Anti-IP turn for the GOP?

According to the American Conservative, it appeared that the Republican Study Committee was moving towards modernizing the Republican approach to intellectual property law.

A Republican Study Committee policy brief released today to members of the House Conservative Caucus and various think tanks lays out “three myths about copyright law” and some ways to go about correcting what many see as a broken system. Derek Khanna, the RSC staffer who authored the paper, acknowledges an important role for intellectual property while also pointing out how badly the current system has gone off track.

The paper also suggests four potential solutions:

1. Statutory damages reform — in other words, saving granny the legal headaches
2. Expand fair use — set those DJs free!
3. Punish false copyright claims
4. Heavily limit copyright terms, and create disincentives for renewal

That would be a heck of a start towards making copyright actually incentivize innovation, rather than stifling it, as it most often does today.

Unfortunately, it appears that the RSC has now withdrawn their support of that policy paper.   Read the whole story here.