[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 126 (Thursday, August 2, 2007)]
[Senate]
[Pages S10804-S10805]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. SCHUMER (for himself, Mrs. Hutchison, Mrs. Feinstein, Mr. 
        Hatch, Mr. Whitehouse, Mr. Graham, Mr. Kohl, Mrs. Clinton, and 
        Ms. Snowe):
  S. 1957. A bill to amend title 17, United States Code, to provide 
protection for fashion design; to the Committee on the Judiciary.
  Mr. HATCH. Mr. President, I rise today to express my support for S. 
1957, the Design Piracy Prohibition Act. As one who has been involved 
in national intellectual property, patent, copyright and trademark 
policy development for many years, I can tell you first-hand how 
difficult it can be to legislate in these areas. The Constitution 
expressly tasks Congress with the duty to protect the rights of 
property owners, including intellectual property owners. And we spend a 
good bit of time here legislating in the areas of music, art, movies, 
television, radio, books, and so many other things that exist solely 
because of intellectual property rights.
  However, one area of our economy that has been overlooked and not 
benefited from the legal framework associated with intellectual 
property law is the area of fashion design. And yet fashion design is 
one area where America enjoys a trade surplus and has clear leaders in 
the world market. In fact, much of the world apparel and accessory 
industry takes follows the lead of our world renowned fashion experts. 
However, the protections of their designs are not taken as seriously as 
we take other forms of property rights, thereby, hurting a thriving 
American industry around the world.
  In an effort to bring some balance to the property rights of 
designers, Senators Schumer, Hutchison, Feinstein, Whitehouse, Graham, 
Kohl, Clinton, Snowe, and I are introducing this legislation. The goal 
of S. 1957 is to ensure that those who spend their time and money 
developing new and innovative fashion designs are able to secure and 
enforce adequate copyright protections for their hard work. And I 
support that goal.
  As I stated earlier, this is a difficult area of law in which to 
legislate and the balancing of the rights of property owners and 
consumers is often difficult. In fact, the U.S. has been changing and 
refining intellectual property laws for over 200 years and in some 
areas we still have not gotten it right.

[[Page S10805]]

  It must be recognized that this bill is not perfect and there are 
several legitimate concerns with the way this bill attempts to protect 
designs. I will be working with my colleagues to make improvements to 
this bill as it goes through the Senate process. Some areas of the bill 
that need to be improved are: the standard for liability, the 
definition of designs in the public domain, and the secondary liability 
provisions. However, I am certain we will be able to work through these 
issues and move this bill forward.
  I want to thank my colleague, Senator Schumer, for introducing this 
bill. It takes a strong will, and a strong stomach, to take on the job 
of moving intellectual property-related legislation through Congress. 
I'm sure Senator Schumer is up to the task and I look forward to 
helping him.
                                 ______