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)

107 Hardly revolutionary, H.R. 1248 is a truth-in-the-marketplace bill entirely consistent with current practices which tell consumers about the products they buy. Soon I will be completing my next major film, "Three Wishes." It will be released at about Thanksgiving, and I hope that you will all come to see it and you will bring your families, and I hope that you will see it more than once. About a year from now, "Three Wishes" will start to show up in the ancillary marketplace — on cable, in hotels, on airlines, on cassettes, and then perhaps on the networks and then syndicated television. What is virtually certain is that when this film is distributed in these markets it is going to be altered. Shot for the wide screen, it will be squeezed into a square TV form and edited for TV viewing, not for violence or sex but to fit in an assigned time slot. And it may be speeded up on TV, a process called lexiconing, destroying all my careful timing. I have high hopes for this movie, commercially and artistically. I am applying the 25 years of experience I have in directing films to guide this project frame by frame to the best possible outcome. It is my reputation that is on the line when people see this film. And when they see less than I have given, I would like them to know that. When "Three Wishes" is altered in the ancillary markets, I would like people to know how it has been altered; and I would like the opportunity to object to these changes if I judge them egregious. This is all that H.R. 1248 seeks to accomplish. I consider myself a film artist. I am a painter, a storj^eller, using motion picture cameras, sound, and music. I am involved in an art form, the great American art form; and what we do in making films enriches the artistic and cultural heritage of our country. Let us treat the people who see movies and those who craft them with the modicum of legal respect this bill provides. What will happen if the labels in the Film Disclosure Act are applied to films? Great upheaval in the marketplace if you listen to our opponents. But where is the evidence for this? There are three labeling regimes in place today, including the inadequate one from the MPAA, and no economic catastrophes have ensued. The companies have a history of opposing every innovation on the basis that the sky will fall, and it is appropriate for the subcommittee to keep this in mind. The companies have argued that TV, the director's cut, and even VCR's would all ruin the motion picture industry. Not only were they wrong, but all of these advances have vitalized the industry economically. And judging from this history, if the subcommittee wanted to boost the financial fortunes of the producing companies and distributors, it ought to pass H.R. 1248 unanimously today. Why do we need a law? Why can't we work this out among ourselves? We tried, and we failed. We couldn't get the major companies to agree on a factual label that would in any way recognize the efforts of those on the creative side. But even if we had agreed on the words on a label, we would have failed in application because of the complexity of the universe of film ownership and distribution. There are too many players. No table in Hollywood, nor anyone in Washington where the tables are