Finland Writes History With Crowdsourced Copyright Law

[silicon_toad2000]

http://torrentfreak.com/finland-writes-history-with-crowdsourced-copyright-law-130722/

Finland is the first country in the world in which Parliament will vote on a “fairer” copyright law that has been crowdsourced by the public. The proposal, which obtained the required 50,000 Finnish votes just a day before the deadline, seeks to decriminalize file-sharing and legalize the copying of items that people already own.

Since last year the Finnish public has had the option of suggesting the kind of laws they want to be governed under.

A recent modification of the national Constitution allows citizens to make legislative proposals for Parliament to vote on, providing they get 50,000 supporters within six months.

One of the submitted proposals, which calls for a fairer copyright law, just reached its goal one day before the voting deadline. This makes Finland the first country in the world in which legislators will vote on a copyright law that was drafted by citizens.

Termed “The Common Sense in Copyright Act,” the proposal wants to reduce penalties for copyright infringement, increase fair use, ban unfair clauses in recording contracts, and ease the ability for people to make copies of items they already own for backup and time-shifting purposes.

The decriminalization of file-sharing will also put a stop to house searches and online surveillance of suspected copyright infringers, not uncommon events in Finland.

Last year a house search resulted in international outrage when it was revealed that a police unit raided a 9-year-old girl and confiscated her Winnie the Pooh laptop after an allegation of sharing.

Now that the goal of 50,000 votes has been reached the copyright law proposal will be put to the vote in the Finnish Parliament. This is likely to take place early next year.