ArtsPolicyUpdate Americans for the Arts logo

Date:   Friday, May 23, 2008
To:      Congressional Staff
From:  Americans for the Arts

Americans for the Arts and its Arts Action Fund are pleased to send you this Arts Policy Update.  It is designed to provide timely and relevant information to congressional staff who are working on arts and arts education issues. The update is published periodically throughout the year.  Click here for archives.

This information is drawn from legislative news placed on our Congressional Resource Website, which is updated regularly with comprehensive and timely information, ranging from arts-related legislation to economic data and Congressional Arts Caucus activities. We encourage you to visit the website often for updates.

ARTSLEGISLATIONNEWS

HOUSE APPROPRIATIONS SUBCOMMITTEE HEARING ON THE ARTS
For the second year in a row, in conjunction with Arts Advocacy Day, Rep. Norm Dicks (D-WA), chairman of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on the Interior hosted a hearing on the importance of investing in the arts. Rep. Dicks once again invited Americans for the Arts to organize witnesses to give testimony before the subcommittee which determines the budget levels for the National Endowment for the Arts. The hearing, Role of the Arts in Fueling Creativity and Innovation, was held on Tuesday, April 1, following the Congressional Arts Breakfast.  A summary with pictures of the special witnesses is online here.

Robert Redford, Kerry Washington and John Legend testify in support of increased funding for the National Endowment for the Arts
Robert Redford, Kerry Washington and John Legend testify in support of increased funding for the National Endowment for the Arts pictured with leaders of the House Interior Appropriations Subcmte on Arts Advocacy Day.

The Interior Subcommittee also heard testimony from NEA Chairman Dana Gioia at the hearing and Congressional Arts Caucus Co-chairs Louise Slaughter (D-NY) and Chris Shays (R-CT) testified in support of an increase for the NEA.

Click here for more information, or contact Gladstone Payton.

HOUSE EDUCATION & LABOR SUBCOMMITTEE HOLDS HEARING ON NEA & NEH
On Thursday, May 8, 2008, the House Education & Labor Subcommittee on Healthy Families and Communities held an informational hearing on the programs of the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities. The hearing was the first of its kind in several years and indicated a new interest by the authorizing committee to get up to speed on federal cultural programs. Led by Chairman Carolyn McCarthy (D-NY) and Ranking Member Todd Platts (R-PA) the subcommittee heard testimony from:

  • Documentarian Ken Burns
  • NEA Chairman Dana Gioia
  • NEH Chairman Bruce Cole
  • Freeport, NY Mayor William Glacken
  • former chair Pennsylvania Humanities Council Jeanne Schmedlen
  • Pennsylvania middle school librarian Katrine Watkins
  • Operation Homecoming participant U.S. Army Captain Ryan Kelly (ret.).

Testimony and a webcast of the hearing is posted on the Committee website.

"ORPHAN WORKS" COPYRIGHT LEGISLATION ON THE MOVE
Legislation has recently been introduced to address the problem of "orphan works" - copyrighted works where the copyright holder is hard to find or locate. H.R 5889 and S. 2913 seek to limit the liability for copyright users who have conducted a good faith effort search, per congressional guidelines, in trying to locate the original copyright holder. The sponsor's intent of this legislation is to increase greater public access to works that may be abandoned but that others may want to incorporate or use without fear of large damages. Certain types of liability would be limited based on the diligence of the user before usage and their attempts to fairly compensate a hard to find copyright holder. The bill is opposed by many in the visual, graphic, and illustrator artists' community who have expressed doubts about the effectiveness of standards of the diligence test to effectively protect their copyrights.

Currently, the legislation has been approved by the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Courts, the Internet, and Intellectual Property (Chairman Howard Berman, D-CA) and by the Senate Judiciary Committee (Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-VT). Americans for the Arts is tracking the legislation in detail here.

ARTS ADVOCACY DAY 2008
Americans for the Arts and 87 national organizations hosted the 2008 Arts Advocacy Day on Tuesday, April 1st.  Over 560 arts advocates from 46 states held meetings with 265 congressional offices.  Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) was given the 2008 Congressional Arts Leadership Award.  A summary detailing the day, the speakers and the special guests is online.

U.S. Conference of Mayors
Senator Leahy (center) holds his award with Americans for the Arts President & CEO Bob Lynch (left) and Honolulu Mayor Mufi Hannemann (right), on behalf of the U.S. Conference of Mayors.

 

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 ABOUTUS
For more information about Americans for the Arts or the Arts Action Fund, please visit our websites. For further inquiries about arts policy or the information in this newsletter, please contact our Federal Government Affairs staff:

Gladstone Payton
Associate Director of Federal Affairs
T 202.712.2059

Narric Rome
Director of Federal Affairs
T 202.712.2060

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