I

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1731

To amend the Lanham Act to require certain disclosures relating to materially

altered films.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

APRIL 20, 1993

Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts introduced the following bill; which was referred

to the Committee on the Judiciary

A BILL

To amend the Lanham Act to require certain disclosures

relating to materially altered films.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Film Disclosure Act

5 of 1993’’.

6 SEC. 2. AMENDMENT TO THE LANHAM ACT.

7 Section 43 of the Act entitled ‘‘An Act to provide for

8 the registration and protection of trade-marks used in

9 commerce, to carry out the provisions of certain inter10 national conventions, and for other purposes’’, approved
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1 July 5, 1946, commonly known as the Lanham Act (15

2 U.S.C. 1125), is amended by adding at the end the

3 following:

4 ‘‘(c)(1)(A) Any distributor or network that proposes

5 to exploit a materially altered motion picture shall—

6 ‘‘(i) make a good faith effort to notify each ar7 tistic author of the motion picture in writing and by

8 registered mail and in a reasonable amount of time

9 prior to such exploitation;

10 ‘‘(ii) determine the objections of any artistic au11 thor so notified to any material alteration of the mo12 tion picture;

13 ‘‘(iii) determine the objection of any artistic au14 thor so notified by the questionnaire set forth in

15 paragraph (9) to any type of future material alter16 ations which are in addition to those specifically pro17 posed for the motion picture to be exploited;

18 ‘‘(iv) if any objections under clause (ii) or (iii)

19 are determined, include the applicable label under

20 paragraph (6) or (8) in, or affix such label to, all

21 copies of the motion picture before—

22 ‘‘(I) the public performance of the materi23 ally altered motion picture if it is already in dis24 tribution, or
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1 ‘‘(II) the initial distribution of the materi2 ally altered motion picture to any exhibitor or

3 retail provider; and

4 ‘‘(v) in the event of objections by an artistic au5 thor to any future material alterations, include or

6 affix such objections to any copy of the motion pic7 ture distributed or transmitted to any exhibitor or

8 retail provider.

9 ‘‘(B) Whenever a distributor or network exploits a

10 motion picture which has already been materially altered,

11 such distributor or network shall not be required to satisfy

12 the requirements of subparagraph (A) (i), (ii), and (iii),

13 if—

14 ‘‘(i) such distributor or network does not fur15 ther materially alter such motion picture; and

16 ‘‘(ii) such motion picture was materially altered

17 by another distributor or network that complied fully

18 with all of the requirements of subparagraph (A).

19 ‘‘(C)(i) The requirement of a good faith effort under

20 subparagraph (A)(i) is satisfied if a distributor or network

21 that has not previously been notified by each artistic au22 thor of a motion picture—

23 ‘‘(I) requests in writing the name and address

24 of each artistic author of the motion picture from

25 the appropriate professional guild, indicating a re-
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1 sponse date of not earlier than 30 days after the

2 date of the request, by which the appropriate profes3 sional guild must respond; and

4 ‘‘(II) upon receipt of such information from the

5 appropriate professional guild within the time speci6 fied in the request, notifies each artistic author of

7 the motion picture in a reasonable amount of time

8 before the exploitation of the motion picture by such

9 network or distributor.

10 ‘‘(ii) The notice to each artistic author under this

11 paragraph shall contain a specific date, not earlier than

12 30 days after the date of such notice, by which the individ13 ual so notified shall respond in accordance with subpara14 graph (A)(ii). Failure of the artistic author or the appro15 priate professional guild to respond within the time period

16 specified in the notice shall relieve the distributor or net17 work of all liability under subparagraph (A).

18 ‘‘(D) The requirements of this paragraph for an ex19 hibitor shall be limited to—

20 ‘‘(i) broadcasting, cablecasting, exhibiting, or

21 distributing all labels required under this section in

22 their entirety that are included with or distributed

23 by the network or distributor of the motion picture;

24 and
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1 ‘‘(ii) including or affixing a label described in

2 paragraphs (6) and (8) on a materially altered mo3 tion picture for any material alterations performed

4 by the exhibitor to which any artistic author has ob5 jected under subparagraph (A)(iii).

