina Rossini *
Vice President, International Policy and Strategy
+ 1 (617) 697 9389 | skype: carolrossini | @carolinarossini
PGP ID:  0xEC81015C
*PublicKnowledge* | @publicknowledge <https://twitter.com/publicknowledge>
 | www.publicknowledge.org
1818 N St. NW, Suite 410 | Washington, DC 20036



-- 

# # #
# • #
# # #
*Carolina Rossini *
Vice President, International Policy and Strategy
+ 1 (617) 697 9389 | skype: carolrossini | @carolinarossini
PGP ID:  0xEC81015C
*PublicKnowledge* | @publicknowledge <https://twitter.com/publicknowledge>
 | www.publicknowledge.org
1818 N St. NW, Suite 410 | Washington, DC 20036
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