Do Press Publishers Need Additional Copyright Protections? Reading the Copyright Office’s Report on Protections for Press Publishers

Abstract

In June 2022, the United States Copyright Office published a report on copyright protections for press publishers. The report was the product of a year-long study focused on whether press publishers in the United States need additional statutory protections against online news aggregators. The report concluded that they do not. This essay will discuss the history of the Copyright Office’s report and summarize its findings. Part I describes the origins and method of the study. Part II turns to the report itself, beginning with its historical background on the internet and press publishers, the rise of online news aggregators, and recent legislative efforts to buttress press publishers’ finances through copyright or competition law. Part III covers the Report’s key findings that press publishers already have significant protections under U.S. copyright law, that these protections are subject to some important limitations, but that the most important limitation is not a matter of copyright but bargaining power between press publishers and the largest search and social media platforms. Part IV briefly summarizes the report’s conclusions and recommendations.