Family Movie Act Moves Through House Subcommittee

On July 8, the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Courts, the Internet, and Intellectual Property approved, 11-5, the Family Movie Act (H.R. 4586). The subcommittee held a hearing on the bill on June 17 (see The Source, 6/18/04).

Sponsored by Chair Lamar Smith (R-TX), the measure 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 unintended by the director or copyright holder.

The subcommittee approved, by voice vote, a substitute amendment by Rep. Smith that would apply the notification requirement only to technology manufactured 180 days after the bill’s enactment.

The subcommittee rejected the following amendments by voice vote:

• an amendment by Rep. Howard Berman (D-CA) that would have limited the copyright protection exemption to filters that target only profane, sexual, or violent content;
• an amendment by Rep. Berman that would have limited the copyright protection exemption to filters for movies viewed by children; and
• an amendment by Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) that would have limited the copyright protection exemption to movies that do not already have edited versions licensed for television or airline use.