Protecting Lawful Streaming Act

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Protecting Lawful Streaming Act of 2020
Great Seal of the United States (obverse).svg
Announced inthe 116th United States Congress
Sponsored by Thom Tillis
Number of co-sponsors9
Codification
Titles affected Title 18
U.S.C. sections created 18 U.S.C.   § 2319C
Legislative history
  • Introduced in the Senate by Thom Tillis on December 10, 2020

The Protecting Lawful Streaming Act of 2020 is a United States law that makes it a felony to engage in large-scale streaming of copyright material. The bill was introduced by Senator Thom Tillis on December 10, 2020. The bill was added to the omnibus Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (CAA), and is located in Division Q, Title II, § 211 of the CAA. [1] The CAA passed the house and the senate on December 21, 2020, and was signed into law by President Donald Trump on December 27, 2020.

Contents

Background

Modern computer and information technology has sufficiently advanced, most notably around 2010, to allow streaming media to be an effective way of sharing video content on the Internet. This has led to a large amount of copyright infringement through unlawful redistribution, commonly referred to as "piracy". Piracy websites, typically running outside of United States jurisdiction, are created to share copyrighted films and television shows for free without consent of the copyright owners. U.S. Representative Lamar Smith in response to concerns from groups like the Motion Picture Association of America introduced the proposed Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) in 2011 which would have made it a criminal act to stream and share copyrighted material, granting the Department of Justice special powers to seize the domain(s) of sites suspected of infringing on SOPA. While supported by a number of entertainment and labor groups, SOPA was widely criticized by technology companies and free speech advocates for creating a chilling effect on web content and wide-scale online blackouts were held in protest. Due to the backlash, SOPA was pulled from consideration, permitting copyright owners to seek only civil penalties against these sites. [2]

Senator Thom Tillis in announcing the bill, stated that by 2020, these sites were taking away more than US$30 billion from copyright holders annually, justifying the need for closing the loophole. [3]

Legislative function

The bill specifically targets commercial or for-profit websites that operate as "digital transmission service[s]", that primarily function to stream copyrighted material without authorization of the copyright holders. [3]

An example of one such website is NFLBite. The website provides its visitors with unauthorized sources that stream National Football League (NFL) games for free. The NFL has taken NFLBite to court through civil lawsuits in attempts to stop their streaming of full NFL games, but are unable to seek criminal charges due to limitations of U.S. copyright law. [4] The bill adds to Title 18 of the United States Code that would make operating these sites a criminal felony, with a maximum penalty of up to ten years imprisonment, and additional fines if convicted. [1] This brings the act of offering such unauthorized streaming media at a large scale to the same scope of penalty as for offering illegal downloads or physical copies of the same content, closing the streaming media loophole. [3]

Tillis stated that the bill is tailored to specifically target the websites themselves, and not "those who may use the sites nor those individuals who access pirated streams or unwittingly stream unauthorized copies of copyrighted works". [3] Tillis' office and the tech advocacy group Public Knowledge clarified that the bill was not aimed at video game live streamers on platforms like Twitch, or their viewers. [4]

Legislative history

Tillis, who serves as the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Intellectual Property, first discussed the bill to be introduced with the CASE Act and the Trademark Modernization Act as part of a package to be included with the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 on December 4, 2020, according to congressional aides that had spoken to the website Protocol. The text of Tillis' bill had not be available, but according to Protocol, it "would provide the DOJ with the authority to charge commercial enterprises that are streaming certain kinds of works with felony copyright infringement". [5] Similar concerns were raised by an article in The American Prospect . [6] The bill's intent raised concerns from tech companies and free speech advocates as it was not clear if this would also target individual users, including online streamers. [7] [8]

Tillis assured those concerned that the bill was narrowly tailored towards commercial sites and would not criminalize individual users. He specifically stated that information in The American Prospect article was "false and inaccurate", and the bill was "drafted to not sweep in normal practices by online service providers and good faith business disputes". [9] Tillis released the text of the bill to the public on December 10, 2020. [10] Public Knowledge, who had raised concerns prior to this, said that after reviewing the bill's language that they consider the bill to be narrowly tailored and thanked Tillis for "working to prevent risk to end users and legitimate streamers and streaming platforms". [3] The Computer & Communications Industry Association, which represents technology companies, also did not oppose the compromise language of the bill. [9]

The bill's bipartisan co-sponsors included Patrick Leahy, Marsha Blackburn, Mazie Hirono, Catherine Cortez Masto, John Cornyn, Richard Blumenthal, Chris Coons, Kelly Loeffler, and David Perdue. [9]

The bill, along with the CASE Act and Trademark Modernization Act, were incorporated into the text of the December 21, 2020 version of the Consolidated Appropriations Act. [11] Trump stated opposition to the combined bill and did not immediately sign it, but ultimately signed it into law on December 27, 2020. [12]

See also

Related Research Articles

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Megaupload Ltd was a Hong Kong–based online company established in 2005 that operated from 2005 to 2012 providing online services related to file storage and viewing.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Software Alliance</span> Trade group

The Software Alliance, also known as BSA, is a trade group of business software companies established in 1998. Its principal activity is trying to stop copyright infringement of software produced by its members. It is a member of the International Intellectual Property Alliance. Founded as the Business Software Alliance, it dropped "Business" from its name in October 2012, and styles itself "BSA | The Software Alliance".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Motion Picture Association</span> Trade organization representing major American film studios

