ins_aaaw@jhunix.UUCP (Adlai A. Waksman) (12/03/85)
I've talked to Senator Mathias's office (as well as writing my own senators). They sent me a copy of Mathias's statement before the Senate, and of the bill itself. (The bill is cosponsored by Senators Hatch, D'Amato, Wilson, Cochran, Kennedy, Cranston, Sasser, Gore, Simon, and Leahy.) SENATE BILL 1739, the "HOME AUDIO RECORDING ACT", would impose royalties on "audio recording media" (which can include reel-to-reel tape!) of one cent per minute, and on tape decks (5% for normal decks, 25% for dual-port dubbing decks; triple-port and higher-capacity dubbing decks would be outlawed). In exchange for these royalties, an individual is allowed to tape stuff without "any liability for infringement of copyright if the recording made is for the private use of that individual or members of his or her immediate household" and if it isn't for commercial advantage. Doesn't that already come under "fair use"? In this bill, Congress would be graciously allowing us to tape records we've bought, but not necessarily to give copies to friends. It looks like THE "ILLEGAL TAPING" RIAA IS WORRIED ABOUT WOULD STAY ILLEGAL. ---------------------------- -------------------------------- The royalties would be distributed by the Copyright Royalty Tribunal, which can change royalty rates every 5 years. The decisions of which tapes and machines are unsuitable for high-quality reproduction of music (copyrighted, of course) would also rest with the Tribunal. The bill would impose an enormous amount of goverment regulation and paperwork on the tape deck and cassette industries. The royalties would be implemented through "compulsory licensing". Manufacturers and importers would have to register with the Register of Copyrights and submit statements of account along with the royalty fees. As people have pointed out before, there are plenty of uses for high- quality blank cassettes in addition to taping copyrighted music. There are many independent musicians who record and distribute their music on cassette. (I know several.) They would in effect be paying their competitors. Senator Mathias's speech reveals several glaring weaknesses. | "... musicians, composers, and producers are annually losing over | $1 1/2 billion in sales to unauthorized audio home taping." Correlation does not imply cause. Other factors may be at work: as Jim Hofmann mentioned, baby boomers are buying less albums, in favor of Pampers and BMW's; the quality of music distributed on records has been changing; etc. | "... in response to studies that clearly demonstrate the harmful | economic and cultural effects of unrestricted audio home taping." What studies? Did RIAA commission studies? Are those "studies" any more reliable than those of, say, the Tobacco Institute? | "Walk into any stereo shop and you will see dual-port recorders | specially designed for rapid duplication of copyrighted prerecorded | cassettes. Even though it is questionable whether these devices | are consistent with our copyright laws, one Japanese electronics | manufacturer announced early this summer that it will soon add to | its line a triple-port cassette recorder -- a machine designed to | simultaneously make two unauthorized copies of prerecorded cassettes. | . . . The Home Audio Recording Act specifically targets these | assaults on our copyright system." <<<sarcasm on>>> That's right--I can't use one of those dubbing decks to copy a tape I've made of a meeting, or of business dictation, or of my own music. They can only be used to duplicate copyrighted prerecorded cassettes. Just like Xerox machines and printing presses, they pose a grave danger to our copyright system, to making sure authors, artists, and composers are justly compensated for their creative works. <<<sarcasm off>>> It is noble to wish to compensate musicians and record companies for sales lost to illegal taping. However, with this bill, the ends do not justify the means. If you, too, are disgusted about this bill, >>>>> W R I T E Y O U R S E N A T O R S !! <<<<< (A reminder of the address: The Honorable ______ ___________ United States Senate Washington, D.C. 20510 If you like, you can also call: (202) 224-3121 (Capitol operator; will connect you to your senator's office) -- Adlai Waksman Mathematical Sciences, The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21218 CSnet: ins_aaaw@jhunix AT&Tnet: (301) 889-8498 Bitnet: G48I0173@JHUVM Arpa: ins_aaaw%jhunix@csnet-relay INS_AAAW@JHUVMS ins_aaaw%jhunix@hopkins UUCP: ...{decvax,ihnp4,allegra}!seismo!umcp-cs!aplvax!aplcen!jhunix!ins_aaaw "It is a highly directional ultrasonic beam of pure rock and roll! It kills!" _-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_r_e_p_l_a_c_e_-_t_h_i_s_-_l_i_n_e_-_w_i_t_h_-_y_o_u_r_-_f_a_v_o_r_i_t_e_-_d_i_s_c_l_a_i_m_e_r_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-