Sensenbrenner Seeks Immediate Action on Omnibus Copyright Bill
House Judiciary Chmn. Sensenbrenner (R-Wis.) wants to move the omnibus copyright bill out of committee quickly and push it onto the House floor for passage as soon as next week, he told us Tues. at an intellectual property seminar in N.Y.C.
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“I would be very surprised if an amendment would be adopted,” Sensenbrenner said. “My guess is we can mark it up this week, pass it next week and send it to the White House.” Prison penalties for illegal distribution of camcorder copies of feature films is among the provisions that will remain in the controversial legislation, he said: “The penalties have to be high enough to act as a deterrent, and if they're not we'd just be passing a piece of paper.”
Sensenbrenner’s committee will be marking up a version of the Family & Entertainment Copyright Act (S- 167), which passed the Senate last month, incorporating many provisions of a House bill with the same title. Distribution of pirated video copies of films in commercial release could draw a sentence up to 5 years in jail for a first offense. Pirating intellectual property not yet in commercial release would carry the same sentence.
Sensenbrenner expressed particular concern about bootlegged movies circulating through the Far East. “Intellectual property is increasingly hemorrhaging because nobody is doing anything about properties pirated in China and Japan,” Sensenbrenner said. “My eyes were wide open when I went to China,” he added, noting that he saw knock-offs of General Motors cars there.
Sensenbrenner said he believes the Chinese are playing the U.S., the European Union and Japan off one another, with the Chinese threatening to close market access as a retaliatory response to any IP complaints. He suggested a strategy of filing joint complaints with the World Trade Organization against China. But he said the issue is charged with more profound geopolitical concerns that undercut the U.S. position. “The problem is they think that we're a toothless tiger on this because there are all kinds of geopolitical questions, led by what to do about North Korea’s atomic weapons,” Sensenbrenner said: “The 800-pound gorilla in relations with China, whether it’s IP or elsewhere, is the North Korea nuclear program.”
On the Grokster case before the Supreme Court, Sensenbrenner said it’s “likely they'll come out with a ruling nobody can understand.” A vague result likely would spur congressional legislation on file-sharing, he said.