The Motion Picture Association (MPA) is an American trade association representing the five major film studios of the United States, as well as the video streaming service Netflix. Founded in 1922 as the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America (MPPDA) and known as the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) from 1945 until September 2019, its original goal was to ensure the viability of the American film industry. In addition, the MPA established guidelines for film content which resulted in the creation of the Motion Picture Production Code in 1930. This code, also known as the Hays Code, was replaced by a voluntary film rating system in 1968, which is managed by the Classification and Rating Administration (CARA).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Copyright infringement</span> Usage of a copyrighted work without the authors permission

Copyright infringement is the use of works protected by copyright without permission for a usage where such permission is required, thereby infringing certain exclusive rights granted to the copyright holder, such as the right to reproduce, distribute, display or perform the protected work, or to make derivative works. The copyright holder is typically the work's creator, or a publisher or other business to whom copyright has been assigned. Copyright holders routinely invoke legal and technological measures to prevent and penalize copyright infringement.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act</span>

United States Senate Bill S.3804, known as the Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act (COICA) was a bill introduced by Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) on September 20, 2010. It proposed amendments to Chapter 113 of Title 18 of the United States Code that would authorize the Attorney General to bring an in rem action against any domain name found "dedicated to infringing activities," as defined within the text of the bill. Upon bringing such an action, and obtaining an order for relief, the registrar of, or registry affiliated with, the infringing domain would be compelled to "suspend operation of and lock the domain name."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thom Tillis</span> American politician (born 1960)

Thomas Roland Tillis is an American politician serving as the senior United States senator from North Carolina, a seat he has held since 2015. A member of the Republican Party, Tillis served in the North Carolina House of Representatives from 2007 to 2015, and as its speaker from 2011 to 2015.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Music piracy</span> Copying and distribution of music without the consent of creators or copyright holders

Music piracy is the copying and distributing of recordings of a piece of music for which the rights owners did not give consent. In the contemporary legal environment, it is a form of copyright infringement, which may be either a civil wrong or a crime depending on jurisdiction. The late 20th and early 21st centuries saw much controversy over the ethics of redistributing media content, how much production and distribution companies in the media were losing, and the very scope of what ought to be considered piracy – and cases involving the piracy of music were among the most frequently discussed in the debate.

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Bill S.978 or the Commercial Felony Streaming Act was a bill that was introduced to the United States Senate. It was proposed by Amy Klobuchar, Chris Coons, and John Cornyn on May 12, 2011. It would have been an amendment to US Code Title 18 Section 2319, that would make unauthorized streaming of copyrighted material for the purpose of "commercial advantage or personal financial gain", a felony. The penalty could include up to five years of prison-time. The bill defined illegal streaming as streaming ten or more times in a 180-day period. Furthermore, the value of the illegally streamed material would have to be greater than $2,500, or the licensing fees would have to be over $5,000.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stop Online Piracy Act</span> Failed United States bill

The Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) was a proposed United States congressional bill to expand the ability of U.S. law enforcement to combat online copyright infringement and online trafficking in counterfeit goods. Introduced on October 26, 2011, by Representative Lamar Smith (R-TX), provisions included the requesting of court orders to bar advertising networks and payment facilities from conducting business with infringing websites, and search engines from linking to the websites, and court orders requiring Internet service providers to block access to the websites. The proposed law would have expanded existing criminal laws to include unauthorized streaming of copyrighted content, imposing a maximum penalty of five years in prison.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Online Protection and Enforcement of Digital Trade Act</span> Unpassed United States bill

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Protests against SOPA and PIPA</span> Series of protests in 2012

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References

  1. 1 2 "Rules Committee Print 116–68" (PDF). December 21, 2020. Retrieved December 22, 2020.
  2. ↑ Maddaus, Gene (December 22, 2020). "COVID Stimulus Bill Includes Sweeteners for Film and TV Industry". Variety . Retrieved December 22, 2020.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Valinsky, Jordan (December 22, 2020). "10 years in prison for illegal streaming? It's in the Covid-19 relief bill". CNN . Retrieved December 22, 2020.
  4. 1 2 Kelly, Makena (December 22, 2020). "New 'felony streaming' measure is aimed at piracy services, not Twitch streamers". The Verge . Retrieved December 22, 2020.
  5. ↑ Birnbaum, Emily (December 4, 2020). "Lawmakers are cramming controversial copyright provisions into a must-pass spending bill". Protocol. Retrieved December 22, 2020.
  6. ↑ Shaw, Donald (December 9, 2020). "Tillis Pushes Prison Time for Online Streamers After Pre-Election Hollywood Cash Blitz". The American Prospect . Retrieved December 22, 2020.
  7. ↑ McGill, Margaret Harding; Gold, Ashley (December 8, 2020). "Congress' year-end parting shots at Big Tech". Axios . Retrieved December 22, 2020.
  8. ↑ Grayson, Nathan (December 9, 2020). "Proposed U.S. Law Could Slap Twitch Streamers With Felonies For Broadcasting Copyrighted Material". Kotaku . Retrieved December 22, 2020.
  9. 1 2 3 "Tillis Targets Criminal Streaming Services with 'Protecting Lawful Streaming Act'". IP Watchdog . December 15, 2020. Retrieved December 15, 2020.
  10. ↑ Masnick, Mike (December 10, 2020). "Tillis Release Details Of His Felony Streaming Bill; A Weird Gift To Hollywood At The Expense Of Taxpayers". Techdirt . Retrieved December 22, 2020.
  11. ↑ "READ: Text of the new $900 billion stimulus bill". CNN . December 21, 2020. Retrieved December 21, 2020.
  12. ↑ Bennett, Kate; Liptak, Kevin; Mattingly, Phil; Luhby, Tami (December 27, 2020). "Trump signs coronavirus relief and government funding bill into law after lengthy delay". CNN . Retrieved December 27, 2020.
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