Congress looks to provide relief to U.S. citizens and small businesses, but the omnibus bill includes some legislative priorities for the entertainment industry as well.
Providing relief via direct assistance and loans to struggling individuals and businesses hit hard by COVID-19 has been a priority for federal lawmakers this past month. But a gigantic spending bill has also become the opportunity to smuggle in some other line items including those of special interest to the entertainment community.
Perhaps most surprising, according to the text of the bill being circulated, illegal streaming for commercial profit could become a felony.
It's been less than two weeks since Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) released his proposal to increase the penalties for those who would dare stream unlicensed works. In doing so, the North Carolina senator flirted with danger. About a decade ago, Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar made a similar proposal before it ended up dying as people worried about sending Justin Bieber to jail. (No, seriously.) This time, Tillis' attempt was winning better reviews for more narrowly tailoring the provisions toward commercial operators rather than users. That said, it's had very little time to circulate before evidently becoming part of the spending package. If passed, illegal streaming of works including movies and musical works could carry up to 10 years in jail.
That's not the only copyright change either.
The spending bill also appears to adopt a long-discussed plan to create a small claims adjudication system within the U.S. Copyright Office.
Advocates have long sought to give copyright owners some recourse to infringement outside of going through the expensive federal court system, though the CASE Act has engendered some pushback from those weary of throwing certain disputes to unaccountable bureaucrats working for an agency suspected of favoring industry. Some critics believe the alternative dispute system to be unconstitutional, though by making the system opt-in and non-compulsory, it's hoped that it'd survive any constitutional challenge and ultimately lead to swifter resolution over takedowns of copyright material posted online. The CASE ACT previously passed the House by a 410-6 vote before becoming blocked in the Senate by Ron Wyden (D-OR).
Among the other parts of the omnibus bill of interest to Hollywood is an extension of Section 181, a tax provision that allows for immediate deduction of television and film production costs up to $15 million. That incentive was scheduled to expire at the end of the year, but would now get an additional five years. (More analysis on that coming.)
Lawmakers will hold a vote later today on the package.
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December 22, 2020 at 02:32AM
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The COVID-19 Stimulus Bill Would Make Illegal Streaming a Felony - Hollywood Reporter
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