The Conversation has an opinion piece about the future of U.S. copyright law and the author’s view that “[t]he next great copyright act should be flexible and forward-looking.” The article discusses the age-old tensions between the content-producing industries on one side, and the technology-producing industries, content consumers, and public domain advocates on the other side. The content industries unsurprisingly favor stronger copyright protection and enforcement, while the tech industries, users, and information advocates favor fewer technological restrictions and freer access to information. Adding to the mix is the fact that “predicting the future use or impact of new technology without the benefit of hindsight is virtually impossible,” which makes the tasks of legislating on such new technologies and avoiding unintended consequences much more difficult. Read the full article here.

By SasiSasi at en.wikipedia [Public domain], from Wikimedia Commons.

Reposted from The Conversation.