6 ‘‘(E)(i) The provisions of this paragraph shall apply

7 with respect to motion pictures intended for home use

8 through either retail purchase or rental, except that no

9 requirement imposed under this paragraph shall apply to

10 a motion picture which has been packaged for distribution

11 to retail providers before the effective date of this sub12 section.

13 ‘‘(ii) The obligations under this paragraph of a retail

14 provider of motion pictures intended for home use shall

15 be limited to including or distributing all labels required

16 under this paragraph in their entirety that are affixed or

17 included by a distributor or network.

18 ‘‘(F) There shall be no consideration in excess of one

19 dollar given in exchange for an artistic author’s waiver of

20 any objection or waiver of the right to object under this

21 subsection.

22 ‘‘(2)(A) Any artistic author of a motion picture that

23 is exploited within the United States who believes he or

24 she is or is likely to be damaged by a violation of this

25 subsection may bring a civil action for appropriate relief,
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1 as provided in this paragraph, on account of such viola2 tion, without regard to the nationality or domicile of the

3 artistic author.

4 ‘‘(B)(i) In any action under subparagraph (A), the

5 court shall have power to grant injunctions, according to

6 the principles of equity and upon such terms as the court

7 deems reasonable, to prevent the violation of this sub8 section. Any such injunction may include a provision di9 recting the defendant to file with the court and serve on

10 the plaintiff, within 30 days after the service on the de11 fendant of such injunction, or such extended period as the

12 court may direct, a report in writing under oath setting

13 forth in detail the manner and form in which the defend14 ant has complied with the injunction. Any such injunction

15 granted upon hearing, after notice to the defendant, by

16 any district court of the United States—

17 ‘‘(I) may be served on the parties against whom

18 such injunction is granted anywhere in the United

19 States where they may be found; and

20 ‘‘(II) shall be operative and may be enforced by

21 proceedings to punish for contempt, or otherwise, by

22 the court by which such injunction was granted, or

23 by any other United States district court in whose

24 jurisdiction the defendant may be found.
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1 ‘‘(ii) When a violation of any right of an artistic au2 thor is established in any civil action arising under this

3 subsection, the plaintiff shall be entitled to the remedies

4 provided under section 35(a).

5 ‘‘(iii) In any action under subparagraph (A), the

6 court may order that all film packaging of a materially

7 altered motion picture (including film packages of motion

8 pictures intended for home use through either retail pur9 chase or rental) that is the subject of the violation shall

10 be delivered up and destroyed.

11 ‘‘(C) No action shall be maintained under this para12 graph unless it is commenced within 1 year after the right

13 of action accrues.

14 ‘‘(3) Any disclosure requirements imposed under the

15 common law or statutes of any State respecting the mate16 rial alteration of motion pictures are preempted by this

17 subsection.

18 ‘‘(4) To facilitate the location of a potentially ag19 grieved party, each artistic author of a motion picture may

20 notify the copyright owner of the motion picture or any

21 appropriate professional guild. The professional guilds

22 may each maintain a Professional Guild Registry includ23 ing the names and addresses of artistic authors so notify24 ing them and may make available information contained

25 in a Professional Guild Registry in order to facilitate the
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1 location of any artistic author for purposes of paragraph

2 (1)(A). No cause of action shall accrue against any profes3 sional guild for failure to create or maintain a Professional

4 Guild Registry or for any failure to provide information

5 pursuant to paragraph (1)(A)(i).

6 ‘‘(5) As used in this subsection—

7 ‘‘(A) the term ‘artistic author’ means the prin8 cipal director and principal screenwriter of a motion

9 picture and, to the extent a motion picture is

10 colorized or its photographic images materially al11 tered, the principal cinematographer of the motion

12 picture;

13 ‘‘(B) the term ‘colorize’ means to add color, by

14 whatever means, to a motion picture originally made

15 in black and white, and the term ‘colorization’

16 means the act of colorizing;.

