Motion Picture Commission : hearings before the Committee on Education, House of Representatives, Sixty-third Congress, second session, on bills to establish a Federal Motion Picture Commission (1978)

4 MOTION PICTURE COMMISSION". excisions, amplifications, or .".Itenitions as tlio conmiission may direct and re- Qnlre to be made. Tin- commission may, Ity nni'.nimons vote, withdraw any license at any time for c;uise shown. Sec. 5. That the connnission shall adopt an appropriate seal, which shall be affixed, in such manner as the conunisslou may direct, to every film approved by it. Sec 6. That when any film has been approved the commission shall issue a certificate in the form adopted by the commission. These certificates shall describe the film and shall boar a serial number, and shall state its title, the day upon which it was approved by the commission, and the number of linear feet contained therein. Sec. 7. That the commission m;iy if it has licensed a film issue a seal and cer- tificate for each duplicate thereof without an examination of such duplicate. Sec, 8. That no copyright shall be issued for any filni which has not previ- ously received the certificate and seal of this commission. Sec. 9. That no person, firm, or corporation shall carry or transport any film from one State into another State of the United States, or from any foreign country into any State of the United States, unless such film has been licensed by the commission and a true copy of the certificate accompanies it. Sec. 10. That no mo^■ing-picture film that has not been licensed by the com- mission and which does not bear its stami) >;hall be exhibited in the District of Columbia or any place under the jurisdiction of the United States or in any of the Territories of the United States. Sec. 11. That a fee of $8 shall be charged for the examination by the commis- sion of each film of one thousand feet or less. Any change or alteration in any picture on the film after it has been liceusetl, except the elimination of a part, shall be a violation of this act and shall also void the certificate and seal of such film. Sec 12. That the conmiission shall annually, on or before the first day of January in each year, submit a written I'eport to the United States Commis- sioner of Education. In this report, and by other means, the commission shall make recommendations to importers and producers of films and to the public regarding the educational and recreational use of motion pictures. Sec 13. That the penalty for violation of this act shall be a fine of not more than $500, or imprisonment not more than one year, or both, in the discretion of the court, and tlie films unlawfully changed, exhibited, or transported shall be confiscated. Sec. 14. That this act shall take effect immediately, except sections eight, nine, and ten, which sections shall take effect nine months after date of the approval of this act. Mr. Crafts. We, will, perhaps, want to read it for amendment at the end of my remarks. I have here the greatest expert on the matter of motion-pictnre investigations in the country, Mr. AVilliam Sheafe Chase. I shall speak on the matter in a prelinnnary way, relying on him and Mr. Pringle for the details that the committee will want. The first thing that 1 want to bring before the committee is that there is a distinct precedent for the passage of this bill in the action of the last Con- gress, when Mr. Roddenbery, of Georgia, had a bill passed to pro- hibit films representing prize fights. That bill went through Con- gress without any serious opposition because of States' rights or other objections. That is now the law of the land. AVe have begun the national censorship—which we prefer to call national licensing in this bill—of moving pictures. Then, in the tariff bill, passed in this Congress, power is given to the Secretary of the Treasury to exclude immoral films from abroad. There are two fragments of this bill already in existence, and to bring those together and to complete tlie framework is the purpose of this bill. The demand for such a bill is shown from the fact that there^ are four States that have censorships already at large expense. Each