Bergman, Marilyn, songwriter, president and chairman of the board, Amer- ican Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers: Prepared statement Coolidge, Martha, member, Directors Guild of America, Inc.: Prepared state- Donaldson, Ellen, Donaldson Publishing Co., vice president, AmSong: Pre- Eves, Jeffrey P., president, Video Software Dealers Association, on behalf of the Committee for America's Copyright Community: Prepared statement Henley, Don: Prepared statement Jones, Quincy, songwriter and member, AmSong, Inc.: Prepared statement Karjala, Dennis S., professor of law, Arizona State University, on behalf of the U.S. Copyright and Intellectual Property Law Professors: Prepared Lehman, Bruce A., Assistant Secretary of Commerce and Commissioner of 247 214 246 Menken, Alan, composer: Prepared statement 243 270 Murphy, Edward P., president and CEO, National Music Publishers' Associa- Patry, William F., professor, Benjamin N. Cardozo College of Law: Prepared Peters, Marybeth, Register of Copyrights and Associate Librarian for Copy- Reichman, J.H., professor of law, Vanderbilt University: Prepared statement Richmond, Edward, president, Association of Moving Image Archivists: Pre- Saffer, Judith M., assistant general counsel, Broadcast Music, Inc.: Prepared Schroeder, Hon. Patricia, a Representative in Congress from the State of 78 161 Weller, Michael, playwrite, screenwriter, and member, Writers Guild of Amer- 135 COPYRIGHT TERM, FILM LABELING, AND THURSDAY, JUNE 1, 1995 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, The subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 9 a.m., at the Richard H. Chambers U.S. Court of Appeals Building, 1255 Grand Avenue, Pasadena, CA, Hon. Carlos J. Moorhead (chairman of the subcommittee) presiding. Present: Representatives Carlos J. Moorhead, Sonny Bono, John Conyers, Jr., Howard L. Berman, and Xavier Becerra. Also present: Joseph V. Wolfe, counsel; Mitch Glazier, assistant counsel; Sheila Wood, secretary; Julian Epstein, minority staff director; and Betty Wheeler, minority counsel. OPENING STATEMENT OF CHAIRMAN MOORHEAD Mr. MOORHEAD. The Subcommittee on Courts and Intellectual Property will come to order. Today, the subcommittee is conducting a hearing on H.R. 989, the Copyright Term Extension Act of 1995; H.R. 1248, the Film Disclosure Act of 1995; and H.R. 1734, the National Film Preservation Act of 1995. H.R. 989, which I introduced, would extend the term of ownership of a copyrighted work from the life of the author plus 50 years to the life of the author plus 70 years. I am pleased that the ranking minority member of the subcommittee, Representative Schroeder and Representatives Coble, Goodlatte, Bono, Gekas, Berman, Nadler, and Clement are cosponsoring the legislation. This change will bring U.S. law into conformity with that of the European Union whose member States are among the largest users of our copyrighted works. The last time the Congress considered and enacted copyright term extension legislation was 1976. At that time, the House report noted that copyright conformity provides certainty and simplicity in international business dealings. The intent of the 1976 act was twofold: First, to bring the term of the works by Americans into agreement with the then minimum term provided by European countries; and second, to assure the author and his or her heirs of the fair economic benefits derived from the author's work. The 1976 law needs to be revisited since neither of these objectives is being met. In October 1993, the European Union adopted a directive mandating copyright term protection equal to the life of the author plus 70 years for all works originating in the European Union, no later than the first of July of this year. The E.U. action has serious trade implications for the United States. Ünited States and the E.U. nations are all signatories of the Berne Copyright Convention, which includes the so-called rule of the shorter term, which accords copyright protection for a term which is the shorter of life plus 70 years or the term of copyright in the country of origin. Once this directive is implemented, U.S. works will only be granted copyright protection for the shorter life plus 50-year term before falling into the public domain. The main reasons for this extension of term are fairness and economics. If the Congress does not extend to Americans the same copyright protection afforded their counterparts in Europe, American creators will have 20 years less protection than their European counterparts; 20 years during which Europeans will not be paying Americans for their copyrighted works. And whose works do Europeans buy more than any other country? Works of American artists. This would be harmful to the country and work a hardship on American creators. The second bill before us this morning is H.R. 1248, the Film Disclosure Act of 1995. This legislation seeks to protect the rights of filmmakers who fear that post production changes in films threatens the integrity of their creative works. The bill would require that films be labeled to indicate what alterations have been made and to indicate if the director, screenwriter, or cinematographer objects to these alterations. recall when the former chairman of this subcommittee, Bob Kastenmeier, held a hearing on legislation similar to H.R. 1248 at UCLA back in January 1990. At that hearing, Bob indicated that it was his belief that there are certain criteria that Congress must use in considering any dispute of this nature. They are: First, we must ask the proponents of change to bear the burden of proving that the change is necessary, fair, and practical. Second, we must always recognize and balance the legitimate rights of creators, producers or copyright holders, and the public interest. Third, a private solution negotiated by interested parties is always preferable to congressional intervention. I think this set of criteria is just as valuable today for evaluating a proposal such as H.R. 1248. I would urge all of the parties involved to get together some time this year, or as early as possible, and try to see what arrangements can be made that is agreeable to all the parties. I would really urge you to do that. I think it would be very serious to have Congress make the determination. And I think that all of you work in the same industry, and you live off of the proceeds of these films. And, surely, I think everybody should try to work out something to The third piece of legislation on the agenda for this morning's hearing is H.R. 1734, the National Film Preservation Act of 1995. In 1988, Congress established the National Film Preservation Board to focus on the important goal of film preservation. In 1992, the board was reauthorized for another 3 years. The 1992 act also called for a 1-year study of the national film preservation problem. Among the many important findings in the film preservation study was that fewer than 20 percent of feature films from the 1920's survive in complete form. For features of the 1910's, the survival rate falls to about 10 percent. Of films made before 1950, only about half survive. In addition to the study, the 1992 Reauthorization Act also called for a plan to address the issues of film preservation. Completed in August 1994, the plan entitled, "Redefining Film Preservation," was the product of 6 months of negotiations and consensus building among archivists, educators, filmmakers, and film industry executives. Under H.R. 1734, the Librarian of Congress would be able to continue implementation of the national film preservation plan. Title I of the legislation would reauthorize the National Film Preservation Board while title II would establish the National Film Preservation Foundation to raise funds to concentrate on those films that are not preserved by commercial interests such as public domain, educational, historical footage, and so forth as well as to further other parts of the national film preservation plan. This morning we have two distinguished panels of witnesses and I look forward to their testimony. [The bills, H.R. 989, H.R. 1248, and H.R. 1734, follow:] 104TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 989 To amend title 17, United States Code, with respect to the duration of copyright, and for other purposes. I IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES FEBRUARY 16, 1995 Mr. MOORHEAD (for himself, Mrs. SCHROEDER, Mr. COBLE, Mr. GOODLATTE, Mr. Boxo, Mr. GEKAS, Mr. BERMAN, Mr. NADLER, Mr. CLEMENT, and Mr. GALLEGLY) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 1 A BILL To amend title 17, United States Code, with respect to the duration of copyright, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa 2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 4 This Act may be cited as the "Copyright Term Ex 5 tension Act of 1995”. 6 SEC. 2. DURATION OF COPYRIGHT PROVISIONS. 7 (a) PREEMPTION WITH RESPECT TO OTHER |