Judiciary
HomepageWhy are we here today? Because copyrights are a unique trade asset for this country. The Congress must take every reasonable step to protect them both here and abroad. In 1993, the copyright industries -- which include movies, TV programs, home video, books, music, sound recordings, and computer software -- accounted for 3.7% of U.S. Gross Domestic Product. This means $238.6 billion. Between 1977 and 1993, employment in the U.S. copyright industries more than doubled to 3 million workers, which is 2.5% of the total U.S. work force. Between 1988 and 1993, U.S. copyright industry employment grew almost four times the annual rate of the whole economy: 2.6% versus 0.7%. The copyright industries contribute more to the U.S. economy and employ more workers than any single manufacturing sector,, including aircraft, primary metals, textiles, apparel, or chemicals. In 1 993 the U.S. copyright industries achieved estimated foreign sales of $45.8 billion. After automobiles and parts, the copyright industry is the second largest industry in exports.
We are at the beginning of a new frontier in the distribution and reproduction of copyrighted works and the means by which we will communicate globally. It is predicted that the information age which is just now beginning will be a revolutionary period equivalent to the Industrial Revolution. I predict the use of the Internet and other information technology will explode once copyrighted works are protected and secure encryption technology is allowed. The development of works and technology to protect them needs to be encouraged and it needs to be regulated as little as possible. The internet clearly has the potential to change how we do things, and the industries and the countries that stay on the cutting edge of this new age of information and technology will lead the world into the 2 1 st Century and beyond. The Internet provides American creators with an exciting new method by which we can lead the world in innovation and consumer services. It has the potential of allowing intellectual property industries, from large companies to small start-up businesses, to account for an even greater trade surplus and to employ even more Americans, contributing to a healthier economy.
That is why we are here today. To start in motion a process which will encourage creativity and the development of technology. Being at the starting line has some drawbacks. We do not yet know what technologies the marketplace will develop to protect our valuable intellectual property. We do not know who will be able to have actual knowledge of the existence of a copyrighted work on the Internet or control over its dissemination. And so we must cautiously wade into this pool, testing the waters by carefully changing our successful copyright system only as needed.
The bill before us today is the product of recommendations made by the Working Group on Intellectual Property Rights of the Administration's Information Infrastructure Task Force. The Working Group held a hearing in November, 1993. They then drafted a so- called "green paper" and circulated it widely for comment, and subsequently held four additional days of hearings in Chicago, Washington, D.C. and Los Angeles. A final report was issued in September, 1995 completing 2 1/2 years of study and analysis of each of the major areas of intellectual property law. H.R. 2441 and its sister bill pending in the Senate, S. 1284, will represent the collective input of Congress, the Administration and private industry to best protect copyrighted works on the Internet.
Without objection I submit for the record a list of 43 associations, groups and government entities which have been asked to provide written testimony to supplement the hearing record which will include the testimony provided on the first day of hearings on November 1 5, 1995, along with the statements and testimony of the 1 8 witnesses the Subcommittee will hear today and tomorrow.
In order for the superhighway to develop and function effectively, it needs information and desired content. People will not put their work products on the Internet and give consumers desired services if they cannot protect them. Clarifying the copyright law can unleash the economic potential of the internet. And that is what I believe the bill before us does.
H.R. 2441 clarifies and updates the copyright law in three important respects: (1 ) it codifies court decisions clarifying that the right of public distribution in U.S. copyright law applies to digital transmissions on computers; (2) it prohibits the importation, manufacture or distribution of a device designed to circumvent a technological process created to protect copyrighted material, especially applicable to the digital environment; and (3) it prohibits providing false information about or altering the identification of a copyright owner or the conditions for lawful use of a copyrighted work.
There is concern over the reach of the provision of the bill prohibiting socalled "black boxes". which is intended only to allow a remedy for the purposeful act of making devices to allow free access to copyrighted works. Today's hearing will examine options for tailoring the drafting of this provision to achieve only that purpose.
The pending legislation does not alter the copyright liability standard for on-line service providers; it makes no change in this regard. These continued hearings will consider a number of issues related to the protection of copyrighted information on the Internet. I support a continuing dialogue among the on-line service providers and copyright owners to examine whether or not a change in the state of the law is warranted regarding liability and encourage the long standing dialogue organized by the Working Group on the issue of fair use.
As I have stated repeatedly, these hearings are a starting point. I believe H.R. 2441 represents generally the steps which we must undertake in this Congress to provide access to creative works. I am looking forward to today's testimony.