 This is not only a matter for the courts. This question should be brought before Congress, Morita asserted. He pointed out that the provisions in the US copyright laws were written at a time when such new technologies as VCRs had not even been envisaged. There were no US provisions equivalent to those in the Japanese law, which stated that the reproduction of materials by individuals for their own enjoyment did not constitute a breach of copyright. Soon after Morita voiced his opinion, a movement to amend the copyright laws to account for reproductions made by individuals using VCRs began among US politicians.
Morita was convinced that the legality of recordings made with home-use VCRs should not rest on a court decision, but rather should be established through legislation. While recognizing the need to involve the courts where there is uncertainty with regard to existing legislation, Sony's underlying argument was that the law should be clarified. While Morita gave guidance, Yonezawa, Masaki, and Tokunaka worked with Wada and US attorney Dean Dunlavey in preparing for the Betamax case. At the same time, Morita and his team lobbied politicians to push for amendments to copyright laws. It was a rare occasion in which moves to have legislation amended were proceeding at the same time as an appeal was being filed with the Supreme Court.
There was the additional burden of dealing with the motion picture studios, which traditionally had very strong political ties. If the law was amended to allow reproduction for private use, the potential volume of lost royalties was enormous. There was no way motion picture studios were going to sit back and let this happen without a fight. Sony thought the best way to combat the political influence of the studios was to appeal to the people who put politicians in power -- the voters.
A coalition was formed among manufacturers, dealers, and consumers to assert Sony's time-shift concept. The coalition enlisted the services of lobbyists and lawyers to lobby members of Congress, collected petitions from citizens, and asked dealers and consumer groups to write their local congressmen requesting an amendment to the copyright laws. As in the case of the unitary tax system, Sony had initiated a grass-roots campaign that was gradually spreading across the United States.
The motion picture industry had also begun its own campaign, enlisting the support of movie stars and powerful lobbyists. While the question of copyright laws lay in the hands of Congress, the scale of the issue ballooned. Retailers, consumers, the motion picture industry, and finally the music industry, all chimed in to voice their opinion on the issue.
Sony was inundated with calls from the media. Morita was vocal in the campaign to have the copyright laws amended, regularly making public speeches and using the media to put forward his message. Front-page newspaper advertisements displaying the headline,  What time is it now? were used to point out the sense of the time-shift argument. Morita traveled the length and breadth of the United States determined not to give in until everyone had heard his message.
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