U.S. House Judiciary Committee Members Begin to Propose Copyright Reform

U.S. House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte and Ranking Member John Conyers, Jr. are releasing proposals to reform the US. Copyright Office and the U.S. Copyright Law. In a statement, Goodlatte said:

Today [Dec. 8] we are releasing our first policy proposal, which identifies reforms to modernize the Copyright Office so that it can meet the challenges of the 21st Century. Among the reforms in this document are granting the Copyright Office autonomy with respect to the Library of Congress, requiring the Copyright Office to maintain an up-to-date digital, searchable database of all copyrighted works and associated copyright ownership information, and many others reforms. 

One of those  policy proposals will be on music licensing issue.  According to Variety:

The proposal also would subject the Register of Copyrights to a nomination and consent process, with a 10-year term limit subject to renomination. They also are calling for adding staffers to the office, including a chief economist, chief technologist, and deputy register.

Clearly this past election will cause many things to be reconsidered and the time may be ripe for changes.  I hope that the changes are well thought out, especially when it comes to copyright, since how we handle intellectual property affects every creator in the U.S. (both individual and corporate).