INSIGNIA OF VETERANS' ORGANIZATIONS FRIDAY, JUNE 2, 1939 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, Washington, D. C. Subcommittee No. IV of the Committee on the Judiciary this day. met at 10:30 a. m., Hon. Francis E. Walter presiding, for consideration of H. R. 5982, by Mr. Chandler, which reads as follows: [H. R. 5982, 76th Cong., 1st sess.] A BILL For the protection against unlawful use of the badge, medal, emblem, or other insignia of veterans' organizations incorporated by Act of Congress, and providing penalties for the violation thereof Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the manufacturing, wearing, purchase or sale, either separately or appended to, or to be appended to, or the reproduction on any article of merchandise manufactured or sold, of the badge, medal, emblem, or other insignia or any colorable imitation thereof, of any veterans' organization incorporated by Act of Congress, or the printing, lithographing, engraving or other like reproduction on any poster, circular, periodical, magazine, newspaper, or other publication, or the circulation or distribution of any such printed matter bearing a reproduction of such badge, medal, emblem, or other insignia or any colorable imitation thereof, of any such veterans' organization, is prohibited except when authorized under such rules and regulations as may be prescribed by such organization so incorporated. Any person who knowingly offends against any provision of this Act shall on conviction be punished by a fine not exceeding $250 or by imprisonment not exceeding six months, or by both such fine and imprisonment. STATEMENT OF HON. WALTER CHANDLER, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF TENNESSEE Mr. WALTER. The subcommittee will please be in order; and we will hear Mr. Chandler, author of H. R. 5982, first. Mr. CHANDLER. H. R. 5982 was introduced by me at the request of Colonel Taylor, of the American Legion. I have had a talk with him on the subject and told him that I thought the purpose of such legislation would be helpful to the veterans' organizations such as the American Legion, the Disabled American Veterans, and the Veterans of Foreign Wars. It is a simple bill designed solely for the protection against unlawful use of the badge, medal, emblem, or other insignia of veterans' organizations incorporated by act of Congress, and providing penalties for the violation thereof. Mr. WALTER. I think the pending bill is designed to meet the same situation Mr. Rice spoke to me about last January or February. Mr. CHANDLER. I think all the representatives of the service organizations have the same idea about this matter. As I have said, it is applicable only to the insignia of veterans' organizations incorporated by act of Congress. Those organizations incorporated in the various States would not be affected by the pending bill. It is limited in scope in that direction; and I shall be glad if the chairman and gentlemen of the committee will hear these gentlemen, Mr. Taylor, Mr. Kirby, and Mr. Rice. I do not think there is anything else I care to say, but if the members of the subcommittee wish to ask me any questions, I shall be glad to answer them. I am presiding at a meeting of another subcommittee of the Committee on the Judiciary this morning, and therefore cannot, I am sorry to say, remain with you, much as I should like to do so. Mr. WALTER. We thank you kindly for coming. STATEMENT OF JOHN THOMAS TAYLOR, LEGISLATIVE REPRESENTATIVE OF THE AMERICAN LEGION Mr. WALTER. The next witness this morning is Col. John Thomas Taylor, legislative representative of the American Legion. Mr. TAYLOR. Mr. Chairman and gentlemen of the committee, we requested the introduction of this bill, which seems to be simple on its face but is very important indeed to our organization. The veterans' organizations are incorporated by act of Congress and their insignias have been patented in the Patent Office, and also there is filed with the Library of Congress copies of their magazines upon which their insignias appear; so that it would appear that the insignias are protected by copyright. Notwithstanding that fact we all have the same difficult situation. We are all constantly subjected to abuses by the use of our insignias by private manufacturers and private concerns throughout the country; and this causes many lawsuits. We are continually harassed by lawsuits in connection with this matter. We cannot follow all of them. There is not a single thing you can think of shoes, clothing, cigarettes, cigars, liquors, silk handkerchiefs, shirts, everything by way of merchandise in connection with which somebody does not use the American Legion or some of the other veterans organizations insignia. We want to control the use of our insignia, first, because we do not want it to get into improper hands, and we do not want it worn improperly and by those who are not entitled to wear it. Secondly, we do not want our insignia used unlawfully, frankly, because it is a source of revenue to us. I know our organization, and I believe I know the practices of other organizations. They all have what is called an emblem division, which controls the manufacture and distribution of insignia in every way it is used. I refer to the button, the flag, the various publications that these organizations put out, and everything else of these kinds with which they have to do. About 10 years ago, I should say, we had about 75 lawsuits in different States in connection with this unlawful use of our insignia. We got injunctions and restraining orders and did everything else we could to stop that practice, but our efforts did not seem to make any difference, or little difference. Just as soon as we would stop somebody in, say, Brooklyn, from manufacturing our particular uniform, he or somebody else would jump to some other place and start doing the same thing. Then we would have to follow up on that. It was very difficult or impossible to stop the practice. Those people will not stop it voluntarily, I assure you. We always have to start a court action. We have reached a point now, strange as it may seem, during the last few years where this practice