Union Calendar No. 214

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 897

[Report No. 103–388]

A BILL

To amend title 17, United States Code, to modify

and for other purposes.panels to replace the Copyright Royalty Tribunal,ments, to establish copyright arbitration royaltycertain recordation and registration requireNOVEMBER 20, 1993

Reported with amendments, committed to the Committee

dered to be printedof the Whole House on the State of the Union, and or-
IB

Union Calendar No. 214

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 897

[Report No. 103–388]

To amend title 17, United States Code, to modify certain recordation and

registration requirements, to establish copyright arbitration royalty panels

to replace the Copyright Royalty Tribunal, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

FEBRUARY 16, 1993

Mr. HUGHES (for himself and Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts) introduced the

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

NOVEMBER 20, 1993

Additional sponsors: Mr. CHAPMAN, Mr. MACHTLEY, Mr. OBERSTAR, and Ms.

PELOSI

NOVEMBER 20, 1993

Reported with amendments, committed to the Committee of the Whole House

on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic]

[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on February 16, 1993]

A BILL

To amend title 17, United States Code, to modify certain

recordation and registration requirements, to establish

copyright arbitration royalty panels to replace the Copyright Royalty Tribunal, and for other purposes.
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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 ‘‘Copyright Reform Act

5 of 1993’’.

6 SEC. 2. DEPOSIT OF COPIES OR PHONORECORDS FOR LI7 BRARY OF CONGRESS.

8 Section 407 of title 17, United States Code, is amended

9 as follows:

10 (1) Subsection (a) is amended by striking ‘‘(a)’’

11 and all that follows through ‘‘publication—’’ and in12 serting the following:

13 ‘‘(a) REQUIRED DEPOSITS.—Except as provided in

14 subsection (c), the owner of copyright in a work or of the

15 exclusive right of publication of a work in the United States

16 shall deposit, after the earliest date of such publica17 tion—’’.

18 (2) Subsection (b) is amended—

19 (A) by inserting ‘‘DEPOSIT IN COPYRIGHT

20 OFFICE.—’’ after ‘‘(b)’’; and

21 (B) by adding at the end the following: ‘‘A

22 deposit made under this section may be used to

23 satisfy the deposit requirements of section 408.’’.

24 (3) Subsection (c) is amended—
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1 (A) by inserting ‘‘REGULATIONS.—’’ after

2 ‘‘(c)’’; and

3 (B) by striking ‘‘Register of Copyrights’’

4 and inserting ‘‘Librarian of Congress’’.

5 (4) Subsection (d) is amended—

6 (A) by redesignating paragraphs (1), (2),

7 and (3) as subparagraphs (A), (B), and (C), re8 spectively;

9 (B) by striking ‘‘(d) At any time after pub10 lication of a work as provided by subsection (a)’’

11 and inserting the following:

12 ‘‘(d) PROCEDURES.—(1) During November of each

13 year, the Librarian of Congress shall publish in the Federal

14 Register a statement of the categories of works of which the

15 Library of Congress wishes to acquire copies or

16 phonorecords under this section during the next calendar

17 year. The Librarian shall review such statement annually

18 in light of the changes in the Library’s policies and proce19 dures, changes in technology, and changes in patterns of

20 publication. The statement shall also describe—

21 ‘‘(A) the types of works of which only one copy

22 or phonorecord need be deposited;

23 ‘‘(B) the types of works for which the deposit re24 quirements may be fulfilled by placing the Library of

25 Congress on a subscription list; and
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1 ‘‘(C) the categories of works which are exempt

2 under subsection (c) from the deposit requirements.

3 ‘‘(2) At any time after publication in the United

4 States of a work or body of works’’;

5 (C) by striking ‘‘Register of Copyrights’’

6 and inserting ‘‘Librarian of Congress’’;

7 (D) by inserting after the first sentence the

8 following: ‘‘Such demand shall specify a date for

9 compliance with the demand.’’;

10 (E) by inserting ‘‘in a civil action’’ after

11 ‘‘are liable’’;

12 (F) in subparagraph (B) (as redesignated

13 by subparagraph (A) of this paragraph) by strik14 ing ‘‘cost of’’ and inserting ‘‘cost to’’;

15 (G) in subparagraph (C) (as redesignated

16 by subparagraph (A) of this paragraph) by strik17 ing ‘‘clauses (1) and (2)’’ and inserting ‘‘sub18 paragraphs (A) and (B)’’; and

19 (H) by adding after subparagraph (C) (as

20 so redesignated) the following:

21 ‘‘In addition to the penalties set forth in subparagraphs

22 (A), (B), and (C), the person against whom an action is

23 brought under this paragraph shall be liable in such action

24 for all costs of the United States in pursuing the demand,
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1 including an amount equivalent to a reasonable attorney’s

2 fee.’’.

