Coble Endorses Marino as Next IP Subcommittee Chair
The nature of the House Judiciary Committee’s copyright review is unlikely to change due to Republican victories in the House and Senate Tuesday, said experts. But a battle could be brewing over the replacement of outgoing House Judiciary IP Subcommittee Chairman Howard Coble, R-N.C. Coble told us Wednesday that he’s “really comfortable” endorsing current subcommittee Vice Chairman Tom Marino, R-Pa., as the next chairman. Copyright industry officials said they believe outgoing House Oversight Committee Chairman and IP Subcommittee member Darrell Issa, R-Calif., is likely to be the next IP Subcommittee chairman.
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With a Republican majority in the Senate next Congress, Senate Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, is widely expected to become that committee’s new chairman, said copyright experts. Grassley’s office didn’t comment.
All the members of the House Judiciary IP Subcommittee won re-election Tuesday. Coble will be replaced by Republican Mark Walker, who isn’t expected to join the House Judiciary Committee, said a Coble spokesman. He told us Issa, Marino and others are likely “jockeying” for the subcommittee chairmanship. Marino is “very well versed” on copyright issues, said Coble, saying Marino “capably” filled in for him when ill.
“Copyright reform is currently being driven” by House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., not Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., emailed James Grimmelmann, a University of Maryland law professor specializing in IP and technology. Republican victories aren’t “likely to significantly change the momentum around these issues in the near future,” he said. Congress has only “one year” to complete its copyright review, said Derek Khanna, a fellow at New America Foundation's X-Lab, speaking on his own behalf. All the “oxygen” will start getting “sucked out” once the primaries begin for 2016, he said.
Coble gave “me opportunities to study under him and to lead in his absence and I have been able to become more intimately involved with the issues we face,” emailed Marino Wednesday. “Those issues interest me greatly and require thorough knowledge and leadership,” he said. “Although I am only entering my third term, I am glad to know that Chairman Coble and others recognize my drive and commitment” to the full committee and IP subcommittee, said Marino. “I'd also like to acknowledge Committee Chairman Goodlatte's leadership,” he said. “My future on the Committee is ultimately within his discretion and I am appreciative of his consideration.” Goodlatte and Issa didn’t comment.
Issa is the “leading candidate” for the subcommittee chair, said Daryl Friedman, Recording Academy chief advocacy and industry relations officer. Issa, a former CEA chairman and onetime head of the CE supplier Directed Electronics, has been a “great champion” of performance rights for terrestrial radio, and “we would hope that he would continue to be that advocate” if selected as the chairman, he said. The “conventional wisdom” is that Issa will be named chairman, said an entertainment industry official.
Issa and Marino are both likely pursuing the chair, but it’s probable that Issa will get the nod, said Executive Director Katie McAuliffe of the Americans for Tax Reform (ATR) Digital Liberty project. She said either candidate would be agreeable, but said “seniority” is likely to determine the outcome. A House aide also said that Issa is expected to be named chairman due to seniority. McAuliffe said she expects Goodlatte to introduce patent overhaul legislation in the upcoming lame duck session of Congress.
A House GOP aide said that there’s speculation that Goodlatte could pull the IP Subcommittee into the full House Judiciary Committee. After two years of hearings on copyright issues, Goodlatte may decide it’s worthwhile to take those issues to the full committee level, said an industry official.
Grassley
“The most interesting change may be in the Senate Judiciary Committee if Sen. Grassley becomes chairman,” said industry attorney Chris Castle, who represents artists and musicians and has worked with digital music services. “I think it’s fair to say that Sen. Grassley is a Google skeptic and does not seem wowed by Google's charm offensive,” he said. “Grassley will be inclined to stick up for the little guy, so that kind of support will be important to get to a fair result” between competing copyright interests, said Castle. “These are bipartisan issues, and I would look forward to a new Congress having the incentive to roll up their sleeves and clean out the swamp.”
Leahy has been “cautious about copyright reforms” and has been “content to let the House review of copyright under Goodlatte proceed,” said Sherwin Siy, Public Knowledge vice president-legal affairs. “I don't know if a Senate Judiciary under Grassley or anyone else would be more active,” but Public Knowledge would “certainly welcome a new look at the law in both chambers, since one is long overdue,” he said.
The Recording Academy hoped that Grassley would be the same “ally for copyright” as Leahy, said Friedman. Grassley is a “wild card,” since he hasn’t been especially active in broadcasting and music licensing issues, said the entertainment industry official. That’s going to be important going into 2015, which promises to be brimming with such issues (see 1410090097), he said.
Some libertarians within the Republican Party have been "skeptical of copyright maximalism, but they are a distinct minority,” said Derek Bambauer, a University of Arizona law professor specializing in Internet law and intellectual property. “I would guess that there will be more robust debate with the Republicans in control of Congress, but I doubt the results will differ."