I 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3569

To reauthorize and amend the National Film Preservation Act of 1996. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

NOVEMBER 21, 2003

Mr. CONYERS (for himself and Mr. BERMAN) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition 

to the Committee on House Administration, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such 

provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL

To reauthorize and amend the National Film Preservation 

Act of 1996.

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

3 TITLE I—REAUTHORIZATION OF 

4 THE NATIONAL FILM PRESER5 VATION BOARD 

6 SECTION 101. SHORT TITLE. 

7 This title may be cited as the ‘‘National Film Preser8 vation Act of 2003’’. 
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1 SEC. 102. REAUTHORIZATION AND AMENDMENT. 

2 (a) DUTIES OF THE LIBRARIAN OF CONGRESS.—Sec3 tion 103 of the National Film Preservation Act of 1996 

4 (2 U.S.C. 179m) is amended: 

5 (1) in subsection (b)—

6 (A) by striking ‘‘film copy’’ each place that 

7 term appears and inserting ‘‘film or other ap8 proved copy’’; 

9 (B) by striking ‘‘film copies’’ each place 

10 that term appears and inserting ‘‘film or other 

11 approved copies’’; and 

12 (C) in the third sentence, by striking 

13 ‘‘copyrighted’’ and inserting ‘‘copyrighted, mass 

14 distributed, broadcast, or published’’; and 

15 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

16 ‘‘(c) COORDINATION OF PROGRAM WITH OTHER

17 COLLECTION, PRESERVATION, AND ACCESSIBILITY AC18 TIVITIES.—In carrying out the comprehensive national 

19 film preservation program for motion pictures established 

20 under the National Film Preservation Act of 1992, the 

21 Librarian, in consultation with the Board established pur22 suant to section 104, shall—

23 ‘‘(1) carry out activities to make films included 

24 in the National Film registry more broadly acces25 sible for research and educational purposes, and to 

26 generate public awareness and support of the Reg-
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1 istry and the comprehensive national film preserva2 tion program; 

3 ‘‘(2) review the comprehensive national film 

4 preservation plan, and amend it to the extent nec5 essary to ensure that it addresses technological ad6 vances in the preservation and storage of, and access 

7 to film collections in multiple formats; and 

8 ‘‘(3) wherever possible, undertake expanded ini9 tiatives to ensure the preservation of the moving 

10 image heritage of the United States, including film, 

11 videotape, television, and born digital moving image 

12 formats, by supporting the work of the National 

13 Audio-Visual Conservation Center of the Library of 

14 Congress, and other appropriate nonprofit archival 

15 and preservation organizations.’’. 

16 (b) NATIONAL FILM PRESERVATION BOARD.—Sec17 tion 104 of the National Film Preservation Act of 1996 

18 (2 U.S.C. 179n) is amended—

19 (1) in subsection (a)(1) by striking ‘‘20’’ and 

20 inserting ‘‘22’’; 

21 (2) in subsection (a)(2) by striking ‘‘three’’ and 

22 inserting ‘‘5’’; 

23 (3) in subsection (d) by striking ‘‘11’’ and in24 serting ‘‘12’’; and 
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1 (4) by striking subsection (e) and inserting the 

2 following: 

3 ‘‘(e) REIMBURSEMENT OF EXPENSES.—Members of 

4 the Board shall serve without pay, but may receive travel 

5 expenses, including per diem in lieu of subsistence, in ac6 cordance with sections 5702 and 5703 of title 5, United 

7 States Code.’’. 

8 (c) RESPONSIBILITIES AND POWERS OF BOARD.—

9 Section 105(c) of the National Film Preservation Act of 

10 1996 (2 U.S.C. 179o) is amended by adding at the end 

11 the following: 

12 ‘‘(3) REVIEW AND APPROVAL OF SPECIAL

13 FOUNDATION PROJECTS.—The Board shall review 

14 special projects submitted for its approval by the 

15 National Film Preservation Foundation under sec16 tion 151711 of title 36, United States Code.’’. 

17 (d) NATIONAL FILM REGISTRY.—Section 106 of the 

18 National Film Preservation Act of 1996 (2 U.S.C. 179p) 

19 is amended by adding at the end the following: 

20 ‘‘(e) NATIONAL AUDIO-VISUAL CONSERVATION CEN21 TER.—The Librarian shall utilize the National Audio-Vis22 ual Conservation Center of the Library of Congress at 

23 Culpeper, Virginia, to ensure that preserved films included 

24 in the National Film Registry are stored in a proper man-
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1 ner, and disseminated to researchers, scholars, and the 

2 public as may be appropriate in accordance with—

3 ‘‘(1) title 17 of the United States Code; and 

4 ‘‘(2) the terms of any agreements between the 

5 Librarian and persons who hold copyrights to such 

6 audiovisual works.’’. 

7 (e) USE OF SEAL.—Section 107 (a) of the National 

8 Film Preservation Act of 1996 (2 U.S.C. 179q) is amend9 ed—

10 (1) in paragraph (1), by inserting ‘‘in any for11 mat’’ after ‘‘or any copy’’; and 

12 (2) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘or film copy’’ 

13 and inserting ‘‘in any format’’. 

