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Press
Release Contact:
Tuesday, April 3, 2001
Sally Greenberg/David
Butler
(202) 462-6262
Consumers Union Washington DC Office
CONSUMERS UNION TESTIFIES AT SENATE ONLINE COPYRIGHT HEARING
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Sally Greenberg, senior counsel for Consumers Union, testified today at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on online entertainment and copyright law. Greenberg made the following comments prior to her testimony:
"Copyright law is a delicate balance between the rights of creators and the rights of those who seek to use their creations. We must protect the rights of the creator, but we cannot unduly burden consumers in the name of copyright protection.
"The Internet is not the first technology to challenge our system of protecting creative works through copyright law. When the VCR was introduced, movie executives said it would strangle their industry. Now the video cassette is one of the most valuable pieces of their corporate pie. We fear that the recording industry's opposition to Napster and other peer-to-peer online systems may be similarly shortsighted.
"We should emphasize that the fact that Napster users enjoy creative works without paying the artist or the record company is a valid concern of the industry. Creators of artistic works must be fairly compensated for their work. Those who add value to the creator's work, such as the recording labels, have a right to fair compensation as well.
"However, when the industry goes so far as to shut down Napster, it stifles a technology with great value to consumers. Peer-to-peer networking, which allows individual users to share files with others without going to a central location, could revolutionize the way we communicate and learn. So we have a promising technology in great demand, but we have an inefficient marketplace that prevents the technology from operating in a way that meets the needs of copyright owners and the public's desire to receive information.
"Consumers Union believes the best approach would be one that has been tested and proven successful for other technologies. Congress should establish a compulsory licensing mechanism through which Napster and other online music providers would have a legal avenue to consumers who want online music. This system would give companies like Napster the right to obtain a compulsory license under which they can use copyrighted work without the copyright owner's permission. A similar system proved successful in allowing satellite TV systems to retransmit broadcast signals to consumers.
"Unless Congress provides for compulsory licensing for online music distribution, we fear that we will see a chilling of innovation and competition, and consumers will be the losers. We hope Congress will act quickly to establish such a system."
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Consumers Union, publisher of Consumer Reports magazine, is an independent nonprofit testing, educational and information organization serving only the consumer. We are a comprehensive source of unbiased advice about products and services, personal finance, health, nutrition and other consumer concerns. Since 1936, our mission has been to test products, inform the public and protect consumers
