The new Register of Copyrights, Maria A. Pallante recently testified in Washington D.C. before the U.S. House Subcommittee on Intellectual Property, Competition and the Internet, a subcommittee of the House Judiciary Committee. On her first day in her position, she argued in favor of increasing the potential penalties available for willful, large scale, egregious and illegal copyright infringement, particularly with respect to illegal streaming of copyrighted works over the Internet.
The Registrar's comments - which were formally directed at promoting investment and protecting online commerce and "Promoting Investment and Protecting Commerce Online" and focused on the Artists Rights and Theft Prevention Act (the "ART Act"), the No Electronic Theft Act (the "NET Act") – focused specifically at illegal streaming of, motion pictures, television programs (including broadcasts of sporting events) and other copyrighted works. In that context, she addressed criminal penalties for willful, large scale, egregious and illegal copyright infringement. She testified about the potential impact that illegal streaming has on the economic market for copyrighted works.
Ms. Pallante argued that criminal infringers are doing massive harm to copyright owners and that without the felony option for illegal streaming, prosecutors are hamstrung in their efforts to protect them. She did acknowledge that the issues involved are global and shied away from questions concerning what criminal penalties in the U.S. might do to curb overseas infringement of domestic works. Ms. Pallante raised what she described as two safeguards that could help protect against unwarranted prosecutions, namely, that the Department of Justice has discretion over whom to prosecute, and that the accused conduct must rise to the level of being willful.
However, she also recognized the legitimate uses that can be made of the same technologies used for illegal streaming and admitted that finding the appropriate balance between these interests presents one of the most difficult issues that Congress will need to addressed.
Ms. Pallante also announced her goal of improving the U.S. copyright registration system to making it the premiere copyright registration system in the world.
Ms. Pallante was joined at the hearing by Sandra Aistars, Executive Director of the Copyright Alliance and Michael O'Leary, Executive Vice President of the Motion Picture Association of America, who also both spoke in favor of enacting provisions to make illegal streaming a felony.
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