14 (f) EFFECTIVE DATE.—Section 113 of the National 

15 Film Preservation Act of 1996 (2 U.S.C. 179w) is amend16 ed by striking ‘‘7’’ and inserting ‘‘17’’. 

17 TITLE II—REAUTHORIZATION OF 

18 THE NATIONAL FILM PRESER19 VATION FOUNDATION 

20 SEC. 201. SHORT TITLE. 

21 This title may be cited as the ‘‘National Film Preser22 vation Foundation Reauthorization Act of 2003’’. 

23 SEC. 202. REAUTHORIZATION AND AMENDMENT. 

24 (a) BOARD OF DIRECTORS.—Section 151703 of title 

25 36, United States Code, is amended—
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1 (1) in subsection (b)(2)(A), by striking ‘‘nine’’ 

2 and inserting ‘‘12’’; and 

3 (2) in subsection (b)(4), by striking the second 

4 sentence and inserting ‘‘There shall be no limit to 

5 the number of terms to which any individual may be 

6 appointed.’’. 

7 (b) POWERS.—Section 151705 of title 36, United 

8 States Code, is amended in subsection (b) by striking 

9 ‘‘District of Columbia’’ and inserting ‘‘the jurisdiction in 

10 which the principal office of the corporation is located’’. 

11 (c) PRINCIPAL OFFICE.—Section 151706 of title 36, 

12 United States Code, is amended by inserting ‘‘, or another 

13 place as determined by the board of directors’’ after ‘‘Dis14 trict of Columbia’’. 

15 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—Section 

16 151711 of title 36, United States Code, is amended by 

17 striking subsections (a) and (b) and inserting the fol18 lowing: 

19 ‘‘(a) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

20 are authorized to be appropriated to the Library of Con21 gress amounts necessary to carry out this chapter, not to 

22 exceed $500,000 for each of the fiscal years 2004 and 

23 2005, and not to exceed $1,000,000 for each of the fiscal 

24 years 2006 through 2013. These amounts are to be made 

25 available to the corporation to match any private contribu-
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1 tions (whether in currency, services, or property) made to 

2 the corporation by private persons and State and local 

3 governments. 

4 ‘‘(b) LIMITATION RELATED TO ADMINISTRATIVE EX5 PENSES.—Amounts authorized under this section may not 

6 be used by the corporation for management and general 

7 or fundraising expenses as reported to the Internal Rev8 enue Service as part of an annual information return re9 quired under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.’’. 

10 (e) COOPERATIVE FILM PRESERVATION.—

11 (1) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 1517 of title 36, 

12 United States Code, is amended—

13 (A) by redesignating sections 151711 and 

14 151712 as sections 151712 and 151713, re15 spectively; and 

16 (B) by adding at the end the following: 

17 ‘‘§ 151711. Cooperative film preservation 

18 ‘‘(a) COOPERATIVE FILM PRESERVATION.—

19 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The corporation shall de20 sign and support cooperative national film preserva21 tion and access initiatives. Such initiatives shall be 

22 approved by the corporation, the Librarian of Con23 gress, and the National Film Preservation Board of 

24 the Library of Congress under section 105(c)(3) of 

25 the National Film Preservation Act of 1996. 
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1 ‘‘(2) SCOPE.—Cooperative initiatives authorized 

2 under paragraph (1) may include—

3 ‘‘(A) the repatriation and preservation of 

4 American films that may be found in archives 

5 outside of the United States; 

6 ‘‘(B) the exhibition and dissemination via 

7 broadcast or other means of ‘orphan’ films; 

8 ‘‘(C) the production of educational mate9 rials in various formats to encourage film pres10 ervation, preservation initiatives undertaken by 

11 3 or more archives jointly; and 

12 ‘‘(D) other activities undertaken in light of 

13 significant unfunded film preservation and ac14 cess needs. 

15 ‘‘(b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—

16 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be 

17 appropriated to the Library of Congress amounts 

18 not to exceed $1,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 

19 2006 through 2013, to carry out the purposes of 

20 this section. 

21 ‘‘(2) MATCHING.—The amounts made available 

22 under paragraph (1) are to be made available to the 

23 corporation to match any private contributions 

24 (whether in currency, services, or property) made to 
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1 the corporation by private persons and State and 

2 local governments. 

3 ‘‘(3) LIMITATION RELATED TO ADMINISTRATIVE

4 EXPENSES.—Amounts authorized under this section 

5 may not be used by the corporation for management 

6 and general or fundraising expenses as reported to 

7 the Internal Revenue Service as part of an annual 

8 information return required under the Internal Rev9 enue Code of 1986.’’. 

10 (2) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMEND11 MENT.—The table of sections for chapter 1517 of 

12 title 36, United States Code, is amended by striking 

13 the matter relating to section 151711 and 151712 

14 and inserting the following:

‘‘151711. Cooperative film preservation. 

‘‘151712. Authorization of appropriations. 

‘‘151713. Annual report.’’.

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