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)

84 -7 The term of protection granted the author and heirs under the 1976 Act is life-plus-50 years. The term for works made for hire is generally 75 years. But publishers who take copyrights by transfer, and who invest a range of resources into promoting the work and its success, have their rights terminated at 35 years. Like many other copyright-based businesses, the music publishing business is a global one. In assessing where to invest limited resources, publishers must look at, among other things, the state of national law as it affects their operations. Nations of the European Union do not limit the duration of transfers by statute, as the U.S. does. Under the laws in these important markets, publishers and writers are free to negotiate a transfer for the duration of the copyright, ^r any portion of the term. Without some adjustment of the Act's existing provisions on termination of transfer, U.S. law may have the unintended effect of driving publisher investment overseas. We urge you to consider these points carefully as you proceed in your review of this important legislation, and to act to maintain the balance between author and publisher interests that has been a feature of U.S. copyright law, virtually since its inception. We look forward to working with the Subcommittee on this important point and toward passage of H.R. 989. In closing, I would like to offer one final observation. In the period of consideration of the 1976 Act, Congress recognized that, with each day that passed, works were falling into the public domain. Some heirs would loose copyright protection forever, in part owing to the press of other legislative