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As the 1997-98 Congressional session drew to
a close, several key bills were passed into law.
Included were:
Each are summarized below.
Fall 1997 saw the passage of the "La Cienega"
legislation, closing a legal loophole and preventing
many songs and compositions recorded in the U.S.
between 1909 and 1976 from immediately fall-ing
into the public domain. ASCAP had strongly supported
passage of this legislation, which had been held
up once again, by the proponents of the unfair
"Music Licensing" bills.
- ASCAP joined forces with the National Music
Publishers Association (NMPA) to pressure Congress
to allow the "La Cienega" bill to
move forward.
- The bill was signed into law by President
Clinton on November 13, 1997, eliminating any
loss of ASCAP members' copyrights to public
domain.
In essence, the law modifies the liability of
online service providers (such as AOL, Compuserve
and Prodigy -- as well as telephone companies)
when they operate as mere conduits, and it prevents
the circumvention of copyright protection for
your music on the Internet. The new law brings
the U.S. into line with World Intellectual Property
Organization (WIPO) treaties on copyright. ASCAP
had supported this bill, provided that the rights
of music creators were protected on the Internet.
- The bill was signed into law by President
Clinton on October 28, 1998.
It became effective on January 28, 1999.
Copyright
Term Extension |
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Fairness in Music Licensing Amendment |
The "Sonny Bono Copyright
Term Extension" Law extends the length
of copyright in the United States for all
currently copyrighted works by another 20
years. It extends the current standard of
the creator's "Life Plus 50" years
to "Life Plus 70" years for post-1978
works. For pre-1978 works it extends the total
term from 75 years to 95 years. It protects
all works just copyrighted on and after January
1, 1923. Musical works which are in the public
domain remain in the public domain. ASCAP
strongly supported this legislation, which
was designed to bring domestic copyrights
into line with those of our trading partners
in the European Community.
- The "Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension"
legislation was unfortunately amended with
the inclusion of some elements of the objectionable
"Fairness in Music Licensing"
bill.
- The bill was signed into law by President
Clinton on October 27, 1998, and the "Term
Extension" provisions were effective immediately.
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Prior to the passage of this
amendment, the U.S. Copyright Law required
that most businesses using radio or TV broadcasts
as a source of copyrighted music in a public
place obtain permission to use that music
from the owners of the copyright for each
piece of music they wished to play. Few businesses
using radio or TV music were exempted from
music licensing fees. The new law expands
the existing exemption for small restaurants,
bars, and retail stores for radio or TV music
only. ASCAP had opposed this legislation for
over five years and managed to soften some
of its provisions.
- The modified provisions were attached
as an amendment to the "Sonny Bono
Copyright Term Extension" bill.
- The bill was signed into law by President
Clinton on October 27, 1998, and the "Music
Licensing" provisions were effective
as of January 28, 1999.
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