By Alex Byers | POLITICO
The House intellectual property subcommittee is preparing to undertake a massive examination — and quite possibly, revision — of the nation’s copyright laws just as the panel’s top Democrat may be headed for the exit.
President Barack Obama has tapped Rep. Mel Watt (D-N.C.) as his nominee to lead the Federal Housing Finance Agency. While the IP subcommittee ranking member has a long way to go before Senate confirmation, his nomination raises the possibility of a Democratic leadership shuffle. The move would reopen all of the panel’s leadership slots, with members getting their pick based on seniority.
Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) would be first in line for the top spot — and while he previously chose to lead the minority on the Constitution subcommittee, he told POLITICO a move wouldn’t be out of the question.
That’s a development that would likely please content companies, as Nadler is widely seen as a friend to the music industry. Last year, he circulated a bill to boost compensation for recording artists by changing the royalty rate structure.
Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.) would also be a candidate to take over the subpanel, given that she’s currently directly behind Watt in seniority. Her ascension could prompt cheers from the tech industry and boos from content companies — her Digital Millennium Copyright Act reform bill, for example, is likely to displease copyright incumbents.
Should Watt get through, his vacated leadership slot would be highly sought after with copyright reform looking to draw out over the next several years.
“The IP subcommittee is the ‘it’ girl of policymaking in the tech world, and we hope to see a leader who will keep an open door to owners’ rights,” said Andrew Shore, executive director of the Owners’ Rights Initiative.
