Copyright could be stumbling block in trade bill

New “fast-track” trade legislation goes too far to protect movies, images and other intellectual property online, critics say, without adequately protecting people who use those works legitimately.

Despite heated lobbying for lawmakers to carve out protections for people to use some copyrighted works online, the new trade promotion authority (TPA) falls short of that mark, advocacy groups and at least one major tech industry lobbying group claim.    

{mosads}“The Internet industry recognizes the importance of trade for U.S. economic growth, but the approach to [intellectual property] in the current TPA package has not been substantially updated for the Internet era,” Gina Woodworth, a vice president at the Internet Association, said in a statement shared with The Hill on Monday. The Internet Association represents a number of online giants, including Google, Yahoo, Facebook and AOL. 

“We look forward to working with Congress on this issue to ensure that protections critical to the Internet are hardwired into trade agreements.”

Woodworth’s sentiment was echoed by advocacy groups including the Center for Democracy and Technology, R Street and the American Library Association.

“Ensuring our Internet platforms are successful both at home and abroad is integral to growing the global economy, which is why exceptions and limitations consistent with U.S. law should be included in trade agreements,” they said in a joint statement.

In particular, the critics are worried that the bill does not adequately protect the republication of copyrighted works under legal exceptions such as fair use. In the U.S., the fair use doctrine allows people to use copyrighted materials in order to quote them, for parody and as part of a news report, among other purposes.

Not extending those same protections to the rest of the globe could undermine the way people use the Internet, they feared.

The new trade bill is a top priority for tech companies, which are eager to sell more devices and online services to people around the globe.

Aside from The Internet Association, virtually every corner of the industry has come out in support of the bill, which was unveiled last week by Sens. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.).

In a fact sheet, the lawmakers said that their bill would ensure that any Obama administration trade deals “reflect a standard of protection similar to that found in U.S. law,” among other measures.