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H.R. 6028 would fundamentally change the U.S. Copyright Office

eff.org

31–40 of 143 posts

Re: H.R. 6028 would fundamentally change the U.S. Copyright Office

#31
post #25

I don't really understand the hypothetical problems here. "The copyright office head would be a presidential appointee, which could make the copyright office more political". I mean, I guess? Are people worried they're going to start selectively enforcing copyright law? But they don't enforce copyright law right now...

It’s not hypothetical at all. The FCC is currently being used for political attacks: https://www.cnn.com/2026/05/28/media/abc-fcc-disney-licenses... Those who are under attack happen to also be the biggest copyrighter holders, so this would open up a new avenue of attack.

Conversely you're already not dealing with that, so the letter and spirit of the law are both being ignored and the American voter doesn't care.

Re: H.R. 6028 would fundamentally change the U.S. Copyright Office

#32
post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are you kidding? If there’s something in there they don’t like I don’t put it past this administration to break it internally and then make a case for shutting it down. This whole thing sounds very similar to the postal service situation…

> Are you kidding? If there’s something in there they don’t like I don’t put it past this administration to break it internally and then make a case for shutting it down. Might be a win? The copyright system is one of the major suspects for why US industry ended up crippled and replaced by Asian labour refusing to respect US IP laws to their significant advantage. To say nothing of the corrosive influence on culture…

I mean, I agree with your general point that copyright might need to be reconsidered, but this doesn't seem like an attempt to reconsider it. It's rather transparently enabling further cronyism.

Re: H.R. 6028 would fundamentally change the U.S. Copyright Office

#33
post #4
post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

Yes, but saying just "congress" implies both chambers passed it

No, you would say passes both houses of Congress in that case.

Just don't like the immediate dismissal of the people's House when it comes to government affairs. When Congress does something it's important, regardless of the house it originates from.

Re: H.R. 6028 would fundamentally change the U.S. Copyright Office

#34
This is a one-sided article which does not discuss the opposing view, or the reason why they thought congress should appoint. Ironically, if this became law then it might have prevented Trump from removing the librarian as he attempted in 2025 (still pending in the supreme court). It also includes a term limit of 10 years.

https://www.stoneslaw.net/legislative-branch-agencies-clarif...

Re: H.R. 6028 would fundamentally change the U.S. Copyright Office

#35
post #7

[flagged]

No surprise that you'd show up to shill for it.Your argument boils down to 'if it looks like an executive branch agency, then the Executive branch should have control over it' rather than accepting that Congress is free to set things up as it sees fit within the Constitutional constraints.

Hypothetically, if Congress passed legislation saying "it looks like an executive branch agency, the Executive branch should have control over it" you'd consider that a generally reasonable position all else equal?

If you concede that it looks like an executive agency then it actually seems quite proper that the executive control it.

Re: H.R. 6028 would fundamentally change the U.S. Copyright Office

#36
post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The author, Joe Mullin, is a policy analyst: https://www.eff.org/about/staff/joe-mullin >. He's been working in that capacity with the EFF since at least 2018: https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2018/02/ipr-process-saves-80-c... >. Your further objections are ... facile.

It suppose I can see "executive power should be part of the executive branch" as a facile argument because it does seem basic and a bit tautological, but it is still quite a strong point. It needs to be addressed rather than just identified and dismissed.

I suppose in that case you are wholly opposed to the regulatory system as legislative power should be part of the legislative branch?

Re: H.R. 6028 would fundamentally change the U.S. Copyright Office

#37
post #31
post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s not hypothetical at all. The FCC is currently being used for political attacks: https://www.cnn.com/2026/05/28/media/abc-fcc-disney-licenses... Those who are under attack happen to also be the biggest copyrighter holders, so this would open up a new avenue of attack.

Conversely you're already not dealing with that, so the letter and spirit of the law are both being ignored and the American voter doesn't care.

> the American voter doesn't care.

The American voter doesn't know because copyright misuse and malfeasance is on a long list of public-impacting topics that news orgs have rigorously ignored for generations.

Re: H.R. 6028 would fundamentally change the U.S. Copyright Office

#38
post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are you kidding? If there’s something in there they don’t like I don’t put it past this administration to break it internally and then make a case for shutting it down. This whole thing sounds very similar to the postal service situation…

> Are you kidding? If there’s something in there they don’t like I don’t put it past this administration to break it internally and then make a case for shutting it down. Might be a win? The copyright system is one of the major suspects for why US industry ended up crippled and replaced by Asian labour refusing to respect US IP laws to their significant advantage. To say nothing of the corrosive influence on culture…

> The copyright system is one of the major suspects for why US industry ended up crippled and replaced by Asian labour refusing to respect US IP laws to their significant advantage.

Expand on this.

Wasn't it instead our desire to be the world's reserve currency and rely on cheap imports? You can't be both a net exporter and the world's top reserve currency.

You have to run trade deficits if you want to export dollars.

Re: H.R. 6028 would fundamentally change the U.S. Copyright Office

#39
post #25

I don't really understand the hypothetical problems here. "The copyright office head would be a presidential appointee, which could make the copyright office more political". I mean, I guess? Are people worried they're going to start selectively enforcing copyright law? But they don't enforce copyright law right now...

It’s not hypothetical at all. The FCC is currently being used for political attacks: https://www.cnn.com/2026/05/28/media/abc-fcc-disney-licenses... Those who are under attack happen to also be the biggest copyrighter holders, so this would open up a new avenue of attack.

It's not hypothetical nor an unintended consequence. Most likely this is the point

Re: H.R. 6028 would fundamentally change the U.S. Copyright Office

#40
post #38
post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Are you kidding? If there’s something in there they don’t like I don’t put it past this administration to break it internally and then make a case for shutting it down. Might be a win? The copyright system is one of the major suspects for why US industry ended up crippled and replaced by Asian labour refusing to respect US IP laws to their significant advantage. To say nothing of the corrosive influence on culture…

> The copyright system is one of the major suspects for why US industry ended up crippled and replaced by Asian labour refusing to respect US IP laws to their significant advantage. Expand on this. Wasn't it instead our desire to be the world's reserve currency and rely on cheap imports? You can't be both a net exporter and the world's top reserve currency. You have to run trade deficits if you want to export dollars…

It comes down to comparative advantages more than anything else and the US raising the cost (in some sense outright banning) people from deploying good ideas in an industrial way seems like it'd be a significant comparative disadvantage to attracting investment. And a much bigger deal than the practical reality that the US imports more than it exports.

Maintaining an import-dependent economy might be a factor, economies are complicated. But there isn't a fundamental reason that taking in more stuff than gets exported should mean that Asia has to be more successful. If anything, a country in a position to import more than it exports should be seeing big jumps in living standards, rather the gains going to a country notionally taking the bad end of the bargain. And there are some easy resolutions to being a net importer and while having a strong industrial economy - import raw materials, make stuff that isn't for export as an example.

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