Statement of Burt Silverman Member, Graphic Artists Guild In Support of S.1253 Before the Subcommittee on Patents, Copyrights, and Trademarks Mr. Chairman, my name is Burt Silverman. I am an illustrator with over 25 years of experience in the business. I was threatened by a major corporation that I would not be hired in the future and I would not be paid for work I had already done because I didn't want to do work for hire. It was the most outrageous and blatant example of strong-arm tactics. I had worked very infrequently for CBS only four or five times during the last ten years. This was an assignment to do an album cover. In the past, I sold only reproduction rights, and if the company wanted to own the work, I sold that separately. But in the interim that I'd last worked for them, CBS apparently felt themselves to be losing something to their freelance help and decided to make the signing of a work-for-hire agreement mandatory before commissioning any artwork, photos included. In my circumstances I feel that there was some kind of slip-up in the process. I was not given a contract, nor was I told that there would be one forthcoming. It was not until CBS was over six months late in paying me, and after I had submitted several invoices (all of them somehow lost or misplaced), indeed after I billed them for $98 in finance charges, that this ex post facto document was sent to me. The CBS lawyer-accountant who spoke to me said: (a) I would not get paid unless I signed the contract; (b) I could never work for CBS records until I agreed to work-for-hire contracts as a matter of policy; and (c) the protracted legal problems I would face to get paid would not be worth the relatively small dollar amounts being billed. In this case, $2,000 was involved and I had no recourse but to sign a work-for-hire contract. Small claims court will only deal with $1,500 and it was not enough money to be worth paying legal fees. In the future, I will refuse to do work-for-hire for CBS. I don't want to be a hero. I am vulnerable to pressure if the stakes are high enough. It is nevertheless clear to me that the way to stop this unfair practice is through legislation. For one thing, the corporations are paying terribly little for what they are getting. Secondly, they're undercutting all other wage scales that have been established painstakingly over the years, and which often are still incommensurate with the real value of the artwork produced. Advertising art, though it has been upgraded in the last few years, is still paying only about 10 percent of the billing, and yet often provides more than 80 percent of the visual pull of the ad. If you sell the artwork and the copyright for money now offered for one specific reproduction right, you are undercutting yourself and providing the purchasers with another weapon to competitively downgrade the prices paid for art. STATEMENT OF THE AMERICAN SOCIETY OF JOURNALISTS AND AUTHORS, INC. IN SUPPORT OF S. 1253 BEFORE THE SUBCOMMITTEE ON PATENTS, COPYRIGHTS AND TRADEMARKS Why We Support Reform of the Work-For-Hire Provision of The Copyright Law of 1976 The Copyright Clause of our Constitution clearly intends the creators of original works to enjoy the fruits of their labor, in order to encourage the creation of such works. Under the "work-made-for-hire" provision of the Copyright Law of 1976, the creator of a work such as a magazine article may have that creative role wrested from him or her, even prior to the creation of the work, while the mantle of "author" is settled upon another party and the actual author is deemed an "employee," albeit enjoying none of the benefits normally due an employee. Such works as magazine articles have value beyond one-time publication, with a potential for republication in digest periodicals, anthologies, and the like. Remuneration for repeated dissemination of these works should accrue to their authors, not to others who have unjustly assumed that title. This situation has been especially onerous for emerging talents who do not yet posess the stature and financial resources to resist the coercive bargaining power of publishers from whom they must seek assisgnments. The American Society of Journalists and Authors, representing our nation's independent nonfiction writers, believes