House Committee to Tackle Fair Use and DMCA’s Takedown Rules

Congressional efforts to update U.S. copyright law are set to resume next Tuesday, when a House Judiciary subcommittee meets to discuss changing business models and content delivery methods in the digital age.

Over the coming months, lawmakers plan to hold hearings on the scope of copyright protection, the scope of fair use, and the Digital Millennium Copyright Act’s contentious notice-and-takedown provisions. After that initial round of hearings, the Judiciary Committee “plans to proceed roughly in numerical order through the sections of the Copyright Act,” according to the Committee’s press release.

In April, Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va), announced plans to undertake a comprehensive review of copyright law, which hasn’t had a major overhaul since the1976 Copyright Act.

The review began in May when lawmakers heard from members of a study group who talked about the changing public attitudes—in some cases, hostility—toward copyright.