American copyright owners who have their property stolen by foreigners may be able to take legal action in federal court if a new bill becomes law.
Senators Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), Thom Tillis (R-NC), Adam Schiff (D-CA), and Chris Coons (D-DE) introduced the Block Bad Electronic Art and Recording Distributors (Block BEARD) Act on Wednesday.
This bill seeks to let copyright owners ask federal courts to take action against foreign websites who pirate their content and provide the stolen content to Americans for free.
For copyright owners to obtain relief from federal courts, the Block BEARD Act requires copyright owners to provide evidence that shows specific harm and the criminal nature of the targeted site.
Additionally, the bill would allow courts to tell internet service providers to block access to these piracy sites, while protecting them from liability.
Blackburn’s press release said this bill has been inspired by approaches other democratic countries have taken to prevent foreign piracy operations.
The press release also noted this bill protects free speech, due process, and online services complying with American law.
According to Blackburn, Tennessee’s “thriving creative community” needs to be protected from foreign criminals stealing their creative works.
“Foreign piracy operations jeopardize the American creative industry through phishing, identity theft, and financial fraud, and the Block BEARD Act would protect creators by enabling them to pursue legal action in U.S. federal courts against these criminals,” she stated.
As for the economic impact, Coons explained when foreign websites pirate American creative content, it costs the American economy “tens of billions of dollars” annually, resulting in Americans losing “hundreds of thousands of jobs.”
According to a 2023 study from dataprot.net, illegal digital video privacy makes the American economy lose between $29.2 billion and $71 billion yearly. Furthermore, the study showed almost 25 percent of the world’s bandwith is taken up by illegal downloading of copyrighted material.
“This bipartisan legislation will give Americans the tools they need to protect their intellectual property rights, while ensuring the internet remains a vibrant forum for free speech,” he stated. “I look forward to working with my colleagues and with stakeholders on all sides of this issue to advance this much-needed bill.”
The Block BEARD Act has been endorsed by entertainment groups including the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and Motion Picture Association.
Mitch Glazier, RIAA’s CEO, thanked the senators for introducing this bill proposal, which he described as empowering “federal courts to protect consumers, rightsholders, and markets from large scale foreign piracy.”
“Similar tools have been proven effective around the world over the last ten years with no harm to speech, Internet infrastructure or security, or participation online, and we strongly support this effort to create a simple, effective, judicial remedy with due process in the U.S,” he stated.
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Zachery Schmidt is the digital editor of The Star News Network. Email tips to Zachery at [email protected].
