On February 1, the Senate approved, by unanimous consent, an anti-piracy bill (S. 167) that includes the text of the Family Movie Act. Although the House approved the legislation last year, the Senate did not act on the bill before the 108th Congress adjourned for the year (see The Source, 10/8/04 and 10/1/04).
Sponsored by Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT), the Family Movie Act would exempt from copyright protection and trademark laws technology designed to filter out unwanted audio and video content on a DVD or videotape for individual consumers. 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.
