I
104TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 1248
To amend the Lanham Act to require certain disclosures relating to materially
altered films.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
MARCH 15, 1995
Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts (for himself, Mr. CONYERS, and Mr. BRYANT
of Texas) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com-
mittee on the Judiciary
A BILL
To amend the Lanham Act to require certain disclosures
relating to materially altered films.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Film Disclosure Act
of 1995’’.
SEC. 2. AMENDMENT TO THE LANHAM ACT.
Section 43 of the Act entitled ‘‘An Act to provide for
the registration and protection of trade-marks used in
commerce, to carry out the provisions of certain inter-
national conventions, and for other purposes’’, approved
July 5, 1946, commonly known as the Lanham Act (15
U.S.C. 1125), is amended by adding at the end the
following:
‘‘(c)(1)(A) Any distributor or network that proposes
to exploit a materially altered motion picture shall—
‘‘(i) make a good faith effort to notify each ar-
tistic author of the motion picture in writing and by
registered mail and in a reasonable amount of time
prior to such exploitation;
‘‘(ii) determine the objections of any artistic au-
thor so notified to any material alteration of the mo-
tion picture;
‘‘(iii) determine the objection of any artistic au-
thor so notified by the questionnaire set forth in
paragraph (9) to any type of future material alter-
ations which are in addition to those specifically pro-
posed for the motion picture to be exploited;
‘‘(iv) if any objections under clause (ii) or (iii)
are determined, include the applicable label under
paragraph (6) or (8) in, or affix such label to, all
copies of the motion picture before—
‘‘(I) the public performance of the materi-
ally altered motion picture if it is already in dis-
tribution, or
‘‘(II) the initial distribution of the materi-
ally altered motion picture to any exhibitor or
retail provider; and
‘‘(v) in the event of objections by an artistic au-
thor to any future material alterations, include or
affix such objections to any copy of the motion pic-
ture distributed or transmitted to any exhibitor or
retail provider.
‘‘(B) Whenever a distributor or network exploits a
motion picture which has already been materially altered,
such distributor or network shall not be required to satisfy
the requirements of subparagraph (A) (i), (ii), and (iii),
if—
‘‘(i) such distributor or network does not fur-
ther materially alter such motion picture; and
‘‘(ii) such motion picture was materially altered
by another distributor or network that complied fully
with all of the requirements of subparagraph (A).
‘‘(C)(i) The requirement of a good faith effort under
subparagraph (A)(i) is satisfied if a distributor or network
that has not previously been notified by each artistic au-
thor of a motion picture—
‘‘(I) requests in writing the name and address
of each artistic author of the motion picture from
the appropriate professional guild, indicating a re-
sponse date of not earlier than 30 days after the
date of the request, by which the appropriate profes-
sional guild must respond; and
‘‘(II) upon receipt of such information from the
appropriate professional guild within the time speci-
fied in the request, notifies each artistic author of
the motion picture in a reasonable amount of time
before the exploitation of the motion picture by such
network or distributor.
‘‘(ii) The notice to each artistic author under this
paragraph shall contain a specific date, not earlier than
30 days after the date of such notice, by which the individ-
ual so notified shall respond in accordance with subpara-
graph (A)(ii). Failure of the artistic author or the appro-
priate professional guild to respond within the time period
specified in the notice shall relieve the distributor or net-
work of all liability under subparagraph (A).
‘‘(D) The requirements of this paragraph for an ex-
hibitor shall be limited to—
‘‘(i) broadcasting, cablecasting, exhibiting, or
distributing all labels required under this section in
their entirety that are included with or distributed
by the network or distributor of the motion picture;
and
‘‘(ii) including or affixing a label described in
paragraphs (6) and (8) on a materially altered mo-
tion picture for any material alterations performed
by the exhibitor to which any artistic author has ob-
jected under subparagraph (A)(iii).
‘‘(E)(i) The provisions of this paragraph shall apply
with respect to motion pictures intended for home use
through either retail purchase or rental, except that no
requirement imposed under this paragraph shall apply to
a motion picture which has been packaged for distribution
to retail providers before the effective date of this sub-
section.
‘‘(ii) The obligations under this paragraph of a retail
provider of motion pictures intended for home use shall
be limited to including or distributing all labels required
under this paragraph in their entirety that are affixed or
included by a distributor or network.
‘‘(F) There shall be no consideration in excess of one
dollar given in exchange for an artistic author’s waiver of
any objection or waiver of the right to object under this
subsection.
‘‘(2)(A) Any artistic author of a motion picture that
is exploited within the United States who believes he or
she is or is likely to be damaged by a violation of this
subsection may bring a civil action for appropriate relief,
as provided in this paragraph, on account of such viola-
tion, without regard to the nationality or domicile of the
artistic author.
