Senate Bill S.978 has the Internet in a Frenzy

Article for TrekWeb By Michael Yamazaki

Washington, DC, USA – A bill that continues the government’s war on the internet, was introduced in July. The bill, known on the internet as S.978 or the Klobuchar Copyright Amendment Bill, also known as the “10 Strikes Law,” will add “live performances” to the already existing copyright infringement laws. In this “10 Strikes Law,” ten-or-more live performances, according to the bill, of any copyrighted materials will be subject to fines, up to five years in prison, and a Federal felony on the violator’s record.

While the bill is mainly targeted at uploaders and streamers of movies onto sites like YouTube and Justin.TV, the implications of this bill are much more far-reaching. Video game content, which is protected under the Fair Use Law (which states that a transformative or derivative work made from copyrighted material is OK under the law, as long as the work does not remain 100% in-tact; for example, karaoke covers, video game trailers and reviews, and fan films), will no longer be allowed to be “publically performed,” as this law will now override the Fair Use Law.

Fan films, most of which use copyrighted music, names and ideas, are also in jeopardy. While previously, Paramount Pictures (a subsidiary of CBS Entertainment and VIACOM Communications Corporation) gave an “OK” to fans to make STAR TREK fan media (so long as it does not turn a profit), VIACOM has signed on as a co-sponsor of this bill in an apparent move to rescind its previous Fair Use licenses. Online video hosting websites, such as YouTube, will now become responsible for removing any content that contains a copyrighted idea or material, and the infringer (the makers) and the violators (the viewers) will now be held liable on a Federal level.

Producers of popular STAR TREK fan films could not immediately be reached for comment, though the attitude towards S.978 seems to be fairly passive. While there has never been a court hearing based on the Fair Use law, S.978’s provisions eliminate the Fair Use’s “Gray Area” that many producers of fan films, and video game trailers, reviews, playthroughs, etc., have taken advantage of.
While the House of Representatives debate the National Debt Crisis that’s looming on the horizon, a vote on S.978 may not be coming soon. However, according to a political analysis, this bill is, indeed, expected to pass. This could very well mean that the future of fan-made entertainment is, indeed, very bleak.

For information on S.978, you can see the public release on OpenCongress’s website, the address is here: http://www.opencongress.org/bill/112-s978/show

Also, a comprehensive analysis on S.978 and its impact on the gaming industry is located on YouTube, here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hytigOSjJxc

Does this have any implication for Supremacy?

Regarding fan made videos etc, I think this move will alienate fans. Why do they care if I made a Trek parody or a video walk-through for my favorite game and so on?

I wonder if the bill is retroactve. If previously started fan projects were started under the old fair use laws, will they be exempt? If this applies ("copyrighted ideas"?), we could always mod the game content to be like Birth of the empires, and then each can "make their own art, music and written content" mod as an individual user.

The article is, as you see, directed more at fan films on the internet. I do not think it will really reach Star Trek in general. Paramount is just not after fan films or other projects that do not make money.

Ultimately the fan film movement simply does them a service by keeping the franchise alive. I could watch fan films all day and it still wouldn't keep me from wanting to see the latest Paramount release. They won't lose a dime.

Ditto.

This bill i thought wasnt passed because it goes against one of them american first amendment rights things?

Well this is another strike against freedoms if it passes. Far as I care if someone wants to make a tribute or walkthrough or whatever it should be allowed. As long as there's no profit, there's no harm. The internet should not be regulated in any manner. It is a global network for the people and therefore the laws of a single narrow-minded country should not apply.

Soon we will have to have a team of lawyer at our defense...this is becoming ridiculous.