Boat Protection Act of 1996

Summary: Boat Protection Act of 1996 - Sets forth copyright provisions regarding the protection of vessel hull designs. 
Defines:  (1) "plug" as a device or model used to make a mold for the purpose of exact duplication, regardless of whether the device or model has an intrinsic utilitarian function that is not only to portray the appearance of the product or to convey information; (2) "mold" as a matrix or form in which a substance for material is used, regardless of whether the matrix or form has an intrinsic utilitarian function that is not only to portray the appearance of the product or to convey information; and (3) "commercially exploit" for purposes of this Act as the sale or offer for sale of a plug or mold after it is fixed in a vessel hull or otherwise distributed to the public for profit vessel hulls. 
Extends protection to an original plug or mold fixed in a vessel hull, if:  (1) the owner of the plug or mold is a national or domiciliary of the United States or of a foreign nation which is party to a protection treaty to which the United States is also a party on the date on which the plug or mold is first commercially exploited; (2) the plug or mold is first commercially exploited in the United States; or (3) the plug or mold comes within the scope of a presidential proclamation extending reciprocal protection to the works of foreign nationals, domiciliaries, or sovereign authorities. 
Vests exclusive rights in such plugs or molds in the owner who may transfer (in whole or in part) or bequeath such interest.  Recognizes the first registered transfer in case of a conflict. 
Sets the protection term for plugs or molds at ten years from the date of first commercial exploitation. 
Grants the owner of a plug or mold the exclusive rights to:  (1) reproduce the plug or mold; (2) import or distribute a vessel hull in which it is embodied; and (3) cause another to perform such acts. Provides that it is not an infringement of the owner's exclusive rights:  (1) to reproduce a plug or mold for purposes of teaching, analyzing, or evaluating concepts, techniques, design, or organization of components in it; or (2) to sell or otherwise dispose of a vessel hull lawfully made under this Act (without the authority of the owner of the plug or mold).  Limits the liability of an innocent purchaser of an infringing vessel hull. 
Permits the owner of a plug or mold to place on it a specified notice of protection, which is not a condition of protection but shall constitute prima facie evidence of notice of protection. 
Entitles the owner of a plug or mold whose protection has been infringed to institute a civil action.  Authorizes the award of attorney's fees to a prevailing party. 
Directs the Secretary of the Treasury and the U.S. Postal Service to issue regulations for the enforcement of the right to import a vessel hull in which the plug or mold is embodied.  Permits the impoundment and seizure of vessel hulls imported in violation of the owner's exclusive rights. 
Sets forth remedies for infringement, including temporary and permanent injunctive relief, actual damages, the award of an infringer's profits to the owner, impoundment orders, and the award of statutory damages instead of actual damages or profits in an amount not to exceed $250,000, under specified conditions. 
Authorizes appropriations.

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Boat Protection Act of 1996''.

SEC. 2. PROTECTION OF VESSEL HULL DESIGNS.

    Title 17, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end 
thereof the following new chapter:

