And we're going to help

Last week, the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation held a hearing on the "Broadcast Flag" and "Audio Flag," a set of proposals by the MPAA and RIAA that would stifle innovation by giving content holders a virtual veto over new technologies and existing user rights.

But Senator Stevens, the 82-year old committee chairman from Alaska, surprised the audience by announcing that his daughter had bought him an iPod, and suddenly Stevens had a much greater understanding of the many ways innovative technology can create choice for consumers. Content industry representatives at the hearing found themselves answering much tougher questions than they typically receive.

That's why we think all Senators ought to join Stevens' esteemed company as iPod owners. Rather than wait for every Senator's daughter, we're taking matters into our own hands and buying a video iPod for the campaigns of Senators who work on legislation affecting technology. Plus, we're going to pre-load each one with examples of the cultural richness made possible by sharing and collaboration - public domain content, Creative Commons content, and audio messages about the importance of balanced copyright policy. It will be engraved with the words "listen to the people." And it will arrive at each Senator's campaign office with a letter of explanation and a list of all the people who helped pay for it.

Help us supply more Senators with their own iPods for their campaigns. Each Video iPod costs $324.42, and you can buy a whole iPod or chip in a portion of the cost. We'll take care of the rest!

While looking through the ubiquitous end-of-year lists, I stumbled on the wonderful Stay Free!'s post on their favorite stories of 2005. One of those stories was an interview with the producer of "Mad Hot Ballroom" -- a lovely indie documentary made on a shoestring budge -- and how she was able to clear so many copyrighted songs. The entire interview is a fascinating look at how copyright limits documentarians (Clearing 6 seconds of a Rocky ringtone? Halting street filming while Frito Lay trucks pass by? C'mon!!), but it also includes this bit of prescience:

Stay Free!: Were there any scenes you had to cut out of the film because of copyright?

Sewell: When we were down shooting the boys playing foosball, Ronnie yelled out, "Everybody dance now!" Just when I think we've finished the film, someone points out that we have to clear that because it's a "visual vocal cue." So I went back to the publishers, and the first publisher, Spirit, says they'll throw it in with the other things we've cleared if Warner Chappell throws it in. But Warner Chappell said, "Look, we've cut you some nice deals, we can't give this to you." They said this three-second bit would cost $5,000. And since they had Most Favored Nation status it would have raised the cost on similar uses, like the Rocky ring-tone. So I went back to lawyer and said we should keep it in because this should be a poster child for fair use. But he didn't recommend taking on the music industry. Those corporations have too much money for us to play Norma Rae our first time out.

Stay Free!: You guys should have done it and then gone to the EFF if Warner Chappell threatened you. For a clear fair use like this, lawyers are often willing to work pro bono. And the negative publicity would have scared Warner Chappell off.

Sewell: Yeah, I know, but more than anything else, it's the fear factor. That's what's discouraging.

This is cool and sad at the same time. It's neat because EFF did convince Warner Chappell to abandon (and apologize for!) a separate overzealous copyright claim just months later. But the underlying problem is tragic: all too often, creativity is hampered by the rules that are supposed to reward creators. That problem is too big to fix in fits and spurts. It requires changes to the law, not just courageous attorneys who work for free to interpret it. When I see stories like this, it makes me excited to push copyright reform as an election issue this November.