Thirty interest groups and associations notified Congress in mid-February that they were forming a Copyright Assembly in order to “preserve, protect, and defend the sanctity and concept of copyright from all intruders.” The assembly’s chief target is the Internet, where it will work to protect everything from software to Internet broadcasts and online music, according to the February 22 New York Times.
A key player in its formation was President and CEO Jack Valenti of the Motion Picture Association of America, who told the press that “where copyright is under siege, we will join together to fight as one.” Other members include such diverse groups as the American Association of Advertising Executives, the Screen Actors Guild, the Recording Industry Association of America, and the Newspaper Association of America.
Many of the groups in the assembly first came together in 1998 to push for the passage of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, which made it illegal to circumvent electronic encryption devices.
Posted February 28, 2000.