”The DMCA was supposed to provide balance between service providers and content owners, but instead it provides harmful ‘safe havens’ under which many platforms either pay nothing or pay less than market value for music”.

In total, three letters have been circulated: one from the music organizations and managers, one from artists and songwriters, and one from creators. All three come to the conclusion and agreement that the DMCA needs to be reformed to protect intellectual property.

The DMCA was enacted in 1998, and was forged during the formative years of the internet. In the current atmosphere, it simply isn’t doing enough to prevent piracy, and often encourages it. Just moments after infringing content is taken down from a place like Google results, the exact same content is commonly re-uploaded. That forces content owners to constantly issue takedowns, often in a fruitless battle for control.

Beyond this artist group, several others have spoken out via the US government’s public consultation regarding DMCA safe harbor provisions.

Online, Fight For The Future and a popular YouTube channel, ChannelAwesome, have started a campaign against DMCA abuse. The channels have already generated over 210,000 views on YouTube, 4,000 YouTube video comments, and 50,000 comments to the Copyright Office via TakedownAbuse.org.

This public consultation will draw to a close at end of day today.