Page images
PDF
EPUB

BIOGRAPHICAL STATEMENT

David Ladd is of Counsel to the law firm of Wiley, Rein & Fielding in Washington, D.C. Mr. Ladd served as U.S. Register of Copyrights 1980-1985, and as U.S. Commissioner of Patents during the Kennedy Administration.

OPACT

Coalition to Preserve the American Copyright Tradition

Summary

CPACT, which comprises fourteen major media organizations with large domestic and international book and magazine publishing, broadcasting, video programming and other businesses, is committed to the overall objective of expanding the level of copyright protection worldwide. CPACT does not believe, however, that U.S. adherence to the Berne Convention is necessary or desirable for this objective. The claimed advantages for adherence are being realized by other U.S. policies and initiatives.

CPACT opposes U.S. adherence to Berne because it would introduce the European concept of "droit moral" (translated as the "moral right") into the American copyright system. The moral right is inconsistent with the U.S. tradition of copyright as an economic incentive. Its introduction would disturb the historical balance among authors, publishers, and the public and upset decades of settled practices, contract conventions, expectations, and risk allocations.

Perhaps more importantly, the moral right, which may not be transferable, would interfere with the First Amendment freedoms of publishers by impeding the flow of works of authorship and information to the public and hobbling long-established editorial practices. moral right also would:

The

raise serious questions of author identification in collaborative works such as magazines, textbooks and broadcasts; permit second-guessing of split second editorial decisions that are necessary to time sensitive publications or productions;

cloud the status of adaptations and revisions;

intrude on content judgments if creators objected to the
context in which their work is placed;

interfere with the editing of films for television; and

apply retroactively to existing works, thereby jeopardizing settled expectations and investments.

These and other problems inescapably would lead to frequent and expensive litigation for damages and injunctive relief based on judgments based on the highly subjective moral right concepts.

As a

result, CPACT members could be forced to compromise quality and timeliness in the dissemination of news and information in order to accommodate moral right concerns.

Adherence to Berne simply offers little or no gain internationally in exchange for grave risks in the U.S. Berne adherence is irrevocable; we should not start down a road that the U.S. has refused to take many times before.

1271 Avenue of the Americas, Room 32-58, New York, N.Y. 10020 (212) 522-3203

[merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors]

A.

Protection Is Already Available to the United
States . . .

33

[merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small]

C.

D.

E.

"Back-Door" Protection

The Present Composition of Berne
Vitiates Its Utility To Improve
International Copyright Protection .

U.S. Membership in Berne Will Have Little
Impact on Curbing Copyright Piracy

The United States Already Demonstrates
World Leadership in Copyright Protection.

1.

U.S. Participation in Berne

Deliberations and Veto of Revisions

[merged small][merged small][ocr errors][ocr errors][merged small][merged small]
[blocks in formation]

U.S. Membership in Berne Is Unnecessary

To Improve Copyright Relations with Canada,
China and Thailand .

[merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small]
[blocks in formation]

Mr. Chairman and Members of the Subcommittee, I appear today for the Coalition To Preserve the American Copyright Tradition to present its views on the proposed United States adherence to the Berne Convention.

The Coalition comprises the following members:

Conde Nast Publications Inc.; Dow Jones & Company, Inc.; Forbes Inc.; McGraw-Hill, Inc.; Meredith Corp.; Newsweek, Inc.; Omni Publications International, Ltd.; Playboy Enterprises Inc.; The Reader's Digest Association, Inc.; Straight Arrow Publishers, Inc.; Time Inc.; Triangle Publications, Inc.; Turner Broadcasting System Inc.; and U.S. News & World Report. These companies, some of our largest international book and magazine publishing companies, as well as major domestic media and programming organizations, are committed to the objectives of preserving, strengthening, and expanding the level of copyright protection worldwide. Coalition does not believe, however, that U.S. adherence to Berne is a necessary or desirable component of policy in achieving this goal.

[blocks in formation]

The

The Coalition opposes U.S. adherence to the Berne Convention on the grounds: (1) that it will necessarily introduce the moral right into our law and thus (a) disturb the historical balance among authors, publishers, and the public, (b) impede the flow of works of authorship and information to the public, (c) unnecessarily complicate, and even make impossible long-established editorial practices rooted in practical business needs, and (d) present the prospect of litigation, exposure to indeterminate liability, and concomitant uncertainty in publishing decisions and practices; and (2) that U.S. adherence is unnecessary to our nation's interests in strong worldwide copyright protection, particularly since the claimed advantages for adherence can be realized -- and are being realized by other U.S. policies and initiatives.

-

No one disputes the need to improve the world order for the protection of intellectual property. This imperative has in recent years gripped the attention of the private sector, the Executive and the Congress, and has resulted in numerous legislative, diplomatic and quasi-diplomatic initiatives to curb worldwide piracy of copyrighted works and to enhance copyright protection throughout the world. The Coalition applauds these efforts and supports them. In fact, several members have been actively involved with the government in bilateral negotiating efforts directed against piracy.

« EelmineJätka »