The proposal, which is being supported by liberal consumer groups and some technology companies, seeks to amend the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, or DMCA. That Act imposes restrictions on the circumvention of copy-protection and has attracted extensive criticism since it came into force in 1998. But major record labels and the Business Software Association are among those who bitterly oppose the amendments.
If passed, the new Act would allow owners of protected material to make copies of the material for "fair use" purposes even if this meant circumventing copy-protection measures. Selling copied material or any other form of copyright infringement would remain illegal.
Congressman Rick Boucher of Virginia, who first introduced the bill with Californian Congressman John Doolittle, explained the significance of this week's hearing, the first step in enacting the legislation:
"The fair use doctrine is threatened today as never before. Historically, the nation's copyright laws have reflected a carefully calibrated balanced between the rights of copyright owners and the rights of the users of copyrighted material. The Digital Millennium Copyright Act dramatically tilted the copyright balance toward complete copyright protection at the expense of the Fair Use rights of the users of copyrighted material."
Boucher says his law "will assure that consumers who purchase digital media can enjoy a broad range of uses of the media for their own convenience in a manner which does not infringe the copyright in the work."
Progress of the bill is likely to be slow with little chance of it coming into force before the end of the year.