Mr. MOORHEAD. Mr. Weiss, we welcome you once again. STATEMENT OF GEORGE DAVID WEISS, PRESIDENT, SONGWRITERS GUILD OF AMERICA, NEW YORK, NY, ON BEHALF OF THE COPYRIGHT COALITION, ACCOMPANIED BY CARY SHERMAN, ESQ., ARNOLD & PORTER, ON BEHALF OF THE WITNESSES

Mr. WEISS. Thank you, sir.

Mr. Chairman, and members of the subcommittee, my name is George David Weiss, and I am president of the Songwriters Guild of America. SGA is a national organization representing nearly 5,000 songwriters, as well as the estates of deceased SGA members. SGA and its Songwriters Guild Foundation are also committed to aiding and educating beginning songwriters through scholarship grants and specialized guild programs.

On behalf of SGA and all the remarkable writers who create American music, I am happy to appear before you today to urge swift passage of H.R. 3204, the Audio Home Recording Act. Importantly, I am also testifying for the Copyright Coalition, founded in 1989 and consisting of more than 30 copyright advocacy groups, which strongly endorses this landmark legislation. Included in the Copyright Coalition are the National Music Publishers Association, ASCAP, BMI, SESAC, numerous State and local songwriter groups, the Authors Guild, and the Dramatists Guild. All told, the coalition represents thousands of individuals and businesses who share the goal of promoting the protection of copyrights in creative works.

I have been the nonsalaried president of SGA for 10 years. I would stress that I am not a businessman or a recording engineer, but a songwriter. I earn my living writings songs or, more accurately, I earn my living from the songs I write. You may be familiar with some of my music. I wrote "Can't Help Falling in Love," which Elvis Presley made a hit; "What A Wonderful World," recorded by, among others, the great Louis Armstrong. You may also know "The Lion Sleeps Tonight," "Lullaby of Birdland,” and “Mr. Wonderful." These songs, and all the songs I create, are my property-intangible intellectual property-protected by copyright.

I am here today to describe why I and the organizations I represent so enthusiastically support H.R. 3204. In so doing, I hope it will become clear to the subcommittee that a delicate balance has been achieved in this legislation between the desire to provide the newest technologies for the American public, on the one hand, and the need to protect the vital interests of music creators and copyright owners on the other.

The balancing of these interests in H.R. 3204 represents a historic achievement, which, if enacted into law, will end more than a decade of controversy that has consumed the energies of many people in both government and industry and has delayed the availability to the public of exciting new means for the enjoyment of music.

It is important to emphasize that H.R. 3204 addresses the issue that in the past has been most crucial for the creative music community: the substantial threat that we believe is posed by unlimited, uncompensated digital home taping. By providing for a modest royalty and a copy-limiting system, the bill implicitly recognizes

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the need to protect intellectual property rights and the economic well-being of the American music industry.

In our view the threat of digital audio recording technology lies in its ability to produce a perfect copy of an original recording and an endless series of perfect clones of that copy. Unlike analog technology, where the quality of each successive generation of copies will be degraded, digital copies of a digital recording will sound as pristine as the original regardless of whether they are the first, the fifth or the five thousandth generation.

As creators, we derive our income from the royalties we receive from the sale of records and when our music is played commercially. All songwriters depend on royalties to provide for themselves and their families. Our royalty checks are our paychecks, plain and simple. The specter of rampant uncompensated digital recording thus frightens songwriters, just as the suggestion of a plant closing strikes fear in the heart of an auto worker.

I can speak from some experience about the financial effects of new technology on our industry. When I was young-when I was younger-and starting to write, I studied and worked and wrote and studied and worked and wrote and I was a big flop. Finally, when I was about at the bottom I hit the top. I wrote a song that Frank Sinatra recorded that became number one. It was called "Oh, What It Seemed To Be." That song sold 1 million copies of sheet music. Then along came the photocopying industry. Today, a number one hit will sell at most 15,000 to 20,000 copies of sheet music. Next, of course, came analog taping. And now we have digital technology.

So, you see, songwriters have long been affected by the miracle and wonder of technology. We are not against it. In fact, it can greatly enhance our music. But we feel strongly that we must be treated fairly so that we, too, can send our kids to college.

From the testimony of my colleagues on this panel, the subcommittee is aware of the substantial benefits of H.R. 3204 to each of us. There is no need for me to repeat their statements. Rather, let me say in closing that I think it is clear to all of us who have been involved in these issues for the past decade that without the members of this subcommittee and your colleagues in the other body no compromise would ever have been forged. By rejecting piecemeal approaches to these complex issues, and by forcing the parties back to the bargaining table, you made us all focus on the broader public policies at stake and induced us to reexamine our individual demands. At bottom, that approach led to this legislation.

