Commercial Felony Streaming Act

The Commercial Felony Streaming Act (S. 978) was a bill that was introduced to the United States Senate on May 12, 2011. It was proposed by Amy Klobuchar, Chris Coons, and John Cornyn.[1] It would have been an amendment to US Code Title 18 Section 2319, that would make unauthorized streaming of copyrighted material for the purpose of "commercial advantage or personal financial gain", a felony (under US copyright law at the time, unauthorized streaming was only a misdemeanor).[2] The penalty could include up to five years of prison-time. The bill defined illegal streaming as streaming ten or more times in a 180-day period. Furthermore, the value of the illegally streamed material would have to be greater than $2,500, or the licensing fees would have to be over $5,000.

Several articles were published, expressing concern as to whether the bill would have affected those who stream or post videos of copyrighted content (e.g. video games, TV shows, music) on public sites such as YouTube. The bill did not directly address this aspect.[3] Although the bill would never become law, there was an outcry with several negative reactions against it on YouTube and other websites during the summer of 2011.[4] Singer Justin Bieber was notably among the list of creators in opposition to the bill, and he stated that Klobuchar, the bill's sponsor, "needs to be locked up, put away in cuffs".[5] Both Klobuchar and Coons stated that the bill was not intended to affect the aforementioned aspects, instead it would only target websites or people who profit from illegally streaming copyrighted material.[6][7]

Status

The bill was considered in committee and introduced to the full chamber during the 2011 congressional session. However, it never received a vote on the Senate floor, and its content was consolidated months later into the Stop Online Piracy Act which was ultimately never passed.[8] In 2020, another bill with similar characteristics, the Protecting Lawful Streaming Act, which was specifically tailored to only target willful copyright infringement, was passed and signed into law by President Donald Trump.

See also

References

  1. ^ Engleman, Eric (June 17, 2011). "Illegal Video Streaming Elevated to Felony Under Senate Bill". Bloomberg. Retrieved July 7, 2011.
  2. ^ Patel, Nilay (July 6, 2011). "Does Senate Bill 978 make YouTube and video game run-throughvideos illegal? Not really". The Verge. Retrieved April 12, 2023.
  3. ^ Abanesius, Chloe (June 17, 2011). "Senate Panel OKs Bill That Makes Streaming Pirated Content a Felony". PCWorld. Retrieved July 7, 2011.
  4. ^ "Tons Of YouTube Users Putting Up Videos In Protest To S.978". Techdirt. July 6, 2011. Retrieved July 7, 2011.
  5. ^ Rasmussen, Aaron (November 1, 2011). "Justin Bieber: Sen. Amy Klobuchar should 'be locked up' for supporting Felony Streaming Act". New York Daily News. Retrieved April 12, 2023.
  6. ^ "Setting the record straight on the Protect IP Act". Blog of U.S. Senator Chris Coons. June 10, 2011. Archived from the original on February 22, 2014. Retrieved February 15, 2014.
  7. ^ Sternburg, Ali (June 14, 2011). "Congress Holds Hearings on Unauthorized Public Performances [Part 2 of 2]". American University Intellectual Property Brief. Retrieved February 15, 2014.
  8. ^ "S. 978 (112th): A bill to amend the criminal penalty provision for criminal infringement of a copyright, and for other purposes". Archived from the original on April 17, 2015.


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