Copyright Alliance Commends Introduction of the SMART Copyright Act of 2022 by Senators Tillis and Leahy

On Thursday, March 17, 2022, Copyright Alliance CEO Keith Kupferschmid issued the following statement regarding the introduction of the SMART (Strengthening Measures to Advance Rights Technologies) Copyright Act of 2022 by Senators Thom Tillis (R-NC), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Intellectual Property; and Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Chairman of the Subcommittee

According to Kupferschmid, “We want to thank Senators Tillis and Leahy for introducing the SMART Copyright Act and are grateful for their long-standing support for the copyright community and recognition of the importance of strong and effective copyright protection, and the need to address the severe economic and social harms caused by piracy through legislative action.

“It is abundantly clear that the existing provisions relating to Standard Technical Measures (STMs) in section 512 of the Copyright Act are not working, as evidenced by the fact that there have been no STMs formally recognized under this section since the provision was enacted more than 23 years ago. The approach taken by the bill—granting the Copyright Office authority to establish a triennial rulemaking process that would require platforms to implement technical measures to protect against piracy on their sites and impose significant consequences on those platforms that fail to comply—is a sensible approach.

“We look forward to working with the Senators and the other members of the Committee, as well as with the U.S. Copyright Office and other stakeholders, as the bill is considered by Congress.”