Missed this one yesterday: LAT has a good profile of Democratic Congressman Howard Berman, who represents LA and therefore by extension Hollywood interest. Why does that matter to digital media? Because he will be the chairman of Judiciary Committee’s panel on the Internet and intellectual property, starting next month, and gives him considerable sway over laws regulating the transition to digital media.
He is known to be copyright friendly, and is likely to give “a splitting headache to consumer electronics makers and public interest groups advocating unfettered use of digital content,” the story says.
But the story also says that Berman has a reputation for listening to everybody….Berman said he was not opposed to flexible rules on video and music but wanted a balance that preserved the financial incentives for moviemakers, musicians and others to create new content. He said the principle of fair use, which allows people to make limited copies of their music and video collections, should be fair to everyone.
Among his top priorities for the subcommittee is updating music licensing and royalty standards for the digital age.
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