BIZ APPLAUDS ONLINE-PIRACY BILL

Music-industry organizations are getting behind newly introduced legislation to encourage the development and adoption of tools to combat online piracy.

The SMART Copyright Act of 2022, introduced by senators Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), authorizes the Librarian of Congress to conduct public proceedings to identify widely used “technical measures” and creates incentives for their further use while assuring reasonable costs and implementation.

Said RIAA chairman/CEO Mitch Glazier: “By encouraging cooperation between platforms and rightsholders, the SMART Copyright Act will incentivize the development and adoption of tools to address online piracy while giving platforms clarity. This thoughtful proposal builds off nearly a quarter century of real-world experience under the [Digital Millennium Copyright Act] and promises a big step toward balancing the interests of creators and tech companies in today’s integrated commercial marketplace. Congress intended that creators and platforms would work together to protect copyright and consumers. This proposal achieves that goal.”

NMPA president/CEO David Israelite added: "The DMCA for years has left songwriters and music publishers with few avenues to protect their work online. We applaud senators Leahy and Tillis for their leadership in strengthening technical measures to hold giant tech platforms more accountable. This is a great first step toward fighting online piracy, which continues to be a major threat to the livelihood of our creative community."

The Artist Rights Alliance wrote: “Broad adoption and implementation of technical measures that protect music would help artists and songwriters enormously. It would let them focus on creating new music and reduce the need to monitor for infringements of their existing work. It would also likely increase the number of artists, musicians and songwriters who can make a living from their music. And it would send a message that digital platforms are partners in a healthy music economy, not zero-sum-game competitors focused solely on their own bottom lines.”