CDT Joins Letter Urging Senate, House to Not Jam Unconstitutional CASE Act into Must-Pass Legislation
The Center for Democracy & Technology joined an open letter urging the U.S. Senate & U.S. House to not jam the controversial and unconstitutional CASE Act into must-pass legislation like the continuing resolution. More below:
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December 4, 2020
Dear Leader McConnell, Speaker Pelosi, Leader Schumer, and Leader McCarthy,
We write to you today regarding recently reported efforts to include a package of intellectual property bills in the year-end spending bill that includes S. 1273/H.R. 2426, the CASE Act; S. 3449/H.R. 6196, the Trademark Modernization Act; and a felony streaming proposal. We appreciate your ongoing efforts to ensure that the government receives the funding necessary to provide the services so many Americans rely upon during this challenging time, and we are committed to working with you to make this process a success. We ask that you decline to include this package of bills in the funding bill.
As creators, innovators, small businesses, online service providers, libraries, educators, and civil society organizations, we are concerned with including controversial copyright or trademark bills in a must-pass piece of legislation. We respect Congress’s intent to improve our intellectual property system and protect the rights of creators and entrepreneurs. However, certain aspects of this package of bills will have negative impacts on small- and medium-sized businesses, creators, libraries and their patrons, students, teachers, educational institutions, religious institutions, fan communities, internet users, and free expression.
Accordingly, all signatories have serious concerns with at least some aspect of the bills slated to be included in their current state, and we stand ready to work with Congress to avoid their unintended consequences. In order to allow that process to take place, we ask that you decline to include this package of bills in any must-pass government funding bill, and instead allow these bills to be considered through the regular order process.
We appreciate your attention to this important matter. We look forward to working with Congress to improve the proposed package through the legislative process.
Thank you for your consideration.