‘‘(B)(i) In any action under subparagraph (A), the
court shall have power to grant injunctions, according to
the principles of equity and upon such terms as the court
deems reasonable, to prevent the violation of this sub-
section. Any such injunction may include a provision di-
recting the defendant to file with the court and serve on
the plaintiff, within 30 days after the service on the de-
fendant of such injunction, or such extended period as the
court may direct, a report in writing under oath setting
forth in detail the manner and form in which the defend-
ant has complied with the injunction. Any such injunction
granted upon hearing, after notice to the defendant, by
any district court of the United States—
‘‘(I) may be served on the parties against whom
such injunction is granted anywhere in the United
States where they may be found; and
‘‘(II) shall be operative and may be enforced by
proceedings to punish for contempt, or otherwise, by
the court by which such injunction was granted, or
by any other United States district court in whose
jurisdiction the defendant may be found.
‘‘(ii) When a violation of any right of an artistic au-
thor is established in any civil action arising under this
subsection, the plaintiff shall be entitled to the remedies
provided under section 35(a).
‘‘(iii) In any action under subparagraph (A), the
court may order that all film packaging of a materially
altered motion picture (including film packages of motion
pictures intended for home use through either retail pur-
chase or rental) that is the subject of the violation shall
be delivered up and destroyed.
‘‘(C) No action shall be maintained under this para-
graph unless—
‘‘(i) it is commenced within 1 year after the
right of action accrues, and
‘‘(ii) if brought by a designee described in para-
graph (5)(A)(ii), it is commenced within the term of
copyright of the motion picture involved.
‘‘(3) Any disclosure requirements imposed under the
common law or statutes of any State respecting the mate-
rial alteration of motion pictures are preempted by this
subsection.
‘‘(4) To facilitate the location of a potentially ag-
grieved party, each artistic author of a motion picture may
notify the copyright owner of the motion picture or any
appropriate professional guild. The professional guilds
may each maintain a Professional Guild Registry includ-
ing the names and addresses of artistic authors so notify-
ing them and may make available information contained
in a Professional Guild Registry in order to facilitate the
location of any artistic author for purposes of paragraph
(1)(A). No cause of action shall accrue against any profes-
sional guild for failure to create or maintain a Professional
Guild Registry or for any failure to provide information
pursuant to paragraph (1)(A)(i).
‘‘(5) As used in this subsection—
‘‘(A) the term ‘artistic author’ means—
‘‘(i) the principal director and principal
screenwriter of a motion picture and, to the ex-
tent a motion picture is colorized or its photo-
graphic images materially altered, the principal
cinematographer of the motion picture; and
‘‘(ii) a person designated by an individual
described in clause (i), if the designation is
made in writing and signed by such individual;
‘‘(B) the term ‘colorize’ means to add color, by
whatever means, to a motion picture originally made
in black and white, and the term ‘colorization’
means the act of colorizing;
‘‘(C) the term ‘distributor’—
‘‘(ii) does not include episodic television
programs of less than 60 minutes duration (ex-
clusive of commercials), motion pictures pre-
pared for private commercial or industrial pur-
poses, or advertisements;
‘‘(H) the term ‘lexiconning’ means altering the
sound track of a motion picture to conform the
speed of the vocal or musical portion of the motion
picture to the visual images of the motion picture,
in a case in which the motion picture has been the
subject of time compression or expansion;
‘‘(I) the terms ‘materially alter’ and ‘material
alteration’—
‘‘(i) refer to any change made to a motion
picture;
‘‘(ii) include, but are not limited to, the
processes of colorization, lexiconning, time com-
pression or expansion, panning and scanning,
and editing; and
‘‘(iii) do not include insertions for commer-
cial breaks or public service announcements, ed-
iting to comply with the requirements of the
Federal Communications Commission (in this
subparagraph referred to as the ‘FCC’), trans-
fer of film to videotape or any other secondary
media preparation of a motion picture for for-
eign distribution to the extent that subtitling
and editing are limited to those alterations
made under foreign standards which are no
more stringent than existing FCC standards, or
activities the purpose of which is the restoration
of the motion picture to its original version;
‘‘(J) the term ‘network’ means any person who
distributes motion pictures to broadcasting stations
or cable systems on a regional or national basis for
public performance on an interconnected basis;
‘‘(K) the term ‘panning and scanning’ means
the process by which a motion picture, composed for
viewing on theater screens, is adapted for viewing on
television screens by modification of the ratio of
width to height of the motion picture and the selec-
tion, by a person other than the principal director of
