A Great Day for Fair Use? Senate Judiciary Committee Recommends IP Enforcement Bill, S. 3325

Yesterday, the Senate Judiciary Committee ordered the Intellectual Property Enforcement Act of 2008, S. 3325, reported with amendments. [Thomas Resources | Open Congress Resources] The bill would increase penalties for a range of infringements, and give content holders and the government new powers in pursuing alleged infringers. Patrick Ross called the action "a great day for creators, on The Copyright Alliance Blog.

S. 3325 shares features of the PRO IP Act, H.R. 4279, which was passed by the House in May. [Thomas Resources | Open Congress Resources] See Rashmi Rangnath's H.R. 4279 and S. 3325: which one is the lesser of the two evils? and A Perfect Storm of Bad Copyright Legislation by Alex Curtis, both on Public Knowledge. See also the September 10, 2008 letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee on S. 3325 from American Association of Law Libraries, American Library Association, Consumer Federation of America, Consumers Union, Digital Future Coalition, Electronic Frontier Foundation, Essential Action, IP Justice, Knowledge Ecology International, Medical Library Association, and Special Libraries Association. [JH]