[Congressional Bills 103th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 165 Introduced in House (IH)]

103d CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. RES. 165

   Expressing the sense of the House regarding the protection to be 
  accorded United States copyright-based industries under agreements 
   entered into pursuant to the Uruguay Round of trade negotiations.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 4, 1993

Mr. Gephardt (for himself, Mr. Kopetski, Mr. Matsui, Mr. Moorhead, Mr. 
 Markey, Ms. Slaughter, Mr. Edwards of California, Mr. Hughes, and Mr. 
 Sundquist) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to 
                    the Committee on Ways and Means

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
   Expressing the sense of the House regarding the protection to be 
  accorded United States copyright-based industries under agreements 
   entered into pursuant to the Uruguay Round of trade negotiations.

Whereas copyright-based industries in the United States, such as those engaged 
        in motion picture and television program production, audio recording, 
        publishing, and computer software development, are an increasingly vital 
        component of the United States economy, having contributed 5.8 percent 
        in value added to the United States gross domestic product in 1990 and 
        having grown at over twice the annual rate of the economy as a whole 
        from 1977 to 1990;
Whereas United States producers of copyrighted works, which sell ingenuity and 
        vision, the products of the future, and make the United States the 
        world's largest exporter of creative materials, earned approximately 
        $34,000,000,000 in foreign sales in 1990;
Whereas during the period between 1970 and 1990--

    (1) employment in copyright-based industries in the United States rose 
by over 2,500,000 workers, from 3,000,000 to over 5,500,000, and

    (2) the total employment in such industries rose from 3.3 percent to 
4.8 percent of all United States workers;

Whereas some of the largest trading partners of the United States impose market 
        access barriers and offer subsidies to domestic producers, thereby 
        making it more difficult for United States copyright-based industries to 
        compete in foreign markets;
Whereas many nations fail to provide adequate and effective copyright 
        protection, refuse to afford United States copyright owners the same 
        level of protection that is granted to their nationals, or disallow 
        United States contractual rights governing copyrighted works; and
Whereas the ongoing Uruguay Round of trade negotiations under the General 
        Agreement on Tariffs and Trade provides an opportunity to negotiate 
        improved market access, and equality of treatment and protection from 
        theft, for the United States copyright-based industries: Now, therefore, 
        be it
    Resolved, That the United States Trade Representative should insist 
that any trade agreement negotiated pursuant to the Uruguay Round to 
which the United States will be a party must provide United States 
copyright-based industries with--
            (1) fair and equal access to the markets of the nations 
        that are party to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade;
            (2) equal opportunities to obtain government funding;
            (3) adequate and effective copyright protection, including 
        full national treatment and recognition of contractual rights; 
        and
            (4) a mechanism to resolve expeditiously disputes 
        concerning market access, national treatment, and copyright 
        protection.

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