Passing of Rep Tom Lantos’ (D-CA) means that a long-term advocate of expanding the ability of people to use copyrighted material for free may become chairman of the House Judiciary Committee’s copyright subcommittee.
An interesting thing happened a few days ago that may mean the MPAA and other entertainment industry lobbying organizations will finally see their grip on Congressional leaders loosen – if only for a while at least.
The tragic passing of Rep. Tom Lantos (D-CA), the only holocaust survivor ever to have served in Congress I might add, likely will trigger a congressional reshuffling that may have huge implications for the entertainment industry.
Rep. Howard Berman (D-CA), chairman of the House Judiciary Committee’s copyright subcommittee, is pretty levelheaded on most issues, but when it comes to copyright laws he strangely becomes a relentless and outspoken promoter of almost every single MPAA position on copyright and communications law that comes before him.
Now, however, the death of Rep. Lantos opens up the chairmanship of the full House Foreign Affairs Committee. The chances that Berman will ascend to this post exceed 99% and, because members can hold only one chair at a time, someone else will get his spot on the copyright subcommittee.
This is where things really get good because the person next in line is Rep. Rick Boucher (D-VA), whose position on copyright and communication laws is just about the exact opposite of Rep. Berman in almost every way possible. For he is a long-term advocate of expanding the ability of people to use copyrighted material for free.
Hallelujah!
The only thing that may prevent the move is that Rep. Boucher currently chairs the House Commerce Committee’s energy subcommittee which is an an important one to be on since he hails from a very coal-rich district.
If he turns down the offer then it would make Rep. Jerry Nadler, (D-NY) next in line. Unfortunately, his district includes most of Manhattan’s Upper West Side, parts of Clinton, Chelsea, SoHo, Greenwich Village, Tribeca and Downtown Manhattan — areas dotted with entertainment industry operations.
Moreover, keep your fingers crossed that Rep. Boucher steps up to the plate here and takes the position of chairman of the House Judiciary Committee’s copyright subcommittee.
[Via Ars]
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It will take more than this and a “woot!” to bring copyright laws back down to earth. People need to contact their congressmen and senators ONCE A WEEK and ask for them to change the laws.
Ex.: “Hi I’m one of your constituents I was just calling on behalf of myself and my family and friends all voters in your district to see what efforts you had made in the past week to make copyright laws more evenly-balanced and fair. By the way I’ll be calling you again in 1 week…….”
Great idea Open Universe. Senators and Representatives really reply well to threats. Especially threats by some dude in his parents’ basement complaining about his “right” to download Menudo’s Greatest Hits. Sure you’re not donating a single penny to the guy’s campaign whereas the music industry is donating millions of dollars but I’m sure your threats to call again next week will really hit home. Of course his staff wont even bother forwarding your insane letters and calls to him but at least you’re harassing the staff.
Sorry to see that you have no faith in our constitutional right to vote. I believe that a small number of people following just such a tactic has in fact convinced numerous representatives to vote the “right” way on numerous occasions. Campaign donations are one thing votes are quite another.
What else is there really unless you can personally buy up all the major studios and reverse the MPAA……….
(P.S. I hate Menudo I would NEVER download them!)