Copyright term, film labeling, and film preservation legislation : hearings before the Subcommittee on Courts and Intellectual Property of the Committee on the Judiciary, House of Representatives, One Hundred Fourth Congress, first session, on H.R. 989, H.R. 1248, and H.R. 1734 ... June 1 and July 13, 1995 (1996)

51 I want to give you four major reasons which command our attention and which certify, I think, the need for copyright term extension. One, the Berne Convention has a minimum protection time span. And that is Ufe of the author plus 50 years. But, under Berne, any nation can add additional terms if they choose. But — and this is the pivotal point that we have to understand — other Berne countries are obligated only to protect the minimum length that Berne certifies, the life of the author plus 50. They are not required nor would they guard any other country's works beyond what that country puts down as its yardstick for term extension, which means that when we go to Europe with 50 years — 70 years, that is life of the author plus 50, or 70 years for works for hire, we would be at a grave disadvantage, that our movies would be in the public domain, whereas the European movies would be fully protected. That is one reason. Two, the minute that American works go into public domain, in Europe, our revenues that are brought back to this country as part of our surplus balance of trade, which we provision in this country, those revenues would be cut off and they would pass into other hands, not U.S. producers. Three, American creative works are the most popular, the most patronized, the most sought after, not only in Europe, but all over the world, which is why, and here I have said this over and over again, and maybe about the 28th time somebody will recall what I have said — and that is that the American movie, television pro fram and home video return to this country annually more than 4 billion a year in surplus balance of trade. If you take all of the products in this country, made or grown, manufactured, or those that leap from the brain pan of people like Marilyn Bergman and others, everything can be matched, cloned, or duplicated by any other country in the world. Argentine wheat and Korean steel and Grerman automobiles and Japanese electronics. But the one product which at this hour has never been duplicated or matched by any other country in the world is the American movie. It is a trade prize beyond all imagination. The case for copyright term extension, Mr. Chairman, I believe is that simple. And I am so pleased that 10 of the members of your subcommittee have already cosponsored and I hope that Ms. Wheeler will pass along to Congressman Conyers all of these melodious and triumphant phrases which I am uttering this morning because he has not yet signed on as a cosponsor, and I need to persuade him. What are the contrary views? If someone comes to me and tries to persuade me, I want to know what the upside and the downsides are. Some academics plead that the consumer is going to be benefited if there are more public domain works because public domain works would be cheaper, more readily available, and therefore be consumer benefits. What academics do not know or do not observe is that while an American public domain work may be sold more cheaply to someone, in many exhibitors in many international markets, consumers are not granted cheaper prices, either here or abroad. Not at all.