Communication scholarship on copyright spills over into policy, role playing as policymakers in copyright specifically creates better outcomes

Scholars, who we believe have much to lose and little to gain from this new venue, have several points of entry into the CCB as policy. First, they can participate in the Copyright Office process, which is public. Large publishers, as usual, track these processes and vociferously participate. It will be important to document how important fair use is to scholarly practice and to show that typically universities do not carry legal responsibility for their scholars’ own work. Our survey research documents the level of intimidation of even what the Copyright Office (and large publishers) regard as “small” claims. Second, scholars can document the uses to which the CCB is put, and the effects—personal, cultural, and scholarly. We anticipate that the new venue will be used in many areas of interest to communication and Internet scholars, e.g., memes, TikTok videos, and “configurable culture” (Sinnreich, 2010). Third, scholars can act as public intellectuals. They can educate the public, particularly the creator public, about the implications of a process that operates extrajudicially, to further tilt the legal playing field away from the creator and toward large publishers. Further, they can widely share the fact that defendants have the right to opt out of the CCB proceedings. As one legal scholar, Peter Jaszi, told us repeatedly, “Just say ‘no’” (Jaszi, personal communications, February 4 & 5, 2021) Finally, they can educate themselves, their colleagues, students, institutions, and gatekeepers regarding the low risk of competently exercised fair use, as delineated for instance in the International Communication Association’s (2010) Code of Best Practices in Fair Use for Copyright Research. Non-U.S. scholars as well should take note of this innovation. There is a long history of U.S. copyright maximization strategies being promoted through bilateral and international treaties, in the name of harmonization. In short, scholars must take on the role of policy actors as well as researchers in the copyright arena. Copyright’s biggest issues touch immediately on communication and Internet studies research. Research-based advocacy must go hand in hand with empirical research.