In re SOPA: Library Copyright Alliance v. Register of Copyrights

I would like to be very clear at the outset. It is my view that if Congress does not continue to provide serious responses to online piracy, the U.S. copyright system will ultimately fail. The premise of copyright law is that the author of a creative work owns and can license to others certain exclusive rights – a premise that has served the nation well since 1790. Congress has repeatedly acted to improve enforcement provisions in copyright law over the years, including in the online environment. SOPA is the next step in ensuring that our law keeps pace with infringers. -- Maria Pallante, Register of Copyrights

Quoting from Pallante's written statement submitted for last week's carefully managed House Judiciary Committee hearing. For commentary, see Nate Anderson's Register of Copyrights: without SOPA, copyright "will ultimately fail" on Ars Technica's Law and Disorder.

For a more measured response to SOPA, one might want to review the ALA, ARL and ACRL letter to the Committee. [JH]