Howard Berman: “I yield myself 6 minutes. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of S. 167, and I ask my colleagues to join me in voting to pass…”

“I yield myself 6 minutes. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of S. 167, and I ask my colleagues to join me in voting to pass this worthy legislation. Prior to reporting S. 167 by voice vote last month, the Committee on the Judiciary gave the bill all due deliberation. The provisions in this bill and its precursor, H.R. 4077, which passed the House last year, were the subject of multiple subcommittee hearings and markups. Through the extensive consideration given on the provisions of S. 167, the Committee on the Judiciary has agreed to a bill that makes important contributions to the fight against the proliferation of pirated copyrighted works and that encourages the preservation and protection of creative content. {time} 1430 In addition to providing us with entertainment and education in the form of movies, sound recordings, software, books, computer games and other products, the core copyright industries account for over 6 percent of U.S. gross domestic product. Businesses that rely on copyright employ more than 11 million U.S. workers. Robust protection for creativity supports everyone from the most famous artist to the completely unknown set designer. Unfortunately, copyright piracy has become a grave threat to the livelihoods of all copyright creators. We live in an environment where consumers want their choice of entertainment to be available at any time, in any place, in any format.…”