IV

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. RES. 165

Expressing the sense of the House regarding the protection to be accorded

United States copyright-based industries under agreements entered into

pursuant to the Uruguay Round of trade negotiations.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MAY 4, 1993

Mr. GEPHARDT (for himself, Mr. KOPETSKI, Mr. MATSUI, Mr. MOORHEAD,

Mr. MARKEY, Ms. SLAUGHTER, Mr. EDWARDS of California, Mr.

HUGHES, and Mr. SUNDQUIST) submitted the following resolution; which

was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means

RESOLUTION

Expressing the sense of the House regarding the protection

to be accorded United States copyright-based industries

under agreements entered into pursuant to the Uruguay

Round of trade negotiations.

Whereas copyright-based industries in the United States,

such as those engaged in motion picture and television

program production, audio recording, publishing, and

computer software development, are an increasingly vital

component of the United States economy, having contributed 5.8 percent in value added to the United States

gross domestic product in 1990 and having grown at over

twice the annual rate of the economy as a whole from

1977 to 1990;
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Whereas United States producers of copyrighted works,

which sell ingenuity and vision, the products of the future, and make the United States the world’s largest exporter of creative materials, earned approximately

$34,000,000,000 in foreign sales in 1990;

Whereas during the period between 1970 and 1990—

(1) employment in copyright-based industries in the

United States rose by over 2,500,000 workers, from

3,000,000 to over 5,500,000, and

(2) the total employment in such industries rose

from 3.3 percent to 4.8 percent of all United States

workers;

Whereas some of the largest trading partners of the United

States impose market access barriers and offer subsidies

to domestic producers, thereby making it more difficult

for United States copyright-based industries to compete

in foreign markets;

Whereas many nations fail to provide adequate and effective

copyright protection, refuse to afford United States copyright owners the same level of protection that is granted

to their nationals, or disallow United States contractual

rights governing copyrighted works; and

Whereas the ongoing Uruguay Round of trade negotiations

under the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade provides an opportunity to negotiate improved market access, and equality of treatment and protection from theft,

for the United States copyright-based industries: Now,

therefore, be it

1 Resolved, That the United States Trade Representa2 tive should insist that any trade agreement negotiated

3 pursuant to the Uruguay Round to which the United
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1 States will be a party must provide United States copy2 right-based industries with—

3 (1) fair and equal access to the markets of the

4 nations that are party to the General Agreement on

5 Tariffs and Trade;

6 (2) equal opportunities to obtain government

7 funding;

8 (3) adequate and effective copyright protection,

9 including full national treatment and recognition of

10 contractual rights; and

11 (4) a mechanism to resolve expeditiously dis12 putes concerning market access, national treatment,

13 and copyright protection.

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