Repeal of Section 412 of the Copyright Act - Requires Immediate
Action
There is currently a movement in Washington, DC to incorporate the
repeal of section 412 of the U.S. Copyright Act into the
forthcoming GATT implementing legislation. (Section 412 of the
Copyright Act addresses registration by an author a prerequisite to
certain remedies for infringement. 17 USC 412) This is bad for a
number of reasons:
1. Elimination of Section 412 is likely to undermine
copyright deposits with the Library of Congress - a major
source of materials for the collections.
2. GATT is on a fast track and will be unamendable once
introduced.
3. The repeal of section 412, irrespective of its substantive
merits, is completely extraneous to GATT and is not required
by the Berne Convention. (This issue was addressed 6 years ago
when the Berne Convention Implementation Act was enacted into
law and the conclusion was the section 412 was not
incompatible with the Berne Convention.)
4. The repeal of section 412 is a contentious issue; it
should be dealt with by the Copyright Reform Act and given the
careful scrutiny that it deserves.
Please write to members of the following committees, as well as
Ambassador Mickey Kantor, the U.S. Trade Representative, and ask
that repeal of section 412 of the Copyright Act NOT be incorporated
into the GATT implementing legislation for the reasons listed
above.
Senate Judiciary Committee - Joseph Biden (D-DE), Chair
House Judiciary Committee - Jack Brooks (D-TX), Chair
Senate Finance Committee - Daniel Moynihan (D-NY), Chair
House Ways and Means Committee - Sam Gibbons (D-FL), Acting Chair
Thank you.
Susan E. Tulis Voice: 202/662-9200
Asst. Washington Representative, AALL Fax: 202/662-9202
Georgetown University Law Library E-Mail: tulis@guvax.
111 G St., NW georgetown.edu
Washington, DC 20001 tulis@guvax.bitnet
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