REVISION OF COPYRIGHT LAWS TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 1936 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, The committee met at 10 a. m., Hon. William I. Sirovich (chairman) presiding. Bills referred to in the hearings will be found at the beginning of the appendix.) The CHAIRMAN. The committee will now come to order and hearings will begin on copyright. The three bills before the committee a the Duffy bill, the Daly bill, and the Sirovich bill. The subject of copyright embraces newspapers, magazines, periodicals, publications, authors, composers, novelists, dramatists, poets, motion pictures, distributors, exhibitors, mechanical device people, record people, phonograph people, radio people, hotels, restaurants, and countless other industries. The purpose of this committee is to give a fair and square hearing to every party who is interested in the copyright bill. The first witness that the committee is going to call is Mr. Gene Buck, president of the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers. Will you take the witness stand, Mr. Buck? STATEMENT OF GENE BUCK, PRESIDENT OF THE AMERICAN SOCIETY OF COMPOSERS, AUTHORS, AND PUBLISHERS The CHAIRMAN. Mr. Buck, do you wish to read a statement, and do you wish to give your statement without any interruption? Mr. Buck. Mr. Chairman and gentlemen of the committee, I would be deeply grateful if I would be permitted to make the statement uninterrupted, and I would be happy at the conclusion to answer any questions the committee may put to me on this all-important question. My name is Gene Buck. I am an author and president of the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers, member of the council of the Authors' League of America, a director of the American Dramatists. As an author, I have written 20 Follies for the late Florenz Ziegfeld, 16 Midnight Frolics, and some other plays. I come before you gentlemen to submit for your consideration the ideas of the men who create the songs of the Nation, in opposition to the Duffy bill, which passed the Senate and which is now before you gentlemen for consideration in the House of Representatives. I realize that to some of you that what I am going to say may sound a bit repetitious, but inasmuch as there are many new members of the committee, inasmuch as this Congress has been sensitized by propaganda from the users of music, I believe that every Congressman Las heard in some way from the hotel owners, the broadcasters, possibly the motion-picture exhibitors and those gentlemen who utilize creative property. 53579 HEARINGS BEFORE THE COMMITTEE ON PATENTS HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES SEVENTY-FOURTH CONGRESS SECOND SESSION REVISED COPY FOR USE OF THE COMMITTEE ON PATENTS WASHINGTON, D. C., FEBRUARY 25, 26, 27 MARCH 3, 4, 5, 10, 11, 12, 17, 18, 19, 24, 25, 26, 27, 31 and APRIL 1, 2, 3, 7, 8, 9, 10, 13, 14, 15, 1936 |