FILM INTEGRITY ACT OF 1987 TUESDAY, JUNE 21, 1988 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, SUBCOMMITTEE ON COURTS, CIVIL LIBERTIES, AND THE ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE, COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY, Washington, DC. The subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 10 a.m., in room 2237, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Robert W. Kastenmeier (chairman of the subcommittee) presiding. Present: Representatives Kastenmeier, Synar, Schroeder, Berman, Bryant, Cardin, Moorhead, Hyde, Lungren, and Coble. Staff present: Michael J. Remington, chief counsel; Virginia E. Sloan, counsel; David W. Beier, counsel; Joseph V. Wolfe, associate counsel; and Judith W. Krivit, clerk. Mr. KASTENMEIER. The committee will come to order. Mr. MOORHEAD. Mr. Chairman, I ask unanimous consent that the subcommittee permit the meeting to be covered in whole or in part by television broadcast, video broadcast and/or still photography, pursuant to Rule 5 of the Committee Rules. This really doesn't say whether it can be covered black and white or whether the black can be colored later on. We will have to decide that later. Mr. KASTENMEIER. Without objection, the request is agreed to. Today is the second day of the subcommittee's hearings on artists' rights. Two weeks ago, we heard testimony about the issue of the rights of visual artists, and today we turn our attention to the integrity of films. The subcommittee has been considering this complex and important issue in other contexts as well. Last fall and winter, we held extensive hearings on the Berne Convention, where the issue of moral rights was a key question. These hearings are being held because the subcommittee declined to treat this particular subject in the Berne bill, but at the same time we had suggested or proposed to the proponents of the provision that in fact we would consider this issue in separate hearings, and these hearings are a response to that. We actually have a number of proposals before us today, and we will ask the witnesses to address all of them. First of all, we have H.R. 2400, the Film Integrity Act of 1987, introduced originally by our colleague Richard Gephardt, of Missouri. Secondly, we have an informal proposal by the Director's Guild to impose a moratorium on colorized films. (1) And we also have an amendment that was recently approved by the House Appropriations Committee, which I think, it is generally conceded, would appropriately belong in this committee as matter of jurisdiction, but nonetheless was passed as an amendment to the Interior appropriations bill and is pending before the Rules Committee. This would require the labeling of altered films and a national commission to designate certain films as culturally, historically or aesthetically significant. All of these proposals raise numerous constitutional and statutory questions. They are serious questions that deserve serious review. That is the purpose of this hearing and of the inquiry currently being conducted by the Copyright Office at my request and at the request of my colleague, the gentleman from California, Mr. Moorhead. [A copy of H.R. 2400 follows:] I 100TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2400 To amend title 17 of the United States Code to provide artistic authors of motion pictures the exclusive right to prohibit the material alteration, including colorization, of the motion pictures. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 13, 1987 Mr. GEPHARDT (for himself, Mr. LEVIN of Michigan, Mr. LEHMAN of Florida, Mr. MACKAY, and Mr. GLICKMAN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To amend title 17 of the United States Code to provide artistic authors of motion pictures the exclusive right to prohibit the material alteration, including colorization, of the motion pictures. 1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 4 This Act may be cited as the "Film Integrity Act of 5 1987". 2 1 SEC. 2. LIMITATION ON EXCLUSIVE RIGHTS: MOTION PIC 2 3 TURES. Chapter 1 of title 17, United States Code, is amended 4 by inserting at the end thereof the following new section: 5 "§ 119. Limitation on exclusive rights: motion pictures 6 "(a) Notwithstanding the provisions of section 106, in 7 the case of a motion picture, once the work has been pub8 lished, no material alteration, including colorization, of the 9 work shall be permitted without the written consent of the 10 artistic authors of such work. 11 "(b) During their lifetime, the artistic authors of a 12 motion picture may assign the right of consent described in 13 subsection (a) with respect to such motion picture only to a 14 third party who is a qualified artistic author. In the event of 15 incapacity or death of an artistic author, the right of consent 16 may be transferred to another qualified artistic author. In the 17 case of an artistic author who is dead or incapacitated on the 18 effective date of this section, this right of consent passes to 19 the successor identified in section 203(a)(2) of this title or, if 20 there is no such successor, then to his or her heir under law. 21 Such successor or heir may assign this right of consent only 22 to a third party who is a qualified artistic author. In no event 23 may a person who is not a qualified artistic author exercise 24 this right of consent. HR 2400 IH |