Industry Groups Laud CODE Act Introduction

Several industry groups praised introduction of the Copyright Office for the Digital Economy (CODE) Act (HR-4241) in statements Monday and Tuesday. The bill would separate the CO from the Library of Congress but keep it within the legislative branch. HR-4241 also would require the CO director to regularly study whether the office's IT systems were meeting the copyright community's needs (see 1512140029). The MPAA said it believes HR-4241 advances “the conversation on [CO] modernization. The importance of copyright to our culture and our economy demands a more autonomous [CO] that has the flexibility it needs to serve copyright owners and users.” Newspaper Association of America President David Chavern said he hopes HR-4241 will address “troubling aspects” in the copyright registration process, like the CO's current requirement that print newspapers register copyright by submitting content in microfilm format. “This is grossly out of touch with today's technology,” Chavern said in a news release.