ALB20D51 5S9116TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION

S.L.C.

S. ll

To amend title 18, United States Code, to prohibit illicit digital transmission
services.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
llllllllll
Mr. TILLIS (for himself, Mr. LEAHY, Mrs. BLACKBURN, Ms. HIRONO, Ms.
CORTEZ MASTO, Mr. CORNYN, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Mr. COONS, Mrs.
LOEFFLER, and Mr. PERDUE) introduced the following bill; which wasread twice and referred to the Committee on llllllllll

A BILLTo amend title 18, United States Code, to prohibit illicitdigital transmission services.
1Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-

2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
34SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Protecting Lawful

5 Streaming Act of 2020’’.
67SEC. 2. ILLICIT DIGITAL TRANSMISSION SERVICES.

(a) AMENDMENT.—Chapter 113 of title 18, United

8 States Code, is amended by inserting after section 2319B
9 the following:

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21 ‘‘§ 2319C. Illicit digital transmission services2‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section—3‘‘(1) the terms ‘audiovisual work’, ‘computer

4program’, ‘copies’, ‘copyright owner’, ‘digital trans-

5mission’, ‘financial gain’, ‘motion picture’, ‘motion

6picture exhibition facility’, ‘perform’, ‘phonorecords’,

7‘to perform a work ‘‘publicly’’ ’, ‘sound recording’,

8and ‘transmit’ have the meanings given those terms

9in section 101 of title 17;10‘‘(2) the term ‘digital transmission service’

11means a service that has the primary purpose of

12

publicly performing works by digital transmission;

13‘‘(3) the terms ‘publicly perform’ and ‘public

14

performance’ refer to the exclusive rights of a copy-

15

right owner under paragraphs (4) and (6) of section16

106 (relating to exclusive rights in copyrighted

17works) of title 17, as limited by sections 107

18

through 122 of title 17; and1920‘‘(4) the term ‘work being prepared for commercial public performance’ means—21‘‘(A) a computer program, a musical work,

22

a motion picture or other audiovisual work, or23

a sound recording, if, at the time of unauthor-

24

ized public performance—

ALB20D51 5S9S.L.C.

31‘‘(i) the copyright owner has a reason-

2able expectation of commercial public per-3formance; and4‘‘(ii) the copies or phonorecords of the5work have not been commercially publicly

6

performed in the United States by or with7

the authorization of the copyright owner;

8or

9‘‘(B) a motion picture, if, at the time of10

unauthorized public performance, the motion

11picture—12‘‘(i)(I) has been made available for13viewing in a motion picture exhibition facil-

14ity; and15‘‘(II) has not been made available in16

copies for sale to the general public in the17

United States by or with the authorization

18of the copyright owner in a format in-

19

tended to permit viewing outside a motion

20picture exhibition facility; or21‘‘(ii) had not been commercially pub-22

licly performed in the United States by or

23

with the authorization of the copyright24

owner more than 24 hours before the un-

25

authorized public performance.

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41‘‘(b) PROHIBITED ACT.—It shall be unlawful to will-

2 fully, and for purposes of commercial advantage or private
3 financial gain, offer or provide to the public a digital
4 transmission service that—5‘‘(1) is primarily designed or provided for the6purpose of publicly performing works protected7

under title 17 by means of a digital transmission

8

without the authority of the copyright owner or the9law;

10‘‘(2) has no commercially significant purpose or11

use other than to publicly perform works protected12

under title 17 by means of a digital transmission

13

without the authority of the copyright owner or the14law; or15‘‘(3) is intentionally marketed by or at the di-16

rection of that person to promote its use in publicly

17

performing works protected under title 17 by means

18of a digital transmission without the authority of the19

copyright owner or the law.

20‘‘(c) PENALTIES.—Any person who violates sub-21 section (b) shall be, in addition to any penalties provided
22 for under title 17 or any other law—2324‘‘(1) fined under this title, imprisoned not morethan 3 years, or both;

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51‘‘(2) shall be fined under this title, imprisoned

2not more than 5years, or both, if the offense was3committed in connection with 1 or more works being

4

prepared for commercial public performance, if the5person knew or should have known that the work6

was being prepared for commercial public perform-

7ance; and8‘‘(3) shall be fined under this title, imprisoned9

not more than 10 years, or both, if the offense is a10

second or subsequent offense under this section or

11

section 2319(a).

12‘‘(d) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec-

13 tion shall be construed to—14‘‘(1) affect the interpretation of any other pro-15

vision of civil copyright law, including the limitations

16of liability set forth in section 512 of title 17, or

17

principles of secondary liability; or18‘‘(2) prevent any Federal or State authority

19

from enforcing cable theft.’’.

20(b) TABLE OF SECTIONS AMENDMENT.—The table of

21 section for chapter 113 of title 18, United States Code,22 is amended by inserting after the item relating to section
23 2319B the following:‘‘2319C. Illicit digital transmission services.’’.