has increased very, very materially, and something should be done about it. Mr. WALTER. Is it not true that a great deal of cheap merchandise is made up and sold under some insigne of a veterans' organization? Mr. TAYLOR. Yes; that is the point. Let us consider our button. We have a very distinct button of a certain quality and standard of materials. These violators we have in mind put those out at 5 or 10 cents each-the cheapest they can produce them for, which discredits our own button or tends to do so. Now that practically all the various organizations of veterans wear uniforms, there has been an increased activity in connection with this unlawful use of the badge, medal, emblem, or other insignia of veterans' organizations. Countless uniform manufacturers put out these uniforms and put a veterans' insigne on them, and we cannot keep tab on all these things, obviously. Mr. WALTER. In most of these cases do not those manufacturers produce a very cheap, inferior quality of material and depend upon the use of the veterans' insigne to sell it? Mr. TAYLOR. Yes. That is especially true of flags. As I have said, we are very much harassed by this practice. We have reached. the point where we do not know what to do about it. We cannot prosecute, say, 150 suits all over the country, because the expense. incident thereto is too great. The national adjutant has to go to these different places, employ local counsel, and bring witnesses, all of which means a very heavy expense. A case may run on for a week or two and that, plainly, involves considerable expense and work. The usual dilatory tactics are always employed to make those suits as expensive as possible on us. They apply for delay after delay, simply to harass us, as it seems. Some of those suits have dragged on from 6 to 9 months; and we simply do not know what to do about it. Notwithstanding the fact that we seem to have a valid patent and what we believed to be adequate protection under the copyright law, yet those are insufficient. If the proposal suggested in H. R. 5982 is enacted into law, we shall know exactly where we can put our fingers and accomplish our meritorious purpose. We are simply harassed to death under present conditions. this time we have at least 150 infringement suits pending throughout the country, and we cannot keep up with that work, which is, as I have suggested, very expensive. Mr. GWYNNE. Evidently these violators are carrying on this practice deliberately, knowing it is illegal. Mr. TAYLOR. There is no question about that. They know all about it. If we stop a concern in, say, Brooklyn, from doing it the next thing we know one of its subsidiaries in a small town in, say, Pennsylvania, starts to manufacture the same thing we have stopped being manufactured in Brooklyn. It may be the same concern having a factory at another place. Then if we follow it to the second place, within a week or two we find that the concern has jumped to, say, the State of West Virginia for a continuation of its manufacturing. These manufacturers have a very large field to which they may appeal. There are many who do not belong to the various veterans' organizations and yet they purchase these badges, medals, emblems, or other insignia of veterans' organizations, use them, and, to all intents and purposes, they seemingly belong to the veterans' organizations. Mr. WALTER. That is a phase of this matter about which Mr. Rice spoke to me. He said that buttons and other insignias of veterans' organizations were being manufactured and sold to everybody and anybody, therefore such insignias did not amount to anything. Mr. TAYLOR. Yes; that is the idea. Anybody can buy those insignias. Mr. WALTER. Are the insignias of the veterans' organizations protected to the extent that only people entitled to wear them may purchase them? Mr. TAYLOR. No; anybody can buy them. There is not any prohibition against the unauthorized wearing of a veterans' organization insignia. Mr. RICE. There is law against such a practice in some States, but there is no Federal law against the practice. Mr. TAYLOR. In some States there are laws to prevent the improper use of veterans' insignias. Mr. RICE. I might say that there are 42 States having such laws. If we could have a Federal law covering the matter, it would be considerably more effective. Forty-two States now have laws that prevent anybody from manufacturing the insignia or emblems of any veterans' organizations incorporated by Act of Congress without proper permission; but that is not very effective when you consider the intricacies of interstate commerce. Therefore we need a Federal law to cover the entire country and properly and adequately take care of the situation. I think it is your idea to amend the bill so as to make it a crime for any individual to wear an emblem of a veterans' organization of which he is not a member in good standing. I think that is a good suggestion and should be incorporated in the bill. Mr. WALTER. I would not go that far. I do not think that one should be held criminally liable for wearing the emblem of an organization of which he is not a member in good standing. Many of us forget to pay our dues in organizations at times. Some man might thoughtlessly not pay his dues and if he were thereafter found wearing the emblem of a veterans' organization he would be criminally liable. Mr. TAYLOR. I do not think we should go that far. Mr. RICE. Many men wear the badge, the emblem, or other insignia of veterans' organizations when they have not made any pretense towards paying dues for 5 or 6 years. In other words, they know they are no longer members of those veterans' organizations, yet they continue to wear those insignias. Mr. TAYLOR. As I have said, I do not think we should go that far. I would not make it a crime for one who is not a member in good standing of a veterans' organization to wear the insignia of a veterans' organization. When we hold a Legion convention one may find on the street all kinds of hawkers and peddlers with everything under the sun connected with veterans-canes, souvenirs, and many other things, literally by the dozens. There are flags, hats, and caps also. At |