As part of its ongoing outreach campaign with elected officials in Washington, the DGA PAC Leadership Council recently played host to one of the Guild's strongest allies on Capitol Hill, Congressman Howard Berman (D-CA). It was a chance for Leadership Council members to not only thank the Congressman for his longstanding support but to also discuss with him the road that lies ahead. As is the case with most LC events, the intimate and informal nature of the February 23 breakfast laid the groundwork for an open dialogue about DGA legislative issues such as copyright protection, content legislation and runaway production.
This is an auspicious and wonderful occasion for us, as we are welcoming to the Guild somebody who is aligned with us because of what he believes in," said DGA PAC Chair Taylor Hackford. "It just so happens that we share in common – this Guild, our members and Howard Berman – a desire to preserve artists' rights, authors' rights, creative rights –all of the things that we're concerned with, this man has spent a career, and a lifetime, fighting for."
In fact, Congressman Berman was one of the original authors of the DGA's runaway production legislation and remained a strong supporter throughout the long and difficult fight that resulted in the first federal tax incentives to encourage production in the U.S. As Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Courts, the Internet and Intellectual Property, Berman plays a key role in shaping the copyright, trademark, and patent laws that are of vital importance to the entertainment industry. "His Subcommittee deals with an issue that is of great concern to DGA members – the protection of our work," Hackford said.
As a recognized Congressional authority on intellectual property issues, Berman is the author of most of the anti-piracy legislation that comes before the House. And for the past few years, he has stood by the DGA in opposing and denouncing the "Family Movie Act," legislation that allows third-party editing companies to sell significantly altered versions of films which they did not make and do not own.
Congressman Berman began his remarks by reiterating support for the Guild's legislative priorities. "I have very strong feelings about the incredible jobs you do," he said, "and I believe that yours is a compelling point of view."
Berman explored in depth the problem facing efforts to protect directors' works, noting that this is an issue that does not split along party lines, but rather along lines of perspective. "It's a huge and controversial issue," he said. "But it doesn't divide so much on Democrats versus Republicans as it does on people who think intellectual property should be treated like property, versus those who think that businesses making new technology should be able to profit from those technologies, regardless of copyright. And then there are even those who believe there is a philosophical "open net" in the world of the Internet – a philosophy that nobody should own anything, and everything should be everybody's ... and so, there are clear tensions there."
The most spirited portion of the morning's dialogue was when the Congressman shared his thoughts on the infamous yet soon-to-pass "
Family Movie Act." "Here's a company in Utah named ClearPlay," he said, "which has developed technology where people they've hired sort through movies and make up decisions about what should shouldn't be in those movies. The parents aren't involved in the decisions at all – they just buy the filter based on how it's labeled. The people making these decisions – which they will sell commercially without the involvement of the creative community – do so in order to profit. And they don't share the profits with those who created the original work. That makes it dubious on a number of grounds."
Congressman Berman then pointed out the most incongruous aspect of all. "The irony of ironies is this," he said: "Another company comes along – the Nissim Corporation – and sues ClearPlay for patent infringement ... and they have a strong claim. So now if the "Family Movie Act" becomes law, the Nissim Corporation may be the only company to benefit. And what is Nissim? It is a company that distributes a technology called CustomPlay, which allows movie viewers to either reduce or enhance the level of violence, sex and profanity in the movie. The Nissim website states that, using CustomPlay technology, an adult can play a version of an adult video that seamlessly excludes content inconsistent with the viewer's adult content preferences (i.e. talking, foreplay, etc.) at a level of explicitness preferred by the adult. The ultimate consumer choice! In other words, the "Family Movie Act" – which is imbedded in this criminal copyright legislation and which will probably pass – exclusively protects from liability the technology that, among other things, enables viewers of pornographic movies to filter out the non-pornographic scenes."
Following this discussion,
Leadership Council members engaged Congressman Berman in a dialogue about the digital revolution and the future of such debates as indecency and first amendment rights. They also reiterated their appreciation for the Congressman's unwavering support of the DGA's runaway production efforts.
Ending the meeting, Congressman Berman spoke directly about the impact of Guild members' creative work and the strong position it gives them in Washington. "The fact is, you have provided Congressmen in Tennessee or Louisiana or Nebraska with experiences that they have truly enjoyed. You have a certain magic because of what you've done, a special quality, and people will notice ... so keep up the good work."
