activities make it more difficult to generate the investment capital that might contribute to the economic progress of the developing countries. Further, counterfeiting and piracy inhibit local commercialization of products and development of local industries that require an adequate period of exclusivity to recover initial costs. Thus, the industrial, intellectual and artistic creativity to be found in the developing countries may be left underutilized. Recognizing these problems, on February 16, 1987, the policy-making House of Delegates of the American Bar Association adopted two resolutions aimed at prompting U.S. Government action to improve the level of intellectual property protection obtainable in foreign countries. These resolutions are as follows:

RESOLVED, that the American Bar Association supports in
principle administrative action by the Federal
Government to improve the level of intellectual proper-
ty protection obtainable in foreign countries by United
States citizens and, specifically, supports the
initiation of proceedings by the Office of the United
States Trade Representative to secure adequate and
effective levels of protection in countries which trade
with the United States.

RESOLVED, that the American Bar Association favors the
government of the United States of America taking ap-
propriate measures, consistent with other concurrent
bilateral and multilateral initiatives for the protec-
tion of intellectual property rights, to (i) insure
that the upcoming round of multilateral trade negotia-
tions under the auspices of the General Agreement on
Tariffs and Trade ("GATT") will consider the lack of
adequate and effective protection for intellectual
property rights to be a barrier to trade, (ii) press,
in such negotiations, for the early conclusion of a
code such as the pending draft GATT Code on Measures to
Discourage the Importation of Counterfeit Goods, and
(iii) seek actively within GATT to negotiate and
conclude codes and agreements to deal more generally
with ineffective and inadequate international protec-
tion for intellectual property rights.

These resolutions evidence support at the highest level in the American Bar Association for a strong effort by the United States government to obtain an effective GATT agreement on intellectual property in the upcoming round of negotiations. Although the resolutions of the Association are not specific as to the form of agreement, you will note that the second resolution does

Honorable Clayton Yeutter
Page 3

June 22, 1987

contemplate the negotiation of intellectual property codes. Such codes, which would establish rights and obligations among the signatories, would facilitate the negotiations since they would enable countries with a common interest in eliminating trade distortions to enter expeditiously into agreement. It has been suggested that conducting the negotiations within the narrow context of a code, as contrasted to amending the GATT, would reduce the problem of trade-offs unrelated to intellectual property issues.

Whatever may be the appropriate negotiating strategy and form of agreement, the American Bar Association fully supports the current GATT initiative on intellectual property and supports your efforts to bring it to a successful conclusion.

Sincerely,

Robert D. Evans

Robert D. Evans

6203P

CC:

Mr. William Marshall Lee, Chairman

Section of Patent, Trademark and Copyright Law

Mr. Robert S. Rendell, Chairman

Section of International Law and Practice

Columbia University in the City of New York | New York, NY 10027

This is to tell you that I strongly support Berne Adherence legislation (without special provision for so-called "moral rights") and hope that you will work for adoption of this legislation.

Adherence to Berne is essential if we are to play our proper role in world efforts to maintain intellectual property protection and combat piracy. According to Forbes Magazine, intellectual property and the entertainment industries are the U.S.'s second largest income producing sources. We must bend every effort to aid them effectively.

give.

Thank you for your consideration and any assistance you can

Sincerely yours,

John M. Kerochan (MB)

John M. Kernochan

Nash Professor of Law

JMK:sb

February 19, 1988

ELSEVIER

Science Publishing Company, Inc.

The Hon. Robert W. Kastenmeier

Chairman, Subcommittee on Courts, Civil Liberties,

and the Administration of Justice

House Committee on the Judiciary 2137 Rayburn House Office Building Washington, DC 20515

Dear Congressman Kastenmeier:

I am writing on behalf of Elsevier Science Publishing Co. to strongly urge your support of the United States' adherence to the Berne Convention. We believe Berne is important for the defense of U.S. copyrights and will become even more so in the future. It has been our experience in many international copyright meetings and committees that the rest of the world looks to the U.S. to provide the model in copyright matters. The U.S. is expected to be the leader, and its absence from Berne weakens international enforcement efforts.

We recognize there is concern about publisher-author relations under Berne. We do not expect problems to develop. As an international publishing company headquartered in the Netherlands, Elsevier works with authors worldwide and publishes within Berne countries without any adverse effect on our author dealings. Nevertheless, in order to preserve the present publisher-author relationships, we recommend coupling adherence to Berne with legislation which explicitly retains the existing laws which affect such relationships.

We appreciate your continuing efforts in support of appropriate copyright legislation.

Sincerely,

Kaun Hunt

Karen Hunter

Vice President and

Assistant to the Chairman

52 Vanderbilt Avenue, New York, New York 10017 (212) 370-5520 - Int'l Telex 420643 Telecopier 212 916-1288 IMPRINTS Elsevier North-Holland Excerpta Medica Elsevier Sequoia Elsevier Applied Science MEPC Cuadra/Elsevier Elsevier International Bulletins

I am writing to express my support for legislation that would make the United States an adherent to the Berne Copyright Convention.

As a small publisher of high quality artbooks, Hudson Hills
Press is not a likely victim of international piracy, so my
support of Berne is not related directly to anticipated
business benefits.

However, throughout my quarter-century in publishing, I have
been some thing of a student of copyright issues. I have long
looked forward to the time when the United States would join
the Berne Convention which, after long consideration, I feel
is the highest existing form of copyright law to which any
nation can aspire. I was therefore understandably overjoyed
as the new copyright laws of a decade ago and then the long-
awaited termination of the manufacturing clause seemed to
pave the way for Berne adherence.

The benefits of Berne in terms of piracy and trade protection
are obvious. I further believe that the risks are minimal and
manageable. Most importantly, I believe that the United States,
if it is to take its rightful position as a leader in world law,
must finally join the Berne Copyright Convention.