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Prepared Statement of Marybeth Peters, Register of Copyright and Associate Librarian for Copyright Services, Library of Congress
H.R. 989 proposes to extend the basic United States copyright term by twenty years in order to reflect increased life expectancy and to harmonize the U.S. copyright term with that of the European Union. The most prominent change ordered by the EU Directive is the requirement that member states recognize a general duration standard of life of the author plus 70 years. With respect to countries outside of the EU, the Directive applies the rule of the shorter term, meaning countries having a shorter term will be limited to the term established by the country of origin.
The development of a global information infrastructure where consumers can purchase directly from creators located anywhere in the world is, in itself, a strong argument for harmonization of copyright term. Other valid arguments include the loss of revenues for U.S. authors by the application of the rule of the shorter term and the fact that the existing terms may not cover an author during his or her lifetime, a widow or widower, or one generation of heirs.
This is the first time that the United States has considered extending the copyright term since the 1976 act went into effect on January 1, 1978. A key consideration is whether H.R. 989 satisfies the constitutional goal of fostering the creation and dissemination of intellectual works.
While the Copyright Office generally supports H.R. 989, it does oppose adding ten years to the term of unpublished works covered by 17 U.S.C. 303. We also question whom the beneficiary of the extra 20 years should be, especially in cases where there is no existing termination right. Moreover, we condition our support on the solution of certain problems faced by libraries and educational institutions with respect to preservation, access and appropriate nonprofit educational uses that are beyond fair use. We have made several suggestions concerning approaches for resolving those issues, including creating a licensing system for authors and owners who cannot be located, developing guidelines under section 108 for material that can be used without payment for nonprofit educational purposes or creating an exemption for nonprofit uses related to instructional activities in the extended term.
Solutions to these problems might be more forthcoming if this subcommittee directed the parties to work these problems out. The Copyright Office would be willing to assist in facilitating agreement on possible solutions to the problems of preservation and access of older copyrighted works.
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