3 (5) Subsection (e) is amended—

4 (A) by inserting ‘‘TRANSMISSION PRO5 GRAMS.—’’ after ‘‘(e)’’;

6 (B) by striking ‘‘Register of Copyrights

7 shall, after consulting with the Librarian of Con8 gress and other interested organizations and offi9 cials,’’ and inserting ‘‘Librarian of Congress

10 shall, after consulting with interested organiza11 tions and officials,’’; and

12 (C) in paragraph (2) by striking ‘‘Register

13 of Copyrights’’ and inserting ‘‘Librarian of Con14 gress’’.

15 (6) Section 407 of title 17, United States Code,

16 is further amended by adding at the end the follow17 ing:

18 ‘‘(f) OBLIGATION TO MAKE DEPOSITS.—Immediately

19 upon the publication in the United States of any work in

20 which copyright subsists under this title, it shall be the obli21 gation of the persons identified in subsection (a) with re22 spect to that work, subject to the requirements and excep23 tions specified in this section, to deposit, for the use or dis24 position of the Library of Congress, the copies or

25 phonorecords specified in such subsection. The obligation to
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1 make such deposit arises without any prior notification or

2 demand for compliance with subsection (a).

3 ‘‘(g) RECORDS OF DEPOSITS.—The Librarian of Con4 gress shall establish and maintain public records of the re5 ceipt of copies and phonorecords deposited under this sec6 tion.

7 ‘‘(h) DATABASE OF DEPOSIT RECORDS.—The Librar8 ian of Congress shall establish and maintain an electronic

9 database containing its records of all deposits made under

10 this section on and after October 1, 1995, and shall make

11 such database available to the public through one or more

12 international information networks.

13 ‘‘(i) DELEGATION AUTHORITY.—The Librarian of

14 Congress may delegate to the Register of Copyrights or other

15 officer or employee of the Library of Congress any of the

16 Librarian’s responsibilities under this section.’’.

17 SEC. 3. COPYRIGHT REGISTRATION IN GENERAL.

18 Section 408 of title 17, United States Code, is amend19 ed—

20 (1) in subsection (c)—

21 (A) in paragraph (1) by adding at the end

22 the following: ‘‘The Register is also authorized to

23 specify by regulation classes of material in which

24 registration may be made without deposit of any

25 copy or phonorecord, in cases in which the Reg-
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1 ister determines that the purposes of examina2 tion, registration, and deposit can be adequately

3 served by deposit of descriptive material only, or

4 by a written obligation to deposit copies or

5 phonorecords at a later date.’’; and

6 (B) in paragraph (2) by striking ‘‘periodi7 cals, including newspapers’’ and all that follows

8 through the end of subparagraph (B) and insert9 ing ‘‘collective works, including periodicals, pub10 lished within a 5-year period, on the basis of a

11 single deposit and application and upon pay12 ment of any special registration fee imposed

13 under section 708(a)(10), if the application iden14 tifies each work separately, including the collec15 tive work containing it and its date of first pub16 lication.’’; and

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

18 ‘‘(f) COPYRIGHT OFFICE HEARINGS.—Not later than

19 1 year after the effective date of this subsection, and at 1-

20 year intervals thereafter, the Register of Copyrights shall

21 hold public hearings to consider proposals to amend the reg22 ulations and practices of the Copyright Office with respect

23 to deposit of works in order to eliminate deposits that are

24 unnecessary for copyright examination or the collections of
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1 the Library of Congress, and in order to simplify the reg2 istration procedures.’’.

3 SEC. 4. APPLICATION FOR COPYRIGHT REGISTRATION.

4 (a) APPLICATIONS.—Section 409 of title 17, United

5 States Code, is amended—

6 (1) by striking ‘‘The application’’ and inserting

7 ‘‘(a) CONTENTS OF APPLICATION.—The application’’;

8 (2) in paragraph (5) by inserting before the

9 semicolon the following: ‘‘, and if the document by

10 which ownership was obtained has been recorded in

11 the Copyright Office, the volume and page number of

12 such recordation’’;

13 (3) by striking paragraphs (9) and (10) and in14 serting the following:

15 ‘‘(9) in the case of a compilation or derivative

16 work, an identification of any preexisting work or

17 works that it is substantially based on or substan18 tially incorporates, and a brief, general statement of

19 the additional material covered by the copyright

20 claim being registered;

21 ‘‘(10) at the option of the applicant, names, ad22 dresses, and telephone numbers of persons or organi23 zations that potential users of the work should contact

24 concerning permissions or licenses to use the work,
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1 and any information with respect to the terms of such

2 permissions or licenses; and’’; and

3 (4) by adding at the end the following:

4 ‘‘(b) SHORT-FORM APPLICATION.—

5 ‘‘(1) USE OF SHORT-FORM.—The Register of

6 Copyrights shall prescribe a short-form application

7 which may be used whenever—

8 ‘‘(A) the work is by a living author;

9 ‘‘(B) the claimant is the author;

10 ‘‘(C) the work is not anonymous, pseudony11 mous, or made for hire; and

12 ‘‘(D) the work as a whole, or substantial

13 portions of it, have not been previously published

14 or registered.

15 ‘‘(2) CONTENTS OF SHORT-FORM.—The short16