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)

152 Mr. Becerra. Thank you. I think you can see that a lot of us are struggling with this issue, because I don't believe that legislation doing what either side would like would ever pass. I think it is too convoluted, too esoteric. And it would be difficult to get 218 Members in the House and 60 Members in the Senate — that there is some good compromise out of this. And I think it is unfortunate because I wish it would be resolved. Let me ask a question — I will try not to take too much of a side on this, but let me ask a question of the directors and the screenwriters and ask why not also include within the list of people who can raise an objection — actors or other artists who are involved in the film? Ms. COOLIDGE. Well, the short answer is twofold. One is that there is some precedent in Europe as to who are considered to be the authors of a motion picture. And they vary slightly from country to country, but we have followed the most standard traditional approach. Second, through equally important — and I think that the statements from the Screen Actors Guild that I have submitted, you know, really prove that — is the traditional relationship of trust between the people who work on a motion picture — the editors, the grips, the crew people, makeup, hair, actors — and the director. They sign on to do a movie with a director, and that director is making the final decisions as to whether or not that actor's performance is up to snuff or not and whether or not the development of the character is correct. And those actors have always had, and continue to have, a relationship of trust which is a part of taking that job. So the entire process of making a film is to develop it and to follow it in terms of production, realizing one vision. It is very, very difficult to make a movie with more than one person saying what kind of a movie you are making. And that is why the director traditionally has had the final decisions. Mr. Becerra. It's only natural, I would want to be there with the screenwriters and directors, but I would like to see the other artists involved. Because whether you bargained away your part as an actor to be a part of that decisionmaking process, I think the same comparison could be made between the directors and the producers. And coming from a union home, where I wish my father had more say as to his working conditions and the things that he produced, I wish there were a better way to try to get others involved. Ms. Coolidge. But here is the twofold problem or issue: One is, they haven't asked for it. That is very simple. They have supported this bill, and they have supported the bill as it stands, which is further proof that they trust that if a director's work is hurt the actor's work is hurt. It is very simple. We also all know, and this has been a ploy of some of our opponents, that if you put more and more and more people into the objection portion of this bill it will be impossible — impossible to create anything realistic that would work. But there really is precedent for this in Europe, and we could further educate you about that. Mr. Becerra. Thank you for that.