From Testimony to Action: Proposed Legislation to Address Issues Raised by Rights Owners During Recent House Hearing
The article examines legislative proposals aimed at strengthening US intellectual property enforcement following a June 2026 House Judiciary hearing on whether existing laws remain effective against modern online infringement. The hearing focused on three major areas: online counterfeiting, digital piracy, and AI generated infringement and digital replicas. Across all three, rights holders identified the same fundamental problem: foreign operators can infringe US rights while remaining anonymous and largely beyond the practical reach of US courts and enforcement authorities.
For online counterfeiting, rights holders argued that counterfeit sales have increasingly moved from physical markets to ecommerce platforms, social networks and independent websites. Although the INFORM Consumers Act requires marketplaces to collect identifying information from sellers, verification is considered inadequate and foreign sellers can continue operating using false names and contact information. The article proposes stronger requirements, including regularly verified email addresses and contractual acceptance by sellers of US jurisdiction and electronic service of legal proceedings. These measures would make it more difficult for overseas counterfeiters to remain anonymous.
Digital piracy presents a similar enforcement problem. Amblin Entertainment representative Chris Floyd highlighted the economic impact of online piracy and the limited legal options available against piracy services operating overseas. The article notes that the United States remains a major source of traffic to pirate websites while lacking the website blocking mechanisms already used in many other countries. More than 50 countries permit some form of pirate site blocking, with evidence cited from Portugal and Australia showing substantial reductions in traffic to blocked services.
The proposed solution is US website blocking legislation modeled partly on Rule 65 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. Copyright owners would be able to seek preliminary injunctions and temporary restraining orders against foreign piracy websites, platforms and potentially ISPs. Courts could also require intermediaries to disclose available contact information about anonymous operators. The ability to obtain temporary orders without advance notice is presented as important because piracy operators can rapidly move to new domains when warned of enforcement action.
Two existing legislative proposals could provide the basis for such a system. The Foreign Anti Digital Piracy Act would allow copyright owners to petition for preliminary blocking orders targeting foreign websites or ISPs involved in infringement, although its service requirements may create difficulties when defendants are anonymous or located overseas. The bipartisan Block BEARD Act goes further by potentially applying blocking orders to search engines, social networks and other digital platforms and requires only a reasonable effort to notify the targeted operator.
The hearing also addressed AI generated digital replicas. SAG AFTRA President Sean Astin argued that performers and ordinary individuals currently have very limited protection when their image, voice or likeness is copied using AI. Such unauthorized replicas can harm professional creators but can also facilitate harassment, bullying, misinformation and defamation.
The proposed NO FAKES Act would establish a federal intellectual property right allowing individuals to control unauthorized digital replicas of their voice or visual likeness. However, the article identifies significant enforcement weaknesses in the current proposals, particularly when defendants operate outside the United States. It recommends explicitly defining when digital replica activity affects interstate commerce, establishing jurisdiction wherever that commerce is affected, and requiring online service users to maintain working email addresses through which legal proceedings can be served.
Overall, the article argues that US intellectual property law needs enforcement mechanisms specifically designed for anonymous and foreign online actors. The proposed reforms would strengthen seller identification, facilitate legal action against overseas defendants, introduce effective pirate website blocking and make AI related personality rights easier to enforce internationally. House Subcommittee Chair Darrell Issa concluded the hearing by indicating plans to advance the NO FAKES Act and introduce legislation addressing foreign pirate website blocking.