Mr. Chairman, on behalf of all of us in the creative community who so strongly support H.R. 3204, I want to thank you and Chairman Brooks for introducing this legislation, and Mr. Moorhead, Mr. Fish, and the many, many other members of this committee and the House for cosponsoring it. Passage of this bill would be a remarkable achievement benefiting the American public and every segment of the music industry.

We look forward to working with you in the coming weeks to make it a reality. Thank you for this opportunity.

Mr. HUGHES [presiding]. Thank you very much, Mr. Weiss, for an excellent statement.

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[The prepared statement of Mr. Weiss follows:]

PREPARED STATEMENT OF GEORGE DAVID WEISS, PRESIDENT, SONGWRITERS GUILD OF AMERICA, NEW YORK, NY, ON BEHALF OF THE COPYRIGHT COALITION

Mr. Chairman and Members of the Subcommittee, my name is George David Weiss and I am president of the Songwriters Guild of America. SGA is a national organization representing nearly 5,000 songwriters, as well as the estates of deceased SGA members. SGA and its Songwriters Guild Foundation are also committed to aiding and educating beginning songwriters through scholarship grants and specialized Guild programs.

On behalf of SGA and all the remarkable writers who create American music, I am pleased to appear before you today to urge swift passage of H.R.3204, the Audio Home Recording Act. Importantly, I am also testifying for the © Copyright Coalition, founded in 1989 and consisting of more than 30 copyright advocacy groups, which strongly endorses this landmark legislation. Included in the © Copyright Coalition are the National Music Publishers Association (NMPA); the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP); Broadcast Music Incorporated (BMI); SESAC; numerous state and local songwriter groups; the Authors Guild; and the Dramatists Guild. All told, the Copyright Coalition represents thousands of individuals and businesses who share the goal of promoting the protection of copyrights in creative works.

I have been president of SGA for ten years and my position is a non-salaried one. I would stress that I am not a businessman or a recording engineer, but a songwriter. I earn my living writing songs or, more accurately, I earn my living from the songs I write. You may be familiar with some of my music. I wrote "Can't Help

Falling In Love," which Elvis Presley made a hit; "What A Wonderful World," recorded by, among others, the great Louis Armstrong, which was the featured song for the movie "Good Morning Viet Nam"; "Stay With Me," by Bette Midler, and "That Sunday, That Summer," originally recorded by Nat King Cole and currently featured on his daughter Natalie's top selling album "Unforgettable". You may also know "The Lion Sleeps Tonight," "Lullaby of Birdland," and "Mr. Wonderful." These songs, and all the songs I create, are my property-intangible "intellectual property"--protected by copyright.

I am here today to describe why I and the organizations that I represent so enthusiastically support H.R. 3204. In so doing, I hope it will become clear to the Subcommittee that a delicate balance has been achieved in this legislation between the desire to provide the newest technologies for the American public, on the one hand, and the need to protect the vital interests of music creators and copyright owners on the other. The balancing of these interests in H.R. 3204 represents an historic achievement, which -- if enacted into law -- will end more than a decade of controversy that has consumed the energies of many people in both government and industry and has delayed the availability to the public of exciting new means for the enjoyment of music.

With that as background, Mr. Chairman, I would now like briefly to address three topics: the role of the © Copyright Coalition in reaching this compromise; the

concerns raised for creators by digital audio home taping, and the benefits of H.R. 3204 for all segments of the music industry and the American consumer.

I. Role of the © Copyright Coalition in Reaching A Compromise

When the ©Copyright Coalition was originally founded, our aim was to provide a forceful voice for creators and copyright owners seeking fair compensation for home taping of our musical works. Our initial concern was focused on legislation introduced in 1989 that would have relied solely on a technical fix--the Serial Copy Management System--to address the copyright issues raised by the advent of digital audio tape (DAT) technology. In June 1990, NMPA president Ed Murphy and I, among others, testified before the Senate Commerce Subcommittee Communications on behalf of the Coalition against that legislation. We opposed the bill principally because it did not represent a comprehensive solution: first, it did not provide for compensatory royalties to creators and copyright owners; and second, it applied only to DAT technology, not to all digital recording systems.

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In part due to the objections expressed by the © Copyright Coalition, Members of Congress urged the various interests to go back to the negotiating table, and to return when we had reached an agreement. With these negotiations successfully concluded, the Coalition can now express its unqualified support for H.R. 3204 because this bill does represent a comprehensive solution. It addresses the