US Copyright, Patent, Trademark law are not compatible with how modern people interact with media and products. These areas of law have long been written by those who have a vested interest in expansion of the powers and protections granted by them. This has resulted in laws that are completely unenforceable in action and do more harm to the economy than help.
Zachary Knight proposes the following:
- Exiting any treaties that lock us into laws that are nothing more than cronyism, such as the Berne Convention which locks the US to copyright terms that far exceed the “limited time” authorized by the US Constitution.
- Reducing the length of time a work can be copyrighted. Require full registration before granting copyright.
- Repealing the DMCA’s anti-circumvention clause. This clause results in the power of copyright holders to infringe the property rights of the American people.
- Change the DMCA’s notice and takedown program to a notice and notice system. Provide real penalties for bad faith notices.
- Eliminate statutory damages of copyright infringement for person to person file sharing.
- End software and biological patents.
- Allow the victor in the patent infringement suit to be reimbursed for attorney and court fees.
- Eliminate all patent trolling by eliminating court shopping.
