M+E Daily

By Paul Sweeting

Whatever else it accomplishes, Tuesday’s election could have significant impact on several public policy issues affecting the copyright and technology industries.

The entertainment industry lost one of its most loyal champions when California Democrat Rep. Howard Berman, whose district covered the Hollywood Hills, was defeated by fellow Democrat and incumbent Brad Sherman, who represented an adjoining district. The unexpectedly fierce battle between the two party stalwarts was the result of redistricting and California’s open primary system, in which the top two candidates are pitted against each other in the general election regardless of party.

While Sherman is expected to be generally friendly to Hollywood, Berman has been a senior member of the House Judiciary Committee, which oversees copyright and patent law, and there is no certainty that Sherman would replace him on that critical panel.

While Republicans retained control of the House — and the committee leadership that comes with it — the leadership of the Judiciary Committee is also facing a shakeup. The current chairman, Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas) is term-limited under GOP rules for committee assignments and is expected to make a bid to chair the House Science, Space and Technology Committee, according to Capitol Hill scuttlebutt. The current chair of the Intellectual Property subcommittee, Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) is expected to replace Smith as chairman of the full committee, which would leave the gavel up for grabs on the IP panel.

Berman, a co-sponsor of the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA), was among several supporters of that controversial copyright bill who also will not be returning to Congress in January. Rep. Joe Baca (D-Calif.) was defeated in his reelection bid — like Berman, by another Democrat as a result of redistricting. Another SOPA co-sponsor, Rep. Mary Bono Mack (R-Calif.) was trailing her Democratic opponent as of Wednesday but the race had not yet officially been called. A fourth SOPA supporter, Rep. Elton Gallegly (D-Calif.) is resigning.

If Bono Mack does in fact lose, her seat on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which oversees the telecommunications issues, including the Federal Communications Committee, would also be up for grabs. For the last four years Bono Mack has chaired the Commerce, Manufacturing and Trade subcommittee of House Commerce, with jurisdiction over online privacy and data security.

The FCC, meanwhile, is expected to get a new chairman in 2013 when current chairman Julius Genachowski steps down from the post.

The changes in critical committee assignments come as several important copyright and telecommunications issues are expected to be in play on Capitol Hill. While SOPA and its Senate counterpart the Protect IP Act (PIPA) are probably dead for now, some technology and public interest groups see their demise as an opportunity to push for a rollback of other strict copyright enforcement provisions enacted over the past several years. The entertainment industry could find itself fighting at a disadvantage against that push without long-term supporters like Berman and Bono Mack in key positions.

Other issues that could affect entertainment companies is an expected push for reform of the current retransmission consent system for broadcasters and proposed elimination of the compulsory license fee that cable and satellite providers must pay to copyright owners for carrying their programs.

Stay tuned.