            ``CHAPTER 12--PROTECTION OF VESSEL HULL DESIGNS

``Sec.
``1201. Definitions.
``1202. Subject matter of protection.
``1203. Ownership and transfer.
``1204. Duration of protection.
``1205. Exclusive rights in plugs or molds.
``1206. Limitation on exclusive rights: reverse engineering; first 
                            sale.
``1207. Limitation on exclusive rights: innocent infringement.
``1208. Plug or mold notice.
``1209. Enforcement of exclusive rights.
``1210. Remedies for infringement.
``1211. Relation to other laws.
``Sec. 1201. Definitions
    ``As used in this chapter--
            ``(1) `vessel hull' has the meaning given that term in 
        regulations which the Register of Copyrights shall issue;
            ``(2) a `plug' means a device or model used to make a mold 
        for the purpose of exact duplication, regardless of whether the 
        device or model has an intrinsic utilitarian function that is 
        not only to portray the appearance of the product or to convey 
        information;
            ``(3) a `mold' means a matrix or form in which a substance 
        for material is used, regardless of whether the matrix or form 
        has an intrinsic utilitarian function that is not only to 
        portray the appearance of the product or to convey information;
            ``(4) a plug or mold is `fixed' in a vessel hull when its 
        embodiment in the vessel hull, by or under the authority of the 
        owner of the plug or mold, is sufficiently permanent or stable 
        to permit the vessel hull to be perceived, reproduced, or 
        otherwise communicated for a period of more than transitory 
        duration;
            ``(5) a plug or mold is `original' if it is the independent 
        creation of a person who did not copy it from another source;
            ``(6) to `commercially exploit' a plug or mold is to sell, 
        offer for sale after the plug or mold is fixed in a vessel 
        hull, or otherwise distribute to the public for profit vessel 
        hulls embodying the plug or mold;
            ``(7) the `owner' of a plug or mold is--
                    ``(A) the person who created the plug or mold;
                    ``(B) the legal representative of that person if 
                that person is deceased or under a legal incapacity;
                    ``(C) the employer of that person if that person 
                created the plug or mold within the scope of that 
                person's employment; or
                    ``(D) a party to whom the rights of the person, 
                representative, or employer described in subparagraph 
(A), (B), or (C) are transferred in accordance with this chapter;
            ``(8) an `innocent purchaser' is a person who purchases a 
        vessel hull or a product in which a vessel hull is contained in 
        good faith and without having notice of protection under this 
        chapter with respect to that vessel hull or product;
            ``(9) having `notice of protection' means having actual 
        knowledge that, or reasonable grounds to believe that, a plug 
        or mold fixed in a vessel hull is protected under this chapter; 
        and
            ``(10) an `infringing vessel hull' is a vessel hull which 
        is made, imported, or distributed in violation of the exclusive 
        rights of the owner of a plug or mold under this chapter.
``Sec. 1202. Subject matter of protection
    ``(a) Nationality Requirements.--
            ``(1) In general.--An original plug or mold fixed in a 
        vessel hull is eligible for protection under this chapter if--
                    ``(A) on the date on which the plug or mold is 
                first commercially exploited, the owner of the plug or 
                mold is a national or domiciliary of the United States, 
                or is a national, domiciliary, or sovereign authority 
                of a foreign nation that is party to a treaty affording 
                protection to plugs or molds to which the United States 
                is also a party, or is a stateless person, wherever 
                that person may be domiciled;
                    ``(B) the plug or mold is first commercially 
                exploited in the United States; or
                    ``(C) the plug or mold comes within the scope of a 
                Presidential proclamation issued under paragraph (2).
            ``(2) Presidential proclamations.--Whenever the President 
        finds that a foreign nation extends, to plugs or molds of 
        owners who are nationals or domiciliaries of the United States 
        or to plugs or molds on the date on which the plugs or molds 
        are first commercially exploited, protection--
                    ``(A) on substantially the same basis as that on 
                which the foreign nation extends protection to plugs or 
                molds of its own nationals and domiciliaries and plugs 
                or molds first commercially exploited in that nation, 
                or
                    ``(B) on substantially the same basis as provided 
                in this chapter, the President may by proclamation 
                extend protection under this chapter to plugs or 
                molds--
                            ``(i) of owners who are, on the date on 
                        which the plugs or molds are first commercially 
                        exploited, nationals, domiciliaries, or 
                        sovereign authorities of that nation, or
                            ``(ii) which are first commercially 
                        exploited in that nation.
    ``(b) Exclusion for Products Not Original.--Protection under this 
chapter shall not be available for a plug or mold that--
            ``(1) is not original; or
            ``(2) consists of designs that are staple, commonplace, or 
        familiar in the vessel manufacturing industry, or variations of 
        such designs, combined in a way that is not original.
