- The following WASHINGTON, D.C., February 5, 1988 "The Recording Industry Association of America ("RIAA") supports U.S. adherence to the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works ("the Berne Convention"). While it is not clear that Berne adherence would offer the U.S. recording industry any immediate benefit in terms of substantive legal protection, RIAA believes that adherence would serve the long-term interests of the music industry and the entire copyright community in combatting the crisis of global piracy. Specifically, RIAA believes that U.S. adherence to Berne would: Enable the U.S. to benefit from the expertise of the Berne Secretariat. Give the United States a voice in the most important world copyright forum. Because of U.S. withdrawal from UNESCO which administers the Universal Copyright Convention ("UCC"), it is currently all the more important for the United States to let its voice be heard as a full member of the most significant forum for resolving international intellectual property problems, especially at a time when the Berne community is grappling with the critical issue of modernizing international copyright law to meet the challenge of new technologies. Enable the U.S. to be an influential leader within Berne, to promote a unified system of copyright around the world and strengthen U.S. negotiations for stronger copyright laws in lesser developed countries and other foreign nations. RIAA support for the principle of Berne adherence should not be construed as diluting its commitment either to continued membership in the 1971 Geneva Convention or to the possibility of adherence to the 1961 Rome Convention. Indeed, RIAA expressly conditions its support for Berne on its understanding that the Berne Convention does not in any way preclude U.S. membership in other copyright treaties. In addition, RIAA's support of adherence to Berne is premised on the following understandings: O No rights of authors in their literary and artistic works under U.S. copyright law will be enlarged because of adherence to the Berne Convention. The Berne Convention is not self-executing or No changes in state or federal law will be -more No federal moral rights law need or should be Convention. Existing U.S. moral rights law is The Copyright Act does not provide any author with rights of paternity or integrity and those rights shall not be imported into the U.S. copyright law by U.S. adherence to Berne. No retroactive protection would be afforded works already in the U.S. public domain prior to the time of adoption of the Berne Convention. Copyright proprietors would retain the right to affix notice to products and register copyrights on a voluntary basis and would be entitled to statutory benefits (e.g., the right to attorney's fees and statutory damages) for such voluntary acts." XXX During wrap-up hearings held February 9 and 10 before your Subcommittee on Courts, Civil Liberties, and the Administration of Justice, a suggestion was made that the existing "mechanical license" under Section 115 of the U.S. Copyright Act is inconsistent with Berne. To the contrary, existing U.S. law providing for the mechanical license is fully consistent with the Berne Convention. Article 13(1) of the Berne Convention provides that: Each country of the Union may impose for itself reservations and conditions on the exclusive right granted to the author of a musical work and to the author of any words, the recording of which together with the musical work has already been authorized by the latter, to authorize the sound recording of that musical work, together with such words, if any; but all such reservations and conditions shall apply only in the countries which have imposed them and shall not, in any circumstances, be prejudicial to the rights of these authors to obtain equitable remuneration which, in the absence of agreement, shall be fixed by competent authority. Pursuant to this article, a compulsory licensing system must include the following to satisfy the Convention requirements: (1) the owner of copyright in the underlying musical work (including any accompanying words) must have consented to an earlier recording of the work; 1020 Nineteenth Street, N.W., Suite 200 Washington, D.C. 20036 Telephone: 202/775-0101 The Honorable Robert W. Kastenmeier February 25, 1988 Page Two (3) the compulsory license must have effect only in the country granting it; the copyright owner must obtain "equitable remuneration" fixed, in the absence of agreement, by competent authority. As outlined in detail by the Ad Hoc Working Group on U.S. Adherence to the Berne Convention in its Final Report (attached), the U.S. mechanical license is fully compatible with the Convention requirements. Notably, mechanical licenses also exist in at least two Berne signatories, the United Kingdom and West Germany. We would appreciate inclusion of this explanation in the record. Respectfully submitted, RECORDING INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION Fond Weal Apne D. Neal Deputy General Counsel Enclosure |