the motion picture, of some portion of the entire pic-
ture for viewing;
‘‘(L) the term ‘professional guild’ means—
‘‘(i) in the case of directors, the Directors
Guild of America (DGA);
‘‘(ii) in the case of screenwriters, the Writ-
ers Guild of America–West (WGA–W) and the
Writers Guild of America–East (WGA–E); and
‘‘(iii) in the case of cinematographers, the
International Photographers Guild (IPG), and
the American Society of Cinematographers
(ASC);
‘‘(M) the term ‘Professional Guild Registry’
means a list of names and addresses of artistic au-
thors that is readily available from the files of a pro-
fessional guild;
‘‘(N) the term ‘publication’ means, with respect
to a motion picture, the first paid public exhibition
of the work other than previews, trial runs, and fes-
tivals;
‘‘(O) the term ‘retail provider’ means the pro-
prietor of a retail outlet that sells or leases motion
pictures for home use;
‘‘(P) the term ‘secondary media’ means any me-
dium, including, but not limited to, video cassette or
video disc, other than television broadcast or theat-
rical release, for use on which motion pictures are
sold, leased, or distributed to the public;
‘‘(Q) the term ‘syndicator’ means any person
who distributes a motion picture to a broadcast tele-
vision station, cable television system, or any other
means of distribution by which programming is de-
livered to television viewers;
‘‘(R) the terms ‘time compression’ and ‘time ex-
pansion’ mean the alteration of the speed of a mo-
tion picture or a portion thereof with the result of
shortening or lengthening the running time of the
motion picture; and
‘‘(S) the term ‘vendor’ means the wholesaler or
packager of a motion picture which is intended for
wholesale distribution to retail providers.
‘‘(6)(A) A label for a materially altered version of a
motion picture intended for public performance or home
use shall consist of a panel card immediately preceding
the commencement of the motion picture, which bears one
or more of the following statements, as appropriate, in leg-
ible type and displayed on a conspicuous and readable
basis:
‘‘ ‘THIS FILM IS NOT THE VERSION ORIGI-
NALLY RELEASED. lll mins. and lll secs.
have been cut [or, if appropriate, added]. The director,
lllllllll 
llllllllll, 
and
screenwriter, lllll lllll, object because this
alteration changes the narrative and/or characterization.
It has (also) been panned and scanned. The director and
cinematographer, lllll lllll, object be-
cause this alteration removes visual information and
changes the composition of the images. It has (also) been
colorized. Colors have been added by computer to the
original black and white images. The director and cine-
matographer object to this alteration because it eliminates
the black and white photography and changes the photo-
graphic images of the actors. It has (also) been electroni-
cally speeded up (or slowed down). The director objects
because this alteration changes the pace of the perform-
ances.’
‘‘(B) A label for a motion picture that has been mate-
rially altered in a manner not described by any of the label
elements set forth in subparagraph (A) shall contain a
statement similar in form and substance to those set forth
in subparagraph (A) which accurately describes the mate-
rial alteration and the objection of the artistic author.
‘‘(7) A label for a motion picture which has been ma-
terially altered in more than one manner, or of which an
individual served as more than one artistic author, need
only state the name of the artistic author once, in the first
objection of the artistic author so listed. In addition, a
label for a motion picture which has been materially al-
tered in more than one manner need only state once, at
the beginning of the label: ‘THIS FILM IS NOT THE
VERSION ORIGINALLY RELEASED.’.
‘‘(8) A label for a film package of a materially altered
motion picture shall consist of—
‘‘(A) an area of a rectangle on the front of the
package which bears, as appropriate, one or more of
the statements listed in paragraph (6) in a conspicu-
ous and legible type in contrast by typography, lay-
out, or color with other printed matter on the pack-
age; and
‘‘(B) an area of a rectangle on the side of the
package which bears, as appropriate, one or more of
the statements listed in paragraph (6) in a conspicu-
ous and legible type in contrast by typography, lay-
out, or color with other printed matter on the pack-
age.
‘‘(9) The questionnaire required under paragraph
(1)(A)(iii) shall consist of the following statement and re-
lated questions:
‘‘ ‘In order to conform [insert name of motion
picture], of which you are an ‘‘artistic author’’, to
ancillary media such as television, airline exhibition,
video cassettes, video discs, or any other media, do
you object to:
‘‘ ‘(a) Editing (purposeful or accidental deletion or
addition of program material)?
Yesllllll
Nolllllll
‘‘ ‘(b) Time compression/time expansion/lexiconning?
Yesllllll
Nolllllll
‘‘ ‘(c) Panning and scanning?
Yesllllll
Nolllllll
‘‘ ‘(d) Colorization, if the motion picture was origi-
nally made in black and white?
Yesllllll
Nolllllll’.’’
SEC. 4. EFFECTIVE DATE.
This Act and the amendments made by this Act shall
take effect 180 days after the date of the enactment of
this Act.
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