17 ‘‘(C) the term ‘distributor’—

18 ‘‘(i) means any person, vendor, or syn19 dicator who engages in the wholesale distribu20 tion of motion pictures to any exhibitor, net21 work, retail provider, or other person who pub22 licly performs motion pictures by means of any

23 technology, and
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1 ‘‘(ii) does not include laboratories or other

2 providers of technical services to the motion pic3 ture, video, or television industry;

4 ‘‘(D) the term ‘editing’ means the purposeful or

5 accidental removal of existing material or insertion

6 of new material;

7 ‘‘(E) the term ‘exhibitor’ means any local

8 broadcast station, cable system, airline, motion pic9 ture theater, or other person that publicly performs

10 a motion picture by means of any technology;

11 ‘‘(F) the term ‘exploit’ means to exhibit publicly

12 or offer to the public through sale or lease, and the

13 term ‘exploitation’ means the act of exploiting;

14 ‘‘(G) the term ‘film’ or ‘motion picture’

15 means—

16 ‘‘(i) a theatrical motion picture, after its

17 publication, of 60 minutes duration or greater,

18 intended for exhibition, public performance,

19 public sale or lease, and

20 ‘‘(ii) does not include episodic television

21 programs of less than 60 minutes duration (ex22 clusive of commercials), motion pictures pre23 pared for private commercial or industrial pur24 poses, or advertisements;
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1 ‘‘(H) the term ‘lexiconning’ means altering the

2 sound track of a motion picture to conform the

3 speed of the vocal or musical portion of the motion

4 picture to the visual images of the motion picture,

5 in a case in which the motion picture has been the

6 subject of time compression or expansion;

7 ‘‘(I) the terms ‘materially alter’ and ‘material

8 alteration’—

9 ‘‘(i) refer to any change made to a motion

10 picture;

11 ‘‘(ii) include, but are not limited to, the

12 processes of colorization, lexiconning, time com13 pression or expansion, panning and scanning,

14 and editing; and

15 ‘‘(iii) do not include insertions for commer16 cial breaks or public service announcements, ed17 iting to comply with the requirements of the

18 Federal Communications Commission (in this

19 subparagraph referred to as the ‘FCC’), trans20 fer of film to videotape or any other secondary

21 media preparation of a motion picture for for22 eign distribution to the extent that subtitling

23 and editing are limited to those alterations

24 made under foreign standards which are no

25 more stringent than existing FCC standards, or
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1 activities the purpose of which is the restoration

2 of the motion picture to its original version;

3 ‘‘(J) the term ‘network’ means any person who

4 distributes motion pictures to broadcasting stations

5 or cable systems on a regional or national basis for

6 public performance on an interconnected basis;

7 ‘‘(K) the term ‘panning and scanning’ means

8 the process by which a motion picture, composed for

9 viewing on theater screens, is adapted for viewing on

10 television screens by modification of the ratio of

11 width to height of the motion picture and the selec12 tion, by a person other than the principal director of

13 the motion picture, of some portion of the entire pic14 ture for viewing;

15 ‘‘(L) the term ‘professional guild’ means—

16 ‘‘(i) in the case of directors, the Directors

17 Guild of America (DGA);

18 ‘‘(ii) in the case of screenwriters, the Writ19 ers Guild of America–West (WGA–W) and the

20 Writers Guild of America–East (WGA–E); and

21 ‘‘(iii) in the case of cinematographers, the

22 International Photographers Guild (IPG), and

23 the American Society of Cinematographers

24 (ASC);
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1 ‘‘(M) the term ‘Professional Guild Registry’

2 means a list of names and addresses of artistic au3 thors that is readily available from the files of a pro4 fessional guild;

5 ‘‘(N) the term ‘publication’ means, with respect

6 to a motion picture, the first paid public exhibition

7 of the work other than previews, trial runs, and fes8 tivals;

9 ‘‘(O) the term ‘retail provider’ means the pro10 prietor of a retail outlet that sells or leases motion

11 pictures for home use;

12 ‘‘(P) the term ‘secondary media’ means any me13 dium, including, but not limited to, video cassette or

14 video disc, other than television broadcast or theat15 rical release, for use on which motion pictures are

