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STATEMENT OF GEORGE DAVID WEISS

PRESIDENT, THE SONGWRITERS GUILD OF AMERICA
ON SMALL BUSINESS COPYRIGHT PROTECTION"

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HOUSE COMMITTEE ON SMALL BUSINESS

May 8, 1996

My name is George David Weiss. For more than a

dozen years, I have been the nonsalaried, but full-time, president of The Songwriters Guild of America (SGA), representing more than 5,000 independent

businessmen and women who create American music.

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SGA is a voluntary membership organization comprised of songwriters throughout the United States and the estates of deceased SGA members. SGA provides contract advice, royalty collection and audit services, catalog administration, and numerous other benefits to our members. I appreciate the opportunity to share with the Small Business Committee SGA's views on the issues surrounding music licensing in the United States.

Although I understand that this is an oversight, not a legislative, hearing, let me be as clear as a Cole Porter lyric H.R. 789, the House music licensing bill that many members of this Committee have co-sponsored, is one of the most serious threats ever faced by American songwriters, who have made our music the most popular in the world. It would roll back the copyright protection

for creators of music that has been part of America law for decades. In so doing, it would dismantle the incentives that have made it possible for SGA members to create and to produce music that has swept the globe, music that has contributed substantially in recent years to the positive side of an otherwise bleak American trade balance equation.

I am a working songwriter and am fortunate to have been able to practice my craft full-time for a number of years. You may recognize some of my music. I collaborated on the Elvis Presley hit (and his theme song), "Can't Help Falling In Love." Also, "What a Wonderful World," recorded by the great Louis Armstrong, which was the featured song for the movie "Good Morning Viet Nam, 11 and the more recent film, "Twelve Monkeys." You may know as well "The Lion Sleeps Tonight," "Lullaby of Birdland," "Mr. Wonderful," "Too Close for Comfort, and "That Sunday, That Summer," originally recorded by Nat King Cole and later by his daughter Natalie on her album "Unforgettable."

I make my living as a songwriter. Like many of my colleagues in the industry, songwriting is virtually my only source of income, and the money I earn from the use of my songs supports me and my family. We songwriters

rely entirely on the performing rights societies (ASCAP, BMI, and SESAC) for royalty income when our work is publicly performed. Although songwriters have the ability to create music, we have no ability to track its use by others and to ensure that we receive fair compensation. That is the job of the societies, which license our creations and make certain we have an income on which to live.

Users of our music also benefit from the societies. For without such performing rights organizations, users would be forced to search for every copyright owner whose music was being publicly performed in order to get permission for such performances. Since there are over a billion public performances each year from tens of thousands of different sources, this would be an impossible task.

Like every other American, composers, lyricists, and music publishers deserve to be compensated for the use of our work. While writing songs may strike some people as an easy way to earn a living, I can assure you that it is It is extremely hard work, and tremendously competitive, and it is most often only after many years if he or she is lucky

not.

of rejection that a writer

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begins to make a living in the profession. Many writers,

even with talent, are never able to do so. I would venture to say that less than ten percent of songwriters are able to earn a living solely from creating music.

As I emphasized at the outset, most songwriters are independent small businesspeople. But we are engaged in

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a business that is far riskier than most. To the extent our work is sold or performed publicly, we should be paid for it just like anyone who provides a service or creates a product that is used by his or her customers. Intellectual property is, after all, property.

Some people, however, seemingly do not believe my creations and those of my colleagues deserve the same treatment as a painting, a pair of shoes, or for that matter a wonderful meal or an exotic cocktail. They cannot accept the idea that the performing rights societies should be allowed to act on behalf of songwriters to collect license fees for the use of our work from restaurants, bars, and other businesses that use our creations for commercial gain.

Let me be blunt:

they are my property.

these are my songs. I wrote them; While I obviously want as many

people as possible to enjoy my musical creations, if they are used, I deserve to be paid, even a nominal fee like

that negotiated on my behalf by ASCAP, the society of which I am a member. I should be treated no differently than any other small businessman.

H.R. 789 and similar legislation pending in the Senate would deprive music copyright owners of compensation for uses of our music that benefit the owners of businesses in which radio and television But when the owner of a

performances are presented. restaurant, sports bar or retail establishment decides to present radio or television performances, he or she does so because of a belief that these performances will improve the business by enhancing the atmosphere. My music, if played on a radio-over-loudspeaker system in a restaurant or store, entertains customers and pleases employees, stimulating productivity. That is why businesses play our songs to improve the environment

and their bottom line.

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If businesses are making money off the talent of songwriters, we deserve compensation.

If businesses

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