II 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1010 

To amend title 17, United States Code, to provide additional responsibilities 

for the Register of Copyrights, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 2, 2017 

Mr. GRASSLEY (for himself, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, Mr. LEAHY, and Mr. HATCH) 

introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the 

Committee on Rules and Administration 

A BILL 

To amend title 17, United States Code, to provide additional 

responsibilities for the Register of Copyrights, and for 

other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Register of Copyrights 

5 Selection and Accountability Act of 2017’’. 

6 SEC. 2. REGISTER OF COPYRIGHTS. 

7 (a) AMENDMENTS.—Section 701 of title 17, United 

8 States Code, is amended— 

9 (1) in subsection (a)— 


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1 (A) by striking ‘‘(a) All administrative’’ 

2 and inserting the following: 

3 ‘‘(a) REGISTER AND DIRECTOR.— 

4 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—All administrative’’; 

5 (B) by striking ‘‘director’’ and inserting 

6 ‘‘Director’’; 

7 (C) by inserting after the first sentence the 

8 following: ‘‘The Register of Copyrights shall be 

9 a citizen of the United States with a profes10 sional background and experience in copyright 

11 law, shall be capable of identifying and super12 vising a Chief Information Officer or other 

13 similar official responsible for managing mod14 ern information technology systems, and shall 

15 be appointed by the President from the individ16 uals recommended under paragraph (6), by and 

17 with the advice and consent of the Senate.’’; 

18 and 

19 (D) in the last sentence, by striking ‘‘shall 

20 be appointed’’ and all that follows through ‘‘and 

21 shall act’’ and inserting ‘‘shall act’’; 

22 (2) in subsection (b), by redesignating para23 graphs (1) through (5) as subparagraphs (A) 

24 through (E), respectively, and adjusting the margins 

25 accordingly; 


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1 (3) by redesignating subsection (b) as para2 graph (2), and adjusting the margins accordingly; 

3 (4) in paragraph (2), as so redesignated, by in4 serting ‘‘DUTIES.—’’ before ‘‘In addition’’; 

5 (5) by inserting after paragraph (2) the fol6 lowing: 

7 ‘‘(3) OATH.—The Register of Copyrights shall, 

8 before taking office, take an oath to discharge faith9 fully the duties of the Copyright Office described in 

10 paragraph (2). 

11 ‘‘(4) REMOVAL.— 

12 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Register of Copy13 rights may be removed from office by the Presi14 dent. 

15 ‘‘(B) NOTIFICATION.—The President shall 

16 provide notification to both Houses of Congress 

17 of a removal under subparagraph (A). 

18 ‘‘(5) TERM OF OFFICE.— 

19 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subpara20 graph (B), the Register of Copyrights— 

21 ‘‘(i) shall be appointed for a term of 

22 10 years; and 

23 ‘‘(ii) may serve until a successor is ap24 pointed, confirmed, and taken the oath of 

25 office. 


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1 ‘‘(B) LIMITATION.—The Register of Copy2 rights may not continue to serve after the date 

3 on which Congress adjourns sine die after the 

4 date on which the 10-year period described in 

5 subparagraph (A)(i) ends. 

6 ‘‘(C) REAPPOINTMENT.—An individual ap7 pointed to the position of Register of Copy8 rights, by and with the advice and consent of 

9 the Senate, may be reappointed to that position 

10 in accordance with the requirements of this sec11 tion. 

12 ‘‘(6) PANEL FOR REGISTER OF COPYRIGHTS

13 RECOMMENDATIONS.—There is established a panel 

14 to recommend a list of at least 3 individuals to the 

15 President for appointment as the Register of Copy16 rights. The panel shall be composed of the following: 

17 ‘‘(A) The Speaker of the House of Rep18 resentatives. 

19 ‘‘(B) The President pro tempore of the 

20 Senate. 

21 ‘‘(C) The majority and minority leaders of 

22 the House of Representatives and the Senate. 

23 ‘‘(D) The Librarian of Congress.’’; 

24 (6) by redesignating subsections (c) through (f) 

25 as subsections (b) through (e), respectively; 


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1 (7) in subsection (b), as so redesignated, by in2 serting ‘‘SEAL.—’’ before ‘‘The Register’’; 

3 (8) in subsection (c), as so redesignated, by in4 serting ‘‘ANNUAL REPORT.—’’ before ‘‘The Reg5 ister’’; 

6 (9) in subsection (d), as so redesignated, by in7 serting ‘‘APPLICABILITY OF TITLE 5.—’’ before 

8 ‘‘Except as provided’’; and 

9 (10) in subsection (e), as so redesignated, by 

10 inserting ‘‘COMPENSATION.—’’ before ‘‘The Reg11 ister’’. 

12 (b) APPLICABILITY.—The amendments made by sub13 section (a) shall apply with respect to any vacancy for the 

14 Register of Copyrights after January 1, 2017. If a Reg15 ister of Copyrights is appointed during the period begin16 ning on January 1, 2017, and ending on the day before 

17 the date of the enactment of this Act, that Register shall 

18 meet the requirements of the amendments made by this 

19 Act or shall be replaced in accordance with such amend20 ments. 

21 SEC. 3. CONSTRUCTION. 

22 Nothing in this Act may be construed to impact the 

23 mandatory deposit requirements in title 17, United States 

24 Code. 

Æ 


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