    ``(c) Other Exclusions.--In no case does protection under this 
chapter for a plug or mold extend to any idea, procedure, process, 
system, method of operation, concept, principle, or discovery, 
regardless of the form of which it is described, explained, 
illustrated, or embodied in the plug or mold.
``Sec. 1203. Ownership and transfer
    ``(a) Vesting of Rights in Owner.--The exclusive rights in a plug 
or mold under the chapter shall vest in the owner of the plug or mold.
    ``(b) Transfer of Rights.--The exclusive rights in a plug or mold 
under this chapter may be transferred in whole or in part by any means 
of conveyance or by operation of law, and may be bequeathed by will or 
pass as personal property by the applicable laws of intestate 
succession.
    ``(c) Conflicting Transfers.--In any case in which conflicting 
transfers of the exclusive rights in a plug or mold are made, the 
transfer first executed shall be void as against a subsequent transfer 
which is made for a valuable consideration and without notice of the 
first transfer, unless the first transfer is recorded in the Copyright 
Office within 3 months after the date on which it is executed, but in 
no case later than the day before the date of such subsequent transfer.
    ``(d) Protection Excluded for United States Government.--Plugs or 
molds prepared by an officer or employee of the United States 
Government as part of that person's official duties are not protected 
under this chapter, but the United States Government is not precluded 
from receiving and holding exclusive rights in plugs or molds 
transferred to the Government under subsection (b).
``Sec. 1204. Duration of protection
    ``(a) Commencement of Protection.--The protection provided for a 
plug or mold under this chapter shall commence on the date on which the 
plug or mold is first commercially exploited.
    ``(b) Term of Protection.--Subject to the provisions of this 
chapter, the protection provided under this chapter to a plug or mold 
shall continue for a term of 10 years beginning on the date on which 
such protection commences under subsection (a).
``Sec. 1205. Exclusive rights in plugs or molds
    ``Subject to the other provisions of this chapter, the owner of a 
plug or mold has the exclusive rights to do and to authorize any of the 
following:
            ``(1) Reproduce the plug or mold by optical, electronic, or 
        any other means.
            ``(2) Import or distribute a vessel hull in which the plug 
        or mold is embodied.
            ``(3) Induce or knowingly cause another person to do any of 
        the acts described in paragraphs (1) and (2).
``Sec. 1206. Limitation on exclusive rights: reverse engineering; first 
              sale
    ``(a) Reverse Engineering.--Notwithstanding the provisions of 
section 1205(1), it is not an infringement of the exclusive rights of 
the owner of a plug or mold to reproduce the plug or mold solely for 
the purpose of teaching, analyzing, or evaluating the concepts or 
techniques embodied in the plug or mold or the design or organization 
of components used in the plug or mold.
    ``(b) First Sale.--Notwithstanding the provisions of section 
1205(2), the owner of a particular vessel hull lawfully made under this 
chapter, or any person authorized by such owner, is entitled, without 
the authority of the owner of the plug or mold, to sell or otherwise 
dispose of that vessel hull.
``Sec. 1207. Limitation on exclusive rights: innocent infringement
    ``(a) In General.--Notwithstanding any other provision of this 
chapter, an innocent purchaser of an infringing vessel hull--
            ``(1) shall incur no liability under this chapter with 
        respect to the importation or distribution of units of the 
        infringing vessel hull that occurred before that innocent 
        purchaser had notice of protection with respect to that vessel 
        hull; and
            ``(2) shall be liable only for a reasonable royalty on each 
        unit of the infringing vessel hull that the innocent purchaser 
        imports or distributes after having notice of protection with 
        respect to that vessel hull. The amount of the royalty referred 
to in paragraph (2) shall be based on wholesale cost and shall be 
determined by voluntary negotiation between the parties, mediation, or 
binding arbitration, or, if the parties do not resolve the issue, by 
the court in a civil action for infringement.
    ``(b) Subsequent Purchases.--The immunity from liability and 
limitation on liability referred to in subsection (a) shall apply to 
any person who directly or indirectly purchases an infringing vessel 
hull from an innocent purchaser.
    ``(c) Applicability Only to Products Purchased Before Notice of 
Protection.--The provisions of subsections (a) and (b) apply only with 
respect to units of an infringing vessel hull that an innocent 
purchaser purchased before having notice of protection with respect to 
that vessel hull.
``Sec. 1208. Plug or mold notice
    ``(a) Affixation Notice.--The owner of a plug or mold provided 
protection under this chapter may affix notice to the plug or mold or 
to the vessel hull embodying the plug or mold in such manner and 
location as to give reasonable notice of such protection. The Register 
of Copyrights shall prescribe by regulation, as examples, specific 
methods of affixation and positions of notice for purposes of this 
section, but these specifications shall not be considered exhaustive. 
The affixation of such notice is not a condition of protection under 
this chapter but shall constitute prima facie evidence of notice of 
protection.
    ``(b) Contents of Notice.--The notice referred to in subsection (a) 
shall consist of--
            ``(1) the words 'plug or mold', or the letters PM in a 
        circle;
            ``(2) the year in which the plug or mold was first fixed in 
        a vessel hull; and
            ``(3) the name of the owner or owners of the plug or mold 
        or an abbreviation by which the name is recognized or is 