that amendment of the Copyright Law, assuring creators the protection promised by our Constitution, is urgent and imperative. What is Gannett? A description of the Gannett Co. from its annual report for 1987: The company is a nationwide, diversified information company with three principal business segments in 40 states and the District of Columnbia, two U.S. territories, Canada, Great Britain. Hong Kong, Singapore and Switzerland." The newpaper segment consists of 90 daily newspapers, including USA Today, and 35 nondaily newspapers. At the end of 1987, the daily net paid circulation for ali Gannett newspapers was over 6.2 million. The broadcasting segment includes 10 television stations and 16 radio stations. The outdoor advertising segment involves the selling of ad space on billboards Gannett owns or leases in 10 states and Canada. The company's total operating revenues for the fiscal year ending December 27, 1987, according to its annual report: $3.079.447,000. The company's total assets, samme source: $3,510.250.000. Some of the places within the Gannett Co. that could use, without further payment, a photograph sold to USA Today Daily Newspapers Tucson Citizen, Tucson, Arizona Arkansas Gazette. Little Rock, Arkansas Mann Independent Journal. Marin County. The Desert Sun, Palm Springs, California The Stockton Record, Stockton, California The News-Leader, Springfield. Missoun The Ithaca Journal. Ithaca, New York The Daily Times. Mamaroneck, New York The Daily Item, Port Chester, New York The Reporter Dispatch, White Plains, New York Television stations KPNX-TV. Phoenix. Anzona KUSA-TV. Denver, Colorado WUSA-TV. Washington, D.C WTLV-TV. Jacksonville. Flonda WXIA-TV. Atlanta, Georgia Circle 34 on the Reader Service Card WLVI-TV. Boston, Massachussetts KARE-TV. Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota WFMY-TV, Greensboro. North Carolina KOCO-TV, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma KVUE-TV. Austin, Texas Radio stations KIIS AM&FM, Los Angeles, California KSDO. San Diego, California KSWV-FM. San Diego, California WDAE. Tampa-St. Petersburg, Florida WUSA-FM, Tampa-St. Petersburg. Flonda WGCI AM & FM. Chicago, Illinois KCMO, Kansas City, Missouri KCPW-FM, Kansas City, Missour KUSA, St. Louis, Missour KSD-FM, St. Louis, Missouri KOAI-FM. Dallas, Texas KKBQ AM & FM. Houston, Texas KNUA-FM, Seattle, Washington Gannett International Publishes an international edition of L'SA Today. London, England: Zurich, Switzerland. National Newspaper Sales Advertising sales offices in: New York City. Atlanta, Georgia: Chicago, Illinois: Detroit, Michigan: Los Angeles, California: San Francisco, California. Gennett New Media Services A variety of new ventures, including USA Today Books, USA Today Radio, USA Today Classline Today. USA Today Sports Hotline. USA Today Update. Gannett News Service A wire service with offices in: Arlington, Virginia: Albany, New York: Baton Rouge, Louisiana: Brevard County, Florida; New York City: Phoenix, Anzona: Los Angeles. California: San Diego, California, San Francisco, California. West Sacramento, California: Denver, Colorado: New Haven, Connecticut; Chicago, Illinois; Detroit, Michigan: Flint, Michigan: Grand Rapids, Michigan: Kansas City, Missouri: St. Louis, Missouri: Fairfield, New Jersey: Houston, Texas: Toronto, Ontario, plus Mississauga, Montreal. Quebec City. Winnipeg and 26 other cities in Canada. won-der la: a cause of astonishment or surprise: marvel b: miracle 2: the quality sense, or a state of exciting amazed admiration 3: a feeling of doubt or uncertainty adj effective or efficient far beyond anything previously known or anticipated More than 15 Years ago Dyna-Lite had the WONDERFUL idea to make Flash equipment small & lightweight. NO WONDER we became a household word to so many photographers. Doesn't it make you START TO WONDER why it took till now for our competitors to first introduce their idea of small and lightweight. Maybe they were WONDERING if we were right (all along) about what you really wanted and needed. Or maybe they were WONDERING how to do what we did so long ago. So if you ever WONDER who started everyone WONDERING, think of Dyna-Lite THE "SMALL WONDER" Dyna-Lite, Inc. Dyna-Lite. Inc. 311-319 Long we Circle 36 on the Reader Service Card |