A bill to outlaw camcording movies and protect companies making content-editing products from litigation has passed the House Judiciary Committee's subcommittee covering copyrights.
Known as the Family Entertainment and Copyright Act, the bill didn't exactly get through the subcommittee without a little noise. Rep. Howard Berman (D-California) attacked the portion of the bill protecting the content-editing products.
"I'm voting for it in spite of the Family Movie Act," Berman told reporters after the subcommittee vote. He said that portion of the legislation ended negotiations between a digital entertainment trade group and the movie industry over licensing edited films to ClearPlay and other editing device makers.
Berman and other subcommittee members voted to pass the full package, however, because of its anti-camcorder piracy provision, plus a provision to help law enforcement fight film and music piracy before such works are released to the public, and a provision to continue the Library of Congress's film preservation program.
If the entire FECA survives Congress and is signed by President Bush, it would end litigation between Utah-based ClearPlay and the DGA and the studios, he said.
Subcommittee chairman Lamar Smith (R-Texas), however, said the Family Movie Act portion of the legislative package is just another tool parents can use to keep "smut" out of their homes. "Parents should be able to mute or skip over anything they want if they feel it's in the best interests of their children," said Smith, who didn't note that parents can do that with their home videocassette recorders or DVD recorders.
"Just as the author of a book should not be able to force someone to read that book in any particular manner or order," Smith continued, "a studio or director should not be able to force parents or their children to watch a movie in a particular way."
Berman, however, said that provision takes control of creative work away from the creator and under the control of another business. "You're really authorizing the Profits for ClearPlay legislation," the California Democrat said to the Texas Republican.
The irony, Berman continued: ClearPlay maker Thomson Electronics had to pull their product off sale when a competing manufacturer filed an infringement suit against Thomson, claiming ClearPlay infringed its technology.
