Bill Seeks to Protect Culture From Overseas

A California congressman on Thursday introduced a bill that would limit foreign ownership of entertainment companies and national landmarks, which he called an “ominous trend.”

Companies outside the United States would be prohibited from controlling more than half of the businesses devoted to such fields as motion picture and television production under the bill by Rep. Leon E. Panetta (D-Monterey).

Foreign parties also would be banned from owning more than 50% of any nationally significant place.

“It is increasingly apparent that our cultural industries, particularly the entertainment and motion picture industries, are in danger of being dominated by foreign owners,” Panetta said in a prepared statement. “This phenomenon is not healthy for America, nor would it be accepted by any other nation.”

Others in Washington have also raised concerns about outside ownership of cultural assets, now that half of the major entertainment companies are in foreign hands.

Japan’s Sony Corp. purchased Columbia Pictures Entertainment for $3.4 billion in 1989. Another Japanese conglomerate, Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., acquired MCA Inc. earlier this year for $6.16 billion. And Australia’s News Corp. is the parent of Fox Inc.

Those companies would count toward the 50% limit in the bill, though no action could be taken to reverse the transactions.

In addition, MGM-Pathe Communications Co. is held by a French bank, Credit Lyonnais.

Panetta’s bill defines a cultural business as any company “engaged in the cultural or entertainment industry.”

There was no immediate response to Panetta’s action. The Motion Picture Assn. of America, which represents the Hollywood studios, said it would offer an opinion after the bill has been reviewed by its members.

Panetta said the national landmark provision was prompted by the sales to companies outside the United States of such nationally known locales as Rockefeller Center’s public park and Cypress Point on the Monterey Peninsula.

The bill would require that the Securities and Exchange Commission monitor all purchases to ensure that the 50% limit was not violated.