On September 8, the House Judiciary Committee approved, by voice vote, a substitute amendment to an anti-piracy bill (H.R. 4077) that would incorporate the text of the Family Movie Act (H.R. 4586) into the legislation. The committee approved H.R. 4586 as a stand-alone bill on July 21 (see The Source, 7/23/04).
Sponsored by Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX), the Family Movie Act would exempt from copyright protection and trademark laws technology and software designed to filter out unwanted audio and video content on a DVD or videotape for individual consumers as long as no fixed copies are created. The bill would require that the software manufacturers provide clear and conspicuous notice that the movie being shown has been altered in a way that was unintended by the director or copyright holder. The notification requirement would apply only to technology manufactured 180 days after the bill’s enactment.
