Johnny Cash came to Capitol Hill today to urge passage of bills he says will protect copyright holders from losing control of their property as music, video, and other material becomes widely available in digital form on the Internet.
"Our laws respect what we create with our heads as much as what we build with our hands," the legendary recording artist told attentive members of the House Judiciary subcommittee on Courts and Intellectual Property. "That's true in real life, and it ought to be true in cyberspace too."
He was testifying on behalf of Clinton administration-backed legislation introduced in the House by Representative Howard Coble (R-North Carolina) and in the Senate by Orrin Hatch (R-Utah). The legislation would implement last December's World Intellectual Property Organization treaties on copyrights and performances and recordings - pacts intended to answer concerns about protecting artistic output in the digital age.
Critics say that the Coble-Hatch legislation far exceeds the requirements of the treaties and triggers a series of nearly unthinkable consequences. For instance, critics argue, the bills ban on the use of electronic devices to thwart copyright protection measures could be interpreted to outlaw household fixtures like audio tape, videocassette recorders, and personal computers. A treaty opponents' coalition also point out that the legislation would prevent teachers and librarians from downloading copyrighted materials and thwart fair use privileges for consumers.
The treaties and bill also make Internet service providers and other operators liable for transmission of pirated works on their networks.
But Cash, dressed in accordance with his Man in Black persona, insisted in his testimony that recording artists like him face big rip-offs if the treaties and bill are not approved.
The singer said that after doing a Web search on his name, he learned that his hit Ring of Fire was being offered on a Web site in Slovenia without his permission.
"Maybe I should be flattered that someone in Slovenia likes my song, but when he or she makes it available to millions of people, this hardly seems fair," Cash said.
Summing up his plea, he added: "The music and the artists that create and perform it deserve protection, whether it's an old 45 or a song we've yet to hear from an artist who is still waiting for a break."
The Recording Industry Association of America and the Motion Picture Association of America have been pushing hard in recent weeks for the quick ratification of the treaties. Pushing back are ISPs and hardware manufacturers which want protections written into the treaty legislation before it goes ahead.
"What the bill contains is gravely flawed and what it omits is critical to industry and society as a whole," said Douglas Bennett of the Digital Future Coalition, which includes groups such as the American Library Association, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, and the National Education Association.
"The question is not to have unintended consequences of the treaty," said Representative Zoe Lofgren (D-California). "Often times we focus too much on the law and not enough on the technology, and the technology is moving quicker than the law."
Representative Rick Boucher (D-Virginia) said he would soon introduce legislation that would "punish people not the technology" for copyright infringement.
In any case, the process of updating copyright laws for the digital age will likely be a slow one. The House Judiciary subcommittee has not yet set a date to vote on the treaty legislation, which must still go to the full committee and to the House floor for vote. The Senate has yet to take up the issue.
