Ip Provisions Falling Short in Usmca

Floor Speech

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Mr. DEUTCH. Madam Speaker, despite the new provisions intended to protect working families and support various industries in the USMCA, there is one very important group that has been left behind--authors, artists, and other creators.

America's arts and entertainment industry is an important economic engine, with motion pictures and television alone accounting for $17.2 billion in annual U.S. exports, representing 2.5 times the level of imports. It's also an important medium to share and celebrate American history, values and culture with the world, to lift up overlooked stories, and to bring us together. So, it is unfortunate that the USMCA includes a provision that makes it harder for working families in this industry to make a fair return on their work.

That provision is Article 20.89 (Legal Remedies and Safe Harbors). Article 20.89 (Legal Remedies and Safe Harbors) should be excluded from future trade deals. It potentially allows online service providers to profit from copyright infringement to which they turn a blind eye. Article 20.89 is styled after Section 512 of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) known as the copyright safe harbor provision.

Section 512 of DMCA became law in 1998, and to some, it seemed a good idea at the time--a way to help an infant industry grow. But after several bad court cases and technological advances, Section 512 minimizes the responsibility of the big internet platforms to cooperate with rights holders to protect their livelihoods. That infant industry is now one of the world's biggest. And Section 512 undermines creative professionals instead of supporting them and enriches the big internet platforms at the expense of competitors who do not enjoy the same loophole.

Today, the web consists of more than 6 billion pages, and on a high- speed connection, it takes less than a minute to download a high definition movie. Illegal streaming, illegal downloading, and other forms of online piracy cost an estimated $29.2 billion and $71.0 billion annually to the U.S. economy. Our trade agreements should help us combat international copyright theft instead of locking in a giant loophole that tilts the playing field against creative professionals.

Section 512 has been under review by the Copyright Office since 2015, with a report expected soon.

Congress should insist that Section 512-style rules should be omitted from future trade deals.

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