16 sold, leased, or distributed to the public;

17 ‘‘(Q) the term ‘syndicator’ means any person

18 who distributes a motion picture to a broadcast tele19 vision station, cable television system, or any other

20 means of distribution by which programming is de21 livered to television viewers;

22 ‘‘(R) the terms ‘time compression’ and ‘time ex23 pansion’ mean the alteration of the speed of a mo24 tion picture or a portion thereof with the result of
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1 shortening or lengthening the running time of the

2 motion picture; and

3 ‘‘(S) the term ‘vendor’ means the wholesaler or

4 packager of a motion picture which is intended for

5 wholesale distribution to retail providers.

6 ‘‘(6)(A) A label for a materially altered version of a

7 motion picture intended for public performance or home

8 use shall consist of a panel card immediately preceding

9 the commencement of the motion picture, which bears one

10 or more of the following statements, as appropriate, in leg11 ible type and displayed on a conspicuous and readable

12 basis:

13 ‘THIS FILM IS NOT THE VERSION ORIGI14 NALLY RELEASED. lll mins. and lll secs.

15 have been cut [or, if appropriate, added]. The director,

16 lllllllll llllllllll, and

17 screenwriter, lllll lllll, object because this

18 alteration changes the narrative and/or characterization.

19 It has (also) been panned and scanned. The director and

20 cinematographer, lllll lllll, object be21 cause this alteration removes visual information and

22 changes the composition of the images. It has (also) been

23 colorized. Colors have been added by computer to the

24 original black and white images. The director and cine25 matographer object to this alteration because it eliminates
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1 the black and white photography and changes the photo2 graphic images of the actors. It has (also) been electroni3 cally speeded up (or slowed down). The director objects

4 because this alteration changes the pace of the perform5 ances.’

6 ‘‘(B) A label for a motion picture that has been mate7 rially altered in a manner not described by any of the label

8 elements set forth in subparagraph (A) shall contain a

9 statement similar in form and substance to those set forth

10 in subparagraph (A) which accurately describes the mate11 rial alteration and the objection of the artistic author.

12 ‘‘(7) A label for a motion picture which has been ma13 terially altered in more than one manner, or of which an

14 individual served as more than one artistic author, need

15 only state the name of the artistic author once, in the first

16 objection of the artistic author so listed. In addition, a

17 label for a motion picture which has been materially al18 tered in more than one manner need only state once, at

19 the beginning of the label: ‘THIS FILM IS NOT THE

20 VERSION ORIGINALLY RELEASED.’.

21 ‘‘(8) A label for a film package of a materially altered

22 motion picture shall consist of—

23 ‘‘(A) an area of a rectangle on the front of the

24 package which bears, as appropriate, one or more of

25 the statements listed in paragraph (6) in a conspicu-
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1 ous and legible type in contrast by typography, lay2 out, or color with other printed matter on the pack3 age; and

4 ‘‘(B) an area of a rectangle on the side of the

5 package which bears, as appropriate, one or more of

6 the statements listed in paragraph (6) in a conspicu7 ous and legible type in contrast by typography, lay8 out, or color with other printed matter on the pack9 age.

10 ‘‘(9) The questionnaire required under paragraph

11 (1)(A)(iii) shall consist of the following statement and re12 lated questions:

13 ‘In order to conform [insert name of motion

14 picture], of which you are an ‘‘artistic author’’, to

15 ancillary media such as television, airline exhibition,

16 video cassettes, video discs, or any other media, do

17 you object to:

18 ‘(a) Editing (purposeful or accidental deletion or ad19 dition of program material)?

20 Yesllllll Nolllllll

21 ‘(b) Time compression/time expansion/lexiconning?

22 Yesllllll Nolllllll

23 ‘(c) Panning and scanning?

24 Yesllllll Nolllllll
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1 ‘(d) Colorization, if the motion picture was originally

2 made in black and white?

3 Yesllllll Nolllllll’.’’

4 SEC. 4. EFFECTIVE DATE.

5 This Act and the amendments made by this Act shall

6 take effect 180 days after the date of the enactment of

7 this Act.

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