Sending a request to propose and sponsor a bill

Dear Representative Brad Miller, I am making a request for you to propose and sponsor a bill that would increase the protections of Fair Use and discourage litigation abuse by copyright holders, and fraudulent trade practices by third party copyright law firms that act as though Fair Use doesn't exist. I am Brian D. Hill, I run the political news and journalist website USWGO Alternative News blog, I have been sued months ago by a frivolous lawsuit throwing company, Righthaven LLC, I also do non-commercial photography as a hobby, and I do create a lot of my own content so I know how important copyright protections are but in many cases Fair Use also needs to be enforced as well since copyright holders would never approve getting permission to openly criticize them by journalists. In some cases only Fair Use would give journalists, bloggers, and filmmakers a right to criticize and create documentaries without fear of litigation and court fees.

The bills name I suggest is the Fair Use Commission Act also known as FUCA of 2011
This is the ideas I have for the bill I wish that you will propose in the House of Representatives. 1. The Fair Use Commission would be a Federal commission where they conduct inquiries and propose whether somebody has committed copyright infringement or Fair Use which is protected under the Copyright Act statutes. 2. This commission would be a way to prevent litigation abuse against Fair Use protected acts by copyright trolls and copyright holders, using frivolous and vexatious tactics, to censor the news, to stifle criticism, and to stifle Freedom of Speech. 3. This commission would not contempt any court proceedings but be a guideline to protect Fair Use rights without costly litigation trials, being forced to admit guilt of copyright infringement since court costs to fight for any rights is beyond what any poor person and person under Social Security disability income can even afford, and bankruptcy. People would be forced to abandon their Fair Use Rights simply because they cannot afford the legal costs of court trials while corporations can get law firms to keep court trials ongoing for years forcing many poor people to abandon their fair use rights in order to make their court case to go away. 4. The commission members would be elected solely by the American people, instead of being appointed by the President since President Obama has a conflict of interests regarding heavy copyright enforcement and has never shown to be for Fair Use rights. We need a uncorrupted commission that would serve as the counsel for which Fair Use rights can be fought under. Each member of this commission would have a term of 1 year to which that member would have to be reelected as the commission member. 5. The commission can request affidavits of those accused of copyright infringement, and request to the accused to be allowed to collect evidence to clear the name of anybody accused of copyright infringement. Then if the copyright holder still wishes to start a trial against somebody ruled as protected by Fair Use, then the Defendant can simply send a motion to dismiss the case based on the Fair Use ruling by the Fair Use Commission. 6. The commission memberships can have up to a minimum requirement of 10 Intellectual Property and patent attorneys, 3 law professors, 10 independent artists, 10 independent photographers, and those not affiliated by Multi-billionaire corporations since they have the power to corrupt any level of the Federal Government. The commission must have rules in place that prohibit corporate interests from being allowed to infiltrate this commission due to

the corruption corporations have breed for law and injustice. 7. This commission would have the power under law to protect the peoples Fair Use rights and still allow blatant copyright and patent infringements to still be pursued in court. That way we can balance out all of the problems with Fair Use being open to force people that cannot pay court costs to abandon their Fair Use rights. 8. Commission members would be barred from accepting bribes as bribes would damage the Fair Use exemptions and force many who cannot afford to pay legal costs to attend a court trial just to be granted their Fair Use Rights that was suppose to be ruled by this commission. 9. The courts can still be used to fight for Fair use but for those that can afford hefty court fees can fight for Fair Use and the rights to use portions of copyrighted material for educational purposes.

Reasons why I am proposing such a bill be proposed and sponsored

The reasons why the Fair Use Commission Act is necessary and needs to be proposed as a bill is because millions of poor and tax paying Americans are at risk of copyright infringement by litigation abuse and vexatious lawsuits even though many judges will rule Fair Use and that no law was broken. Righthaven LLC's vexatious, Frivolous, and completely out of line litigation tactics for Fair Use covered cases is one of the reasons I am requesting that you propose this act and get it to the Judiciary committee. Many poor bloggers including those under the Social Security Disability program, cannot afford to pay any court fees to simply fight for their Fair Use Rights and many would have a difficult time getting a judge to recover the legal costs that the poor and disabled defendants had to pay for a lawsuit that never should have happened under Fair use grounds. As with many Righthaven court cases, as you may see on Righthaven Lawsuits website [1], many are forced to settle out of court due to the fact that to fight for Fair Use rights to use bits and pieces of copyrighted and informational material for educational and non commercial purposes, many would have to pay thousands of dollars in court fees with little chance of being able to recover those fees. Many are forced to do Legal Funds just to afford the burdensome court costs just to attend trial and the costs to travel to out-of-state court houses and that as well would never be reimbursed by the court as a judge would never make the plaintiff pay the traveling costs which is ridiculous to the poor and disabled that get picked on like easy prey when they had a right under Fair Use exemptions under the Copyright Act. Even Clayton Cramer of the Armed Citizen website [2] stated on the Las Vegas Sun newspaper that "We settled with Righthaven because while we believe that a trial would have given a tiny judgment (if any) against us, the costs of proceeding to trial would have been tens of thousands of dollars with no certainty that we would ever be able to recover those legal costs. We would have needed to come up with that enormous amount of money before going to trial. The enormous costs of going to trial in a civil suit effectively mean that if you aren't a multimillionaire, you can't afford justice.'' Also from the Las Vegas Sun [3], it appears that Judge Navarro on Monday rejected a request by Leons co-defendant and fellow veterans' advocate, Denise Nichols, that she require Righthaven to reimburse her for $1,500-$1,600 in legal costs. So that is even more proof that judges will never let defendants recover any legal costs that are forced to pay for the court that are clearly under Fair Use and that no marketable harm was ever inflicted upon the newspapers. So for the proof I have given to you copyright enforcers and trolls have abused the peoples Fair

