On 06/14/2016 12:56 PM, Stephen LaPorte wrote:
I wanted to share a copy of a letter that we sent on AB 2880: https://policy.wikimedia.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/wikimedia-ab2880.pdf
As well as a blog post on the topic: https://blog.wikimedia.org/2016/06/14/california-government-public-domain/
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2016/06/california-legislature-drops-proposal-...
EFF warned the bill’s authors about these problems in early May. Soon after, numerous other organizations joined in opposition from library groups to open government advocates to newspapers, Internet companies, and the California Chamber of Commerce. And more than 360 Californians wrote to their state legislators through EFF’s Action Center to sound the alarm.
Those efforts have paid off. This week, the bill was amended to remove the new intellecutual property powers and the new exemptions to CPRA. What remains are provisions for better tracking of state patents, trademarks, and copyrights, and a new requirement that state agencies “consider” the intellectual property rights of all parties when they write contracts. These changes should help avoid situations like the ongoing trademark dispute over hotels and campgrounds in Yosemite National Park, without harming public access to government records and data.
Based on the new amendments, EFF is dropping its opposition to A.B. 2880. Thank you to everyone who weighed in on this issue for sending a strong message that the abuse of intellectual property laws can harm many different sectors of society, and that preventing those abuses needs to be a top priority for our lawmakers. Thanks also to Assemblymember Mark Stone for listening and responding to Californians’ concerns with this bill.
Well done!
Mike