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Mr. CONYERS. I may have heard it before.
Mr. MOORHEAD. He wants you as a cosponsor on the bill.
Mr. Valenti. I said, Mr. Chairman, if I may, Mr. Chairman, 1 more minute. I said that I wanted you here, Congressman Conyers, because you are one of the three or four members of this subcommittee who hasn't cosponsored this copyright term extension and I felt like you would be susceptible to some of my passionate pleas.
Mr. Conyers. I always have been.
Mr. Valenti. Anyway, thank you, Mr. Chairman. I am grateful for the time.
Mr. MooRHEAD. Thank you.
Our next witness is Marilyn Bergman and many of you have heard, "The Way We Were," and many of the other wonderful, wonderful songs that she has written. We are very fortunate to have you here today.
STATEMENT OF MARILYN BERGMAN, SONGWRITER, PRESIDENT AND CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD, AMERICAN SOCIETY OF COMPOSERS, AUTHORS AND PUBLISHERS
Ms. Bergman. Thank you. Grood morning, again, Mr. Chairman. And thank you for holding these hearings about 12 miles from my home. You beat me by 8 miles.
Mr. Becerra. Close enough.
Ms. Bergman. Good morning, Mr. Chairman, and members of the subcommittee, my name is Marilyn Bergman. I am a song writer. I am also president and chairman of the board of ASCAP. I very much appreciate the opportunity to express our strong support for H.R. 989, the Copyright Term Extension Act of 1995.
At the risk of repeating some of the eloquent words of our chairman, and certainly the passionate words of Mr. Valenti, for the record I have to make my statement.
I wish to start, Mr. Chairman, by applauding your recognition of the importance of extending our copyright term. You have been a leader on this important question, as on so many others vital to American creators and owners of cop)n-ight. We wish to express our deepest thanks for your support and for that of the many cosponsors of this legislation from the subcommittee. Representatives Becerra, Berman, Bono, Coble, Gallegly, Gekas, Goodlatte, Nadler, and Schroeder.
As you know, ASCAP exists to license the nondramatic public performances of copyrighted music written and owned by our more than 65,000 composer, lyricist, and music publisher members. We license music users and monitor, collect, and distribute royalties to our members. These royalties are the largest single source of income to song writers and that is what enables us to work in our chosen field and create the music that enriches the culture and the economy of our country.
ASCAP, together with our sister societies BMI and 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 will submit a written statement.