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 that might affect the economic or competitive interests of market incumbents, accordingly, are unlikely at present. This places some of the more far-reaching copyright reform proposals that have been articulated—such as curtailing copyright holders’ power to control derivative works, drawing other bright-line boundaries that limit the scope of copyright holders’ rights as against members of the public, or resuscitating statutory formalities —off the table almost irrespective of their merits in supporting a sustainable commons. It is also probably too much to expect Congress to revisit the statutory termination regime itself, in view of the effects that amendments to this portion of the statute would have on both authors and publishers, although it seems quite debatable whether the termination regime has in fact accomplished its purpose.

More narrowly targeted statutory reform, however, may enjoy better prospects. The unintended threats that the statute’s termination provisions pose to open-content licensing schemes may be remedied without affecting the remainder of the statute. Statutory amendments to protect open-content projects from the risks of termination might take two forms. Congress might amend the statute’s termination provisions to exclude certain transfers and licenses from their scope, much as the statute presently excludes works made for hire and transfers by will. In the alternative, Congress might empower a government agency to promulgate exceptions to the statute’s termination regime, much as the Librarian of Congress presently enjoys the power to craft exceptions to the statutory anticircumvention provisions of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.