        generally known.
``Sec. 1209. Enforcement of exclusive rights
    ``(a) Infringers.--Except as otherwise provided by this chapter, 
any person who violates any of the exclusive rights of the owner of a 
plug or mold under this chapter shall be liable as an infringer of such 
rights.
    ``(b) Civil Action for Infringement.--The owner of a plug or mold 
protected under this chapter shall be entitled to institute a civil 
action for any infringement of the exclusive rights in that plug or 
mold under the chapter.
    ``(c) Enforcement of Right To Import.--
            ``(1) Regulations.--The Secretary of the Treasury and the 
        United States Postal Service shall separately or jointly issue 
        regulations for the enforcement of the right to import set 
        forth in section 1205. These regulations may require, as a 
        condition for the exclusion of articles from the United States, 
        that the person seeking exclusion--
                    ``(A) obtain a court order enjoining, or an order 
                of the International Trade Commission under section 337 
                of the Tariff Act of 1930 excluding, importation of the 
                articles; or
                    ``(B) furnish proof that the plug or mold involved 
                is protected under this chapter and that the 
                importation of the articles would infringe the rights 
                in the plug or mold under this chapter, and also post a 
                surety bond for any injury that may result if the 
                detention or exclusion of the articles proves to be 
                unjustified.
            ``(2) Seizure and forfeiture of infringing articles.--
        Articles imported in violation of the right to import set forth 
        in section 1205 are subject to seizure and forfeiture in the 
        same manner as property imported in violation of the customs 
        laws. Any such forfeited article shall be destroyed as directed 
        by the Secretary of the Treasury or the court, as the case may 
        be, except that the articles may be returned to the country of 
        export whenever it is shown to the satisfaction of the 
Secretary of the Treasury that the importer had no reasonable grounds 
for believing that his or her acts constituted a violation of the law.
``Sec. 1210. Remedies for infringement
    ``(a) Injunctive Relief.--Any court having jurisdiction of a civil 
action arising under this chapter may grant temporary and permanent 
injunctions on such terms as the court may deem reasonable to prevent 
or restrain infringement of the exclusive rights in a plug or mold 
under this chapter.
    ``(b) Actual Damages and Profits.--Upon finding for the owner of 
the plug or mold, the court shall award the owner actual damages 
suffered by the owner as a result of the infringement. The court shall 
also award the owner the infringer's profits that are attributable to 
the infringement and are not taken into account in computing the award 
of actual damages. In establishing the infringer's profits, the owner 
of the plug or mold is required to present proof only of the 
infringer's gross revenue, and the infringer is required to prove his 
or her deductible expenses and the elements of profit attributable to 
factors other than the plug or mold.
    ``(c) Statutory Damages.--At any time before final judgment is 
rendered, the owner of the plug or mold may elect, instead of actual 
damages and profits as provided in subsection (b), an award of 
statutory damages for all infringements involved in the action with 
respect to any one plug or mold for which any one infringer is liable 
individually, or for which any two or more infringers are liable 
jointly and severally, in an amount not more than $250,000 as the court 
considers just.
    ``(d) Recovery of Costs by Prevailing Party.--In any action for 
infringement under this chapter, the court in its discretion may allow 
the recovery of full costs, including reasonable attorneys' fees, to 
the prevailing party.
    ``(e) Time Limitation on Bringing Actions.--An action for 
infringement under this chapter shall not be maintained unless the 
action is commenced within 3 years after the claim accrues.
    ``(f) Destruction or Other Disposition of Infringing Articles.--As 
part of the final judgment or decree, the court may order the 
destruction or other disposition of any infringing vessel hulls, and 
any plugs, molds, or other articles by means of which such vessel hulls 
may be reproduced.
``Sec. 1211. Relation to other laws
    ``(a) Other Rights Not Affected.--Nothing in this chapter shall 
affect any right or remedy held by any person under chapters 1 through 
11 of this title, or under title 35.
    ``(b) References in Chapters 1 Through 11.--References to `this 
title' or `title 17' in chapters 1 through 11 of this title shall be 
deemed not to apply to this chapter.
    ``(c) Preemption.--The provisions of this chapter shall preempt the 
laws of any State to the extent those laws provide any rights or 
remedies with respect to a plug or mold which are equivalent to those 
provided by this chapter, except that such preemption shall be 
effective only with respect to actions filed on or after January 1, 
1998.
    ``(d) Applicability of Title 28 Provisions.--The provisions of 
sections 1338, 1400(a), and 1498(b) and (c) of title 28 shall apply 
with respect to exclusive rights in plugs or molds under this chapter 
to the same extent as those provisions apply to mask works.''.

SEC. 3. TECHNICAL AMENDMENT.

    The table of chapters of title 17, United States Code, is amended 
by adding at the end thereof the following new item:

``12. Protection of Vessel Hulls Designs.......................1201.''.

SEC. 4. EFFECTIVE DATE.

    The amendments made by this Act shall take effect on January 1, 
1997.

SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    There are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be 
necessary to carry out this Act and the amendments made by this Act.