Bills introduced in recent weeks to promote fair use ‘purport to ...

includes BMI, Interactive Digital Software Assn., MPAA and RIAA - - wrote that codifying fair use would “undermine the delicate balance Congress has worked so hard to achieve in our copyright law.” In its arguments, CA targeted not only substantive legislation such as HR-5522 by Rep. Lofgren (D-Cal.) and HR-5544 by House Internet Caucus Co-Chmn. Boucher (D-Va.) but also joint resolution (H.J. Res.-116) by House Policy Committee Chmn. Cox (R-Cal.) that merely called for consensus of Congress on fair use. All 3 bills are “overbroad and inappropriate,” because they would: (1) Raise prices by “forcing honest consumers to bear the higher costs of imposed by ‘free riders'” using content without paying for it. (2) “Legitimize hacking of digital rights management (DRM) technologies in a way that would undermine copyright owners’ ability to protect their works from illegal copying.” In Boucher’s bill, for example, it no longer would be illegal under Digital Millennium Copyright Act to evade copy- protection device if one were engaged in fair use. (3) Reduce incentive of content producers to innovate. (4) Stifle DRM innovation and thus limit choices for consumers. Letter comes as 107th Congress is winding down, but Lofgren, Boucher and Cox intended their bills to set debate in 108th Congress. Debate will be continuing during congressional recess. Washington Legal Foundation last Fri. released report by U. of Chicago Law Prof. Richard Epstein arguing that DRM should be conducted under private contracts rather than federal mandates, recognizing that there were licensing possibilities that could come from secondary and tertiary reproductions of digital content. U.S. Appeals Court, Chicago, Judge Richard Posner was to speak Tues. night at American Enterprise Institute on the recent “significant expansion” of intellectual property rights.