I

106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 5107

To make certain corrections in copyright law.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

SEPTEMBER 6, 2000

Mr. COBLE (for himself, Mr. BERMAN, Mr. CONYERS, Mrs. BONO, Mr.

WEXLER, Mr. DELAHUNT, Ms. LOFGREN, Mr. BOUCHER, Ms. MCCARTHY of Missouri, and Mr. ROGAN) introduced the following bill; which

was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

A BILL

To make certain corrections in copyright law.

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 ‘‘Work Made For Hire

5 and Copyright Corrections Act of 2000’’.

6 SEC. 2. WORK MADE FOR HIRE.

7 (a) DEFINITION.—The definition of ‘‘work made for

8 hire’’ contained in section 101 of title 17, United States

9 Code, is amended—

10 (1) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘as a sound

11 recording,’’; and
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1 (2) by inserting after paragraph (2) the fol2 lowing:

3 ‘‘In determining whether any work is eligible to be

4 considered a work made for hire under paragraph

5 (2), neither the amendment contained in section

6 1011(d) of the Intellectual Property and Commu7 nications Omnibus Reform Act of 1999, as enacted

8 by section 1000(a)(9) of Public Law 106–113, nor

9 the deletion of the words added by that

10 amendment—

11 ‘‘(A) shall be considered or otherwise given

12 any legal significance, or

13 ‘‘(B) shall be interpreted to indicate con14 gressional approval or disapproval of, or acqui15 escence in, any judicial determination,

16 by the courts or the Copyright Office. Paragraph (2)

17 shall be interpreted as if both section 2(a)(1) of the

18 Work Made For Hire and Copyright Corrections Act

19 of 2000 and section 1011(d) of the Intellectual

20 Property and Communications Omnibus Reform Act

21 of 1999, as enacted by section 1000(a)(9) of Public

22 Law 106–113, were never enacted, and without re23 gard to any inaction or awareness by the Congress

24 at any time of any judicial determinations.’’.

25 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—
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1 (1) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made

2 by this section shall be effective as of November 29,

3 1999.

4 (2) SEVERABILITY.—If the provisions of para5 graph (1), or any application of such provisions to

6 any person or circumstance, is held to be invalid, the

7 remainder of this section, the amendments made by

8 this section, and the application of this section to

9 any other person or circumstance shall not be af10 fected by such invalidation.

11 SEC. 3. OTHER AMENDMENTS TO TITLE 17, UNITED STATES

12 CODE.

13 (a) AMENDMENTS TO CHAPTER 7.—Chapter 7 of

14 title 17, United States Code, is amended as follows:

15 (1) Section 710, and the item relating to that

16 section in the table of contents for chapter 7, are re17 pealed.

18 (2) Section 705(a) is amended to read as fol19 lows:

20 ‘‘(a) The Register of Copyrights shall ensure that

21 records of deposits, registrations, recordations, and other

22 actions taken under this title are maintained, and that in23 dexes of such records are prepared.’’.

24 (3)(A) Section 708(a) is amended to read as

25 follows:
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1 ‘‘(a) FEES.—Fees shall be paid to the Register of

2 Copyrights, in the amounts in effect on the date of enact3 ment of the Work Made For Hire and Copyright Correc4 tions Act of 2000, as adjusted under subsection (b)—

5 ‘‘(1) on filing each application under section

6 408 for registration of a copyright claim or for a

7 supplementary registration, including the issuance of

8 a certificate of registration if registration is made;

9 ‘‘(2) on filing each application for registration

10 of a claim for renewal of a subsisting copyright

11 under section 304(a), including the issuance of a

12 certificate of registration if registration is made;

13 ‘‘(3) for the issuance of a receipt for a deposit

14 under section 407;

15 ‘‘(4) for the recordation, as provided by section

16 205, of a transfer of copyright ownership or other

17 document;

18 ‘‘(5) for the filing, under section 115(b), of a

19 notice of intention to obtain a compulsory license;

20 ‘‘(6) for the recordation, under section 302(c),

21 of a statement revealing the identity of an author of

22 an anonymous or pseudonymous work, or for the

23 recordation, under section 302(d), of a statement re24 lating to the death of an author;
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1 ‘‘(7) for the issuance, under section 706, of an

2 additional certificate of registration;

3 ‘‘(8) for the issuance of any other certification;

4 and

5 ‘‘(9) for the making and reporting of a search

6 as provided by section 705, and for any related serv7 ices.

8 The Register is authorized to fix fees for other services,

9 including the cost of preparing copies of Copyright Office

10 records, whether or not such copies are certified, based

11 on the cost of providing the service.’’.

12 (B) Section 708(b) is amended by striking

13 the matter preceding paragraph (1) and insert14 ing the following:

15 ‘‘(b) ADJUSTMENT OF FEES.—The Register of Copy16 rights may, by regulation, adjust the fees for the actions

17 specified in paragraphs (1) through (9) of subsection (a)

18 in the following manner:’’.

19 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 121(a) of

20 title 17, United States Code, is amended by striking ‘‘sec21 tions 106 and 710’’ and inserting ‘‘section 106’’.

22 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by

23 this section shall take effect on the date of enactment of

24 this Act.

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