[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 154 (Friday, September 29, 1995)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1892]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  NII COPYRIGHT PROTECTION ACT OF 1995

                                 ______


                        HON. CARLOS J. MOORHEAD

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                       Friday, September 29, 1995

  Mr. MOORHEAD. Mr. Speaker, today I am proud to introduce, along with 
Representative Patricia Schroeder, the ranking Democratic member on the 
Subcommittee on Courts and Intellectual Property, and Representative 
Howard Coble, one of our most senior and valued Members, the NII 
Copyright Protection Act of 1995.
  This bill is the product of recommendations made by the Working Group 
on Intellectual Property Rights, led by the Honorable Bruce A. Lehman, 
the Commissioner of Patents and Trademarks, of the administration's 
information infrastructure task force. After intense study and several 
hearings, this bill reflects the collective input of the 
administration, the Congress and the private sector on protecting 
intellectual property on the Internet.
  It is a new age in the world of copyright. Digitization now allows us 
to send and retrieve perfect copies of copyrighted information over the 
National and Global Information Infrastructures [NII] and [GII]. With 
these evolutions in technology, the copyright law must change as well 
to protect one of our Nation's mast valuable resources and exports, the 
products of our authors. Whether it be movie, video, compact discs, 
software programs or books, the NII and GII will change the landscape 
as to how these products are delivered to the marketplace. In order for 
the Internet to be a success, it must carry desired content. Copyright 
owners will not make their works available in the digital environment, 
however, until such material can be effectively protected, since 
computerized networks now make unauthorized reproduction, adaptation, 
distribution, and other uses of works so easy.
  This bill is a starting point. While it does not address all of the 
issues that need to be considered on protecting intellectual property 
on the NII and GII, including provisions regarding special uses by 
libraries, it represents generally the steps which we must undertake in 
protecting access to creative works.
  I look forward to working with our subcommittee and the entire 
Congress in carefully examining the state of copyright law, and to 
making necessary changes so that the benefits of the electronic age can 
truly materialize.

                          ____________________