strengthening of GATT procedures, which would be very beneficial to our industry and to many others. It forces U.S. companies to abandon copyright on some valuable manufacture, it is vital that these manuals be printed at the In summary, I would like to reiterate my support for the Berne It is fully consistent with the objective of the Administration to promote intellectual property rights protection worldwide. o It is consistent with one of the major themes Congress expressed in the Trade Act of 1985, which gave the Government authority to negotiate and use tools to secure the adoption of adequate and effective protection of intellectual property by our trading partners. O It will indeed strengthen our hand in negotiating improved protection of U.S. intellectual property in the world marketplace. Clearly, the opinion of my industry is that the U.S. should sign the Convention. 50-320 0 - 87 - 9 June 13, 1986 CBEMA Senator Charles McC. Mathias, Jr. United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary Washington, D.C. 20510 Dear Senator Mathias: Following the April 15 hearing on adherence to the Berne Convention, you asked us to respond to the question: What are the advantages and disadvantages, in each of your member of the Berne Convention? (a) Ultimately, despite any disadvantages which you may cite, do The advantages of Berne to the computer industry are: о O It provides a higher level of protection than does the U.C.c. Signing it would improve the U.S. position in negotiations with countries that are not adhering to accepted international intellectual property protection standards. Successful completion of negotiations with countries currently pirating computer software would save our industry over $125 million per year. These revenues would be used in part to support more jobs in the research and development that leads to new software products for the future. Berne adherence would require changes to the Manufacturing Clause We see no disadvantages for our industry in Berne adherence. Please let us know if we can be of further help. Sincerely, نسل Vico E. Henriques Senator MATHIAS. Thank you very much, Mr. Henriques. STATEMENT OF MORTON DAVID GOLDBERG Mr. GOLDBERG. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I am Morton Goldberg, of Schwab Goldberg Price & Dannay in New York. I am a member of the ad hoc working group, but I am appearing this morning in my capacity as proprietary rights counsel to the IIA, the Information Industry Association. This testimony is supported also by the USCIB, the U.S. Council for International Business, which is submitting its own statement to the subcommittee. Mr. Chairman, we urge that the United States do what it should have done 100 years ago this September: Adhere to the Berne Convention, to recognize more fully the obligations of the United States in the international copyright community and to assert its rights more effectively. In support of that position- Senator MATHIAS. Fortunately, we still have the door open. Mr. GOLDBERG. We still have the door open, Mr. Chairman; and it's a front door, rather than the back door we've used so far. We think that the front door is more appropriate for the United States. In support of that position, Mr Chairman, the IIA offers its perspective on effective international copyright protection in new information technology-simply put, increasingly important in a marketplace that is increasingly global. In the global economy, the United States is, by far, the world's leading provider of data base services, and the transfer of information among nations is becoming as significant as the transfer of goods and capital. Why should the United States adhere to Berne? From the standpoint of the information industry, and authors and creators generally, there are a number of reasons. Let me tick off some of them. One, Berne has a no-formalities approach to copyright, which makes sense for protecting works like data bases and computer software. Two, adherence would eliminate the legal significance of uncertainty as to when a data base has been published. Three, Berne has high minimum standards for protection, which is important in new technology. Four, WIPO, the Berne secretariat, has an interest and an expertise in new technology. Five, adherence would eliminate the needless expense of entering Berne by the back door, through so-called simultaneous publication, and would eliminate also the uncertain legal and political consequences that go with it. Six, it would give us additional copyright relations with countries that belong to Berne but not the UCC. Seven, it would give us a better bargaining position in copyright negotiations with the countries that are havens of international piracy. Last-and a very important last, Mr. Chairman-in the forthcoming round of multilateral trade negotiations of the GATT, the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, we should negotiate for provisions to enforce, under the GATT, copyright standards based on Berne. Berne adherence would facilitate our doing just that. These advantages make Berne adherence important, Mr. Chairman; the rapid pace of technology and the rapid pace of international piracy make adherence urgent. In closing, let me say that resolving all the questions in Berne adherence may, as the proverb has it, require a journey of many miles, but it must begin with a single step. Mr. Chairman, we commend you and the subcommittee for that first step in these hearings. You have shown insight and foresight in your introduction of Senate Joint Resolution 169 to commemorate the 1990 bicentennial of our first patent and copyright laws. That year will likely be the year of the diplomatic conference for the next revision of the Berne Convention. It would befit the bicentennial for this country not merely to observe such a diplomatic conference, as it has been restricted to doing in the past, but to take its seat at the table as a full member of the international copyright community. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. [Mr. Goldberg's submissions for the record follow:] Information Industry Association 555 New Jersey Avenue, N.W., Suite 800 Washington, D.C. 20001 202/639-8262 Cable: INFORMASSN WASHINGTON PROPOSED ADHERENCE of the UNITED STATES BERNE CONVENTION Testimony INFORMATION INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION Before the UNITED STATES SENATE SUBCOMMITTEE ON PATENTS, COPYRIGHTS, AND TRADEMARKS April 15, 1986 |