SESAC, are among the many interested parties which have joined together to form the Coalition of Creators and Copyright Owners, to support your bill. The Coalition has submitted a written statement. My testimony today will focus on why this legislation is vital for America's music, and I will do from my personal perspective as both ASCAP's head and as a working lyricist. - term The H.R. 989 proposes to extend the terms of all copyrights in the United States by 20 years. There are two overriding reasons why that is a good idea. The first is economic extension is necessary as a matter of international trade. It is necessary if our intellectual property, which does so much for the American economy, is to be protected internationally. second is that it is the right thing to do, for the United States should do all it can to encourage creativity. copyright term will serve to encourage the tens of thousands of music creators who struggle to earn a living in this highly competitive business, and for whom the prospect of leaving an asset of their own making to their children and grandchildren is a powerful incentive. Extension of Copyright, of all forms of property, transcends both national and international boundaries. In recent years, we have seen a true internationalization of the demand for and use of copyrighted works. Music, among a wealth of other copyrighted works, flows freely among and between nations. The technological developments which have resulted in the information superhighway the National and Global Information Infrastructures - - will result in even greater ease of access to, and commerce in, copyrights, and copyrighted music, on a world-wide basis. And the creativity the world wants is overwhelmingly the creativity of our country. United States culture sets the standard for the world. America's music is what the world wants to hear, and our music is far more popular overseas than foreign music is here. That means that we have a very positive balance of trade in music, as in all copyrighted works. Last year, ASCAP alone sent $27 million overseas for performance of foreign music here, but we received $103 million for the performance of our music abroad. If we were to count the amounts received by foreign subpublishers foreign subsidiaries of American music - - publishers for foreign performances, the amount would be much greater. That is money that went straight into the pockets of American writers and publishers, supporting American workers and American businesses. As you know, the European Union has adopted a Directive, to go into effect one month from today, which will make the copyright term throughout the EU 20 years longer than it is in the United States. But because of the "rule of the shorter term," those European countries will not protect American works for those additional 20 years unless our copyright term is also lengthened by 20 years. I and my American colleagues will have less protection than our European counterparts. What's worse, we will lose -- our country will lose the 20 years of royalties - which we would otherwise earn if our country's copyright term was equal to that of the EU's. ASCAP has calculated that the loss of ASCAP performing rights revenues earned in Europe alone by American writers and music publishers for the oldest 20 years of copyrighted music the revenues that would be lost to our - - country would amount to about $14 million annually. The loss of these foreign revenues would not be fair to those of us who work so hard to create America's music, to those who invest considerable sums to bring that music to the public, or to our fellow citizens who rely on a strong United States economy. Our country needs every penny of trade surplus we can get, and enactment of H.R. 989 will ensure that we do not lose a significant portion of the trade surplus in copyrights which we receive from Europe. Mr. Chairman, if nothing else, it comes down to this: we can obtain 20 years of continued trade surplus for American creativity in the European market at no cost to ourselves, simply by enacting your legislation. If we do not do so, and do not do so now, over the next two years the following great American songs, and many others, will fall into the public domain; the revenues they and other copyrighted works would generate in Europe for another 20 years, which would serve the economic good of our country, will simply vanish: AIN'T WE GOT FUN ALL BY MYSELF APRIL SHOWERS AVALON I'LL BE WITH YOU IN APPLE BLOSSOM TIME I'M JUST WILD ABOUT HARRY LOOK FOR THE SILVER LINING MAKE BELIEVE SAY IT WITH MUSIC Logic, and our country's economic self-interest, dictate that we extend our copyright term to take advantage of this opportunity for extended protection in the European market. Let's do so by enacting H.R. 989. Mr. Chairman, thank you for introducing this vital legislation, and for this opportunity to voice our strong support for H.R. 989. Mr. MOORHEAD. Thank you. The next witness is Mr. Richmond. STATEMENT OF EDWARD RICHMOND, PRESIDENT, ASSOCIATION OF MOVING IMAGE ARCHIVISTS Mr. RICHMOND. Thank you, Chairman Moorhead and members of the subcommittee. I am going to change the pace and talk about H.R. 1734, the National Film Preservation Act of 1995. And I want to thank you for giving me this opportunity to speak in support of it. I am here today representing the Association of Moving Image Archivists. AMIA is a professional association established in 1991 to provide a means for cooperation among individuals concerned with preservation and use of moving image materials. It currently represents nearly 250 professional archivists working at more than 100 institutions in both the public and private sectors. In commenting today, I will confine my remarks to title II of the proposed legislation, which seeks to establish a federally chartered foundation dedicated to the preservation of America's film heritage. I would like to say, however, that I also fully support title I, which seeks to reauthorize the National Film Preservation Board. The Film Board is an indispensable element in ensuring that the progress made to date in dealing with the real crisis in film preservation can be continued and expanded. In 1992 Congress asked the Film Board to prepare a comprehensive report on the nationwide efforts to preserve American motion pictures. The Board, with the invaluable assistance of the Library of Congress, accomplished this task in two stages. First, it undertook an extensive 1-year study to determine the current state of film preservation throughout the United States. This study entitled, "Film Preservation 1993," persuasively demonstrated that America's film heritage is at serious risk. And Chairman Moorhead has already mentioned some of the findings of this study. Fewer than 20 percent of feature films from the 1920's survive in complete form. Of the films made from 1895 to 1950, less than half survive. Films made after 1950 continued to be endangered by many threats including color fading, the socalled vinegar syndrome, and sound track deterioration. And perhaps most alarmingly, funding for film preservation, which has never been adequate, has fallen to less than half its 1980 level when adjusted for inflation. As a second stage the Board oversaw the creation of a national plan to address these issues. The process of arriving at this plan was unprecedented. For the first time archivists, educators, filmmakers, technical specialists, entertainment industry executives and others came together to find solutions to film preservation problems. The resulting plan entitled, "Redefining Film Preservation," represents the consensus, which emerged from this process. And, Chairman Moorhead, I would like to ask if a copy of the plan could be included as part of my written statement. Mr. MOORHEAD. So ordered. [See appendix, p. 423.] Mr. RICHMOND. The centerpiece of this plan is the creation of a |