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"When somebody steals [intellectual property], just as when someone steals other property, we ought to have law enforcement concerned and taking action against it."
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Senator Byron Dorgan (D-ND), a member of the Senate Democratic leadership, was introduced to members of the DGA PAC Leadership Council (LC) at an intimate luncheon the Council hosted on December 8 in the DGA Boardroom in Los Angeles.
As a member of the Senate Commerce Committee, which has jurisdiction over the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and a range of piracy and copyright issues, Senator Dorgan provided unique insight into several issues facing the entertainment industry including media consolidation, programming diversity and copyright protection. In addition, he also shared his thoughts on runaway production and health care, issues critical to the DGA and its membership.
Currently in his second Senate term following six terms in the House of Representatives, Dorgan has spent his public service career working to create jobs and increase the fairness of trade policies. In that light, he expressed his support for the DGA's battle against runaway production.
"We have to demand and insist on fairness," Dorgan said. "If you're competing against others that have giant subsidies, you've got to be willing to compete on behalf of your own interests — on behalf of American workers and American jobs."
Senator Dorgan said he would lend his name and actively support the runaway production provision now contained in S 1637, "The Jumpstart Our Business Strength Act," co-sponsored by Senators Blanche Lincoln (D-AK) and Olympia Snowe (R-ME). This bill passed the Senate Finance Committee in early October 2003 and is expected to reach the Senate floor in the next few months.
Senator Dorgan played a major role in the Congressional effort to overturn the June FCC rulings which were a sweeping vote for greater media deregulation. "Concentration in the area of the control of information is deadly to a democracy," said the Senator, whose efforts to limit broadcast ownership have included leading the Senate fight to reverse the FCC decision to allow one company to own television stations reaching 45% of the nation, up from what had been a 35% ownership rule.
He pointed out that under the current rules, a single company in a large American city could own a total of three television stations, eight radio stations, the newspaper and the cable company. There is also no limit to the number of cities in which a media conglomerate could make this type of multiple broadcast purchase. "I think that's moving in exactly the opposite direction of where I think we ought to be heading in this country," he said. "The bigger these enterprises become, the less capability others have to control their own destiny.
"There is a reason we have anti-trust laws in this country," Dorgan said. "There is a reason we have regulators, and that is to regulate on behalf of the public interest. Why would you want to be a referee if you're not going to blow the whistle?"
When asked for his perspective on the impact of media consolidation on programming diversity and the creative community, Dorgan expressed interest in the DGA proposal for an Independent Producer Rule that would provide for a percentage of independently produced programming during network prime time; however, also made it clear that such an initiative would not be easily obtained in Congress.
Dorgan also indicated his clear support for stronger enforcement and better protection of copyrighted materials. When he chaired a Subcommittee of the Senate Appropriations Committee that had responsibility for funding and oversight for the Treasury Department and the Customs Bureau, he created within the auspices of the Customs Service the Center for Intellectual Property Rights, whose sole purpose was to have Customs officials travel around the world and take action against piracy and counterfeiting activities that they uncovered.
Senator Dorgan stressed his belief that a film is intellectual property, and that "when somebody steals it, just as when someone steals other property, we ought to have law enforcement concerned and taking action against it."
Among the LC members attending the luncheon were Michael Apted, Burt Bluestein, Hart Bochner, John Bowab, LeVar Burton, Andrew Davis, Wolfgang Glattes, Taylor Hackford, Rod Holcomb, Cleve Landsberg, Nick Marck, Jonathan Mostow, John Rich, Jack Shea, Betty Thomas and Harry Winer.
