On 3/20/13, the Register of Copyrights announced to Congress: "Thank you for the opportunity to appear before you today to discuss the state of our copyright law. The law is showing the strain of its age & requires your attention. Authors dont have effective protections, good faith businesses dont have clear roadmaps, courts dont have sufficient direction, & consumers & other private citizens are frustrated. The issues are numerous, complex, & interrelated, & they affect every part of the copyright ecosystem, including the public. Congress should approach the issues comprehensively over the next few years as part of a more general revision of the statute. A comprehensive effort would offer an occasion to step back & consider issues both large & small, as well as whether & how they relate to the equities of the statute as a whole. This Subcommittee has an opportunity to do what its done before, to put forth a forward-thinking framework for the benefit of both culture & commerce alike."<p>jnazario announced Harvard Law School's (HLS) free MOOC on copyright to HN.<p>Based on this free HLS CopyrightX MOOC & the Copyright Register's 3/20 testimony, I see now as the best time in the last 50 years for people who are deeply affected by copyright to begin to work together on reforming that law.<p>Kirby Ferguson's closing words: "The common good is a meme that was overwhelmed by intellectual property. It needs to spread again. If the meme prospers, our laws, our norms, our society, they all transform. That's social evolution & it's not up to governments or corporations or lawyers… it's up to us."<p>There is a SE (eg. StackOverflow) community proposal called CopyrightX that could be a very effective means of democratically implementing copyright reform to put the common good back at the forefront of copyright law.<p>Any thoughts you all might have on ways to raise awareness?<p>http://copyrightx.org