CONTENTS STATEMENTS OF COMMITTEE MEMBERS Hatch, Hon. Orrin G., U.S. Senator from the State of Utah CHRONOLOGICAL LIST OF WITNESSES Panel consisting of Kenneth R. Kay, executive director, Creative Incentive Coalition, Washington, DC; John Bettis, American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers, Los Angeles, CA; William W. Burrington, assistant general counsel and director of public policy, America Online, Inc., Vienna, VA; Robert L. Oakley, Digital Future Coalition, Washington, DC; and Dan- iel Burton, vice president of government relations, Novell, Inc., Orem, APPENDIX S. 1284, a bill to amend title 17 to adapt the copyright law to the digital, networked environment of the National Information Infrastructure, and 65 NATIONAL INFORMATION INFRASTRUCTURE COPYRIGHT PROTECTION ACT OF 1995 TUESDAY, MAY 7, 1996 U.S. SENATE, COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY, The committee met, pursuant to notice, at 10:12 a.m., in room SD-106, Dirksen Senate Office Building, Hon. Orrin G. Hatch (chairman of the committee) presiding. Also present: Senator Specter. OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. ORRIN G. HATCH, A U.S. The CHAIRMAN. We are happy to welcome you all out this morning to this very important hearing on the National Information Infrastructure Act. Good morning. This is the second in a series of hearings on the National Information Infrastructure [NII] Copyright Protection Act, S. 1284. On behalf of the Committee on the Judiciary, I would like to welcome our distinguished witnesses, as well as all who have come to observe this proceeding. I would also like to note, at the outset, that Senator Leahy, who has expressed a great interest and has been very involved in this legislation, is unable to be here due to a death in the family. Our condolences certainly go out to Senator Leahy and his whole family. I introduced the NII Copyright Protection Act, with my distinguished colleague, Senator Leahy, as cosponsor, to begin the process of establishing the rules of the road for the information highway and the information superhighway to come. Today, an estimated 10 to 40 million Americans access the Internet and its graphic component, the World Wide Web, through online access providers, and the total of Internet users is growing by some 15 percent each month. The range of products and services available on this digital network is amazing-electronic mail, bulletin board services, digital books, digital magazines and newspapers, computer software, sound recordings, video games, and motion pictures, just to name a few. Even Senator Leahy and I have web pages, although I haven't seen them listed under "What's Cool" lately. [Laughter.] But what we have now is only the promise of what is to come. The information superhighway will link not only computers, but also telephones, televisions, radios, fax machines, and more into an (1) advanced, high-speed, interactive, broad-band digital communications system. At the beginning of the automobile age, I am sure that a paved road elicited wonderment. Only the visionary could foresee the interstate highway system of today. To realize the potential of digital networks, we must create a legal environment that encourages more and more products and services to go online. Despite the array that currently exists, many content providers are holding back. They are anxious about their property rights, mainly because the digital format that provides quick, easy, and economical access also facilitates massive unauthorized copying and distribution, instant and perfect copies everywhere and every time. We must not forget that these, "content providers," are not only the big guys that some people love to hate, but also the thousands of men and women authors, composers, artists, programmers, performers, et cetera, whose creativity is rewarded through the commercial exploitation of copyrighted works. Indeed, individual_creators should be as, if not more concerned than big commercial enterprises about the potential of massive digital piracy, since, for the first time, digital networks provide individual creators with the alternative of economical self-publication. At the same time, I appreciate the balance that the Copyright Act draws between creator's rights and user's rights. Many people take to the highways for the sheer pleasure of driving and not all roads have tolls. The doctrine of fair use and the idea/expression dichotomy apply to S. 1284, as they do to the rest of the Copyright Act. In addition, I am concerned about online access provider liability and the problem of interconnectivity. I am encouraged by the ongoing negotiations on online service provider liability, both the ones chaired by Congressman Goodlatte and the ones organized by the parties themselves. Fair use is also under discussion and I am hopeful that with both of these issues, agreement will be reached. I understand that agreement has already been reached between representatives of the visually impaired and the publishing indus try. At this hearing, we cannot hope to deal adequately with these issues and with other issues raised by the bill, such as the library exemption and copyright management information. At least one other hearing will be necessary, in my view. This hearing has been structured, however, to touch on all the major themes of the bill. We have with us this morning a representative of a coalition of content providers and a representative of a coalition of online service and access providers. We also have a witness from a company with both perspectives. A witness from a performing rights society will bring a unique perspective to the discussion, and there will be a witness who will question the wisdom of the whole enterprise that we are talking about. Now, I welcome all of these perspectives. I am not wedded to every word of the text of this bill, although I agree with its basic thrust. As you know, the text of the bill comes from the report of the Working Group on Intellectual Property Rights of the Information Infrastructure Task Force. It is an excellent starting point for this committee as we begin the process of fine-tuning. Indeed, I rec ommend the report, also called the White Paper, as valuable background material to our deliberations. In the end, however, Congress will produce its own bill and its own legislative history. Now, at this point we have with us a distinguished member of the Commerce Committee, Senator Burns, from Montana, and we will turn to you, Senator Burns, for any comments you would care to make. STATEMENT OF HON. CONRAD BURNS, A U.S. SENATOR FROM THE STATE OF MONTANA Senator BURNS. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and good morning. Thank you for allowing me this short testimony this morning. I have a full statement, if I could put it in the record. The CHAIRMAN. Without objection, we will put the full statement in the record. Senator BURNS. I appreciate your leadership on this issue. As you know, whenever we passed the telecom bill and reformed the telecommunications industry, we knew by all of these new technologies that something would have to be done in order to protect the intellectual property that would be transmitted on this great new highway, and the copyright law is very important in protecting that intellectual property as we move into a global economy where business is conducted over a global information infrastructure. However, this reform doesn't get us all the way there. There are other areas that we have to address, but I don't think I have ever seen in my lifetime the amount of opportunity that will open up to the young people who are just now entering the work force in this country because telecommunications opens many, many doors. As the Senator from Utah, the chairman of this committee, understands, in our States we have to do something to eliminate distances and this is one technology that does that. In other words, it opens up doors to our rural States, our students that go to school in our rural areas and do not have access or maybe even exposure to the educational opportunities that young people in the urban areas do. So with that also opens up great business opportunities. No matter where you live, you will do business around the world and never really leave home. But with that, of course, comes piracy and the dangers. The unprecedented access to the exchange of information over that infrastructure exposes users to breaches of confidentiality, the destruction of their intellectual property and, of course, outright theft. Now, while reforming the copyright laws will give companies a legal cause of action to recover for economic espionage, it will not, standing alone, prevent that espionage, and I think that is basically what we want to do. I appreciate your leadership on this. I know how interested you are because it is very, very important to our home States, but it is also important to this country because as technology turns over-and technology, as it grows and turns over, has a tendency to displace workers-we have to use that same technology for furthering education and furthering opportunities in a global economy. I appreciate your being aware of that and your leadership on this issue. |