The last time Congress made a major revision to the Copyright Act, "the more advanced 8-track tape was pushing aside the less advanced reel-to-reel tapes in the audio marketplace," Representative Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) said during a speech last month at the Library of Congress.
That was 1976 before the Internet, electronic books, and before music and software pirating became big business. These technologies have ushered in complex and unsettled legal issues that affect the public at large.