Use and Constitutional rights, due to the fact that Fair Use is debatable since there are no specific guidelines and if specific guidelines were added then some that would need Fair Use protections wouldn't be granted any rights. Even if the judges will make law firms pay out money to the defendants, they have the money and manpower to keep a case going for years on end. Many veterans, and poor would simply rather settle then fight for any fair use rights because it is cheaper to admit guilt to a crime then it would be to have any rights whatsoever. [1]http://dockets.justia.com/search?query=Righthaven+LLC [2]http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2010/sep/30/righthaven-reaches-settlement/ [3]http://www.vegasinc.com/news/2011/jul/12/righthaven-litigating-over-defendants-fees-hit-new/ This further proves that courts will force poor people to abandon their rights because it is cheaper to have no rights then it would be for a multi-billion dollar corporation that probably has the right to break copyright laws as they have the money to break laws and bribe the judges. There is no fair use rights for the poor and middle class in the court room unless they got lots of money they are willing to flush down the toilet. Many would now be fearful to educate the public as going to trial will mean that anything we do that is covered under fair use will cost us and force many people including teachers to quit teaching and educating the public unless they are granted permission but are limited to what they are allowed to teach. This is unacceptable as copyright law was never to control knowledge or the history books. Copyright law was meant to encourage creativity but the facts used in courts are far from what the copyright law was intended for therefore sponsoring and creating this bill is a must in order to protect the Fair Use Rights of the common people.

The fiscal budget of this commission would be as follows

Half of the budget of this commission can be from individual donors only, not corporate donors or PACs. The employment can be part time of those that finished law school and have knowledge in Intellectual Property laws and Fair Use Exemptions. People can also register to volunteer to be a outof-district member of the commission where they get no money for their work on the commission but can work under a voluntary basis for the simple work to the public instead of giving their time to shady charitable organizations that usually do not help the people they stated that they will help. Also this commission could be formed in any university that agrees to the idea so that law students can actively work to protect Fair Use Rights. I know with the budget deficit times are tough but if we let litigation abuse occur time and time again then more people will be out in the streets or forced to go bankrupt because they can't generate enough money in their legal fund to pay the court costs inflicted upon them. You can talk to other congressmen and ask for their opinion on the fiscal budget for this commission if this act passes after it is drafted to the House of Representatives. I also like to acknowledge that the costs of resources for court trials over Fair use cases are also in question and that this commission would be the ones to acknowledge what is Fair Use. Since the Protect IP Act may become law and further force bloggers to pay court fees to fight for their Fair Use, I urge you to sponsor this bill idea of a Fair Use Commission. I also urge you to spearhead the DMCA, copyright act, Protect IP Act, and the bill that criminalizes YouTube streaming media to comply with the Fair Use Commission before any court trial or arrest can be made against copyright infringers. Fair Use Commission must protect the rights of the poor and middle class that cannot afford lawyers to have their Fair Use Rights before a DMCA take-down notice can even

proceed, before any lawsuit can arise, and even before the attorney general would be allowed to sue anybody they want because the poor are not being given Fair Use rights because they cannot afford it and it is not right. Copyrights were never intended upon taking away rights to educate, criticize, and run a non profit political organization even during the foundation of this country. Copyrights were only meant to protect peoples ideas from being stolen and allow media organizations to make a good profit, but never to take away rights to criticize, make fun of, educate, running a non-profit political organization, and freedom of speech. Many educational and political groups and blogs rely on Fair Use and by not taking the steps to ensure Fair Use is enforced, many political newspapers and organizations will disappear and many blogs will disappear including a blog I operate since I heavily rely on Fair Use to get the truth out to the American people. Best Regards, Brian D. Hill Founder and head Reporter USWGO Alternative News (uswgo.com) Home: 000 0. 000 000. Mayodan, NC 00000 (Home)336-000-0000