September 23, 2019
The following is a statement from the Directors Guild of America regarding a letter sent by House Judiciary Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) and Ranking Member Doug Collins (R-GA) to U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer:
The DGA applauds House Judiciary Committee Chairman Nadler and Ranking Member Collins for their ongoing efforts to defend directors, their team members and other industry creators against the ravages of piracy. Online theft of film and television has long been precipitated by outdated, overboard copyright safe harbors (Section 512 of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act) that allow multi-billion dollar tech platforms to profit from stolen content posted by third parties, depriving our members of significant compensation and benefit contributions, and threatening future work opportunities. As the revised North American Free Trade Agreement (also known as the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, or USMCA) now seeks to export those outdated policies to other countries, Chairman Nadler and Ranking Member Collins have taken a stand on behalf of our members who often dedicate weeks, months, even years of their lives to a single feature film or television series – and have been among those hit hardest by these outdated laws.
In their letter to Trade Representative Lighthizer, Chairman Nadler and Ranking Member Collins express their concern about the incorporation of safe harbor into the USMCA, and seek to ensure that future U.S. trade agreement negotiations will include thorough consultation with the Judiciary Committee that has jurisdiction over, and expertise in, copyright.
Ensuring that federal trade policies promote and preserve the value of copyright and respect creators’ rights are a key concern of our Guild. We believe the safe harbor rule must be revised to reflect technological advancements since its 1998 enactment and to stop the damage to content creators. Encouraging trade experts who seek to open markets for U.S. film, television and new media productions to closely consult with copyright experts who seek to promote the rights of content creators, is a critical step in the right direction.
Read the full letter here.