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March 31, 2016 | Music Notes Blog
400 Artists, Songwriters, Managers, and Music Organizations Call For Reforms of Broken DMCA
Hundreds of artists, songwriters, managers and music organizations today are calling for reforms of the broken Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). Nearly 400 individual artists, songwriters, managers, and music organizations have joined together to argue for reforms to federal laws to strengthen the music economy and create a healthier, more stable music ecosystem for the next generation of singers, songwriters, and musicians.
Artists spanning a variety of genres and generations are submitting comments to the federal government’s U.S. Copyright Office today and tomorrow demanding reforms to the antiquated DMCA which forces creators to police the entire Internet for instances of theft, placing an undue burden on these artists and unfairly favoring technology companies and rogue pirate sites. Simultaneously, 18 separate major music organizations representing virtually the entire music community submitted a united 100-page joint brief explaining the myriad flaws in the DMCA – a law passed during the dial-up era – and calling for reforms. And more than 40 managers, representing some of the most successful musicians in the world, separately explained how an increasingly broken law prevents a growing number of musicians from earning a living. All these diverse voices agree that the DMCA has failed to effectively prevent piracy and has distorted the music economy, undermining the next generation of creators and putting our cultural heritage at risk.
COMMENT OF CARY SHERMAN, Chairman and CEO, RIAA: “I don’t recall a time when the entire music community has united behind an issue like it has this one – speaking with a collective voice for reform of the DMCA. This outdated and dysfunctional law has hurt everyone involved in creating music, from the newest emerging artists and songwriters to the global superstars, from the smallest labels and publishers to the biggest majors. I hope this unprecedented coming together will encourage policymakers to take the steps necessary to update this law and ensure the creative future of music.”
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