Copyright policy should encourage creativity, not hamper it. Excessive copyright terms inhibit our ability to comment, criticize, and rework our common culture.

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As software-enabled devices become ubiquitous, so do onerous licensing agreements and technological restrictions. If you buy something, you should be able to truly own it – meaning you can learn how it works, repair it, remove unwanted features, or tinker with it to make it work in a new way.

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• EFF: DRM Puts the Brakes on Innovation
• ARL Policy Notes: Will Dicta from Impression Products v. Lexmark Lead to the Ability to Control Your Own Devices?
• IFLA: The end of ownership of library material

Whether in the form of laws, international agreements, or website terms and standards, copyright policy should be made through a participatory, democratic, and transparent process.

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• EFF: How Closed Trade Deals Ratchet Up the Copyright Term Worldwide
• Scholarly Commons at the University of Illinois Library: Closed Doors or Open Access?: Envisioning the Future of the United States Copyright Office
• IFLA: We need access to information… about the laws that affect access to information!
• CopyBuzz: EC Withholds © Evidence (Again)
• Communia Association: Transparency and the ongoing hypocrisy around “evidence-based” policymaking
• Creative Commons: Secret negotiations, empty promises: Copyright policymaking needs sunlight for better outcomes

Freedom of expression is a fundamental human right essential to a functioning democracy. Copyright should encourage more speech, not act as a legal cudgel to silence it.

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• EFF: Copyright, The First Wave of Internet Censorship
• CopyBuzz: Censorship & the Big Little Lies of the EU © Directive
• IFLA: Copyright’s threat to freedom of expressions: IFLA submits recommendations to UN special Rapporteur
• ARL: Springer, Censorship and the Need for Open Access
• ALA: Mother Teresa and Margaret Sanger do not mix

Safe harbor protections allow online intermediaries to foster public discourse and creativity. Safe harbor status should be easy for intermediaries of all sizes to attain and maintain.

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• CopyBuzz: Online Platforms’ Catch 22 with the EU Data Protection Regulation
• IFLA: From Shelf to Platform: Why Safe Harbours Matter for Libraries
• OpenMedia: Copyright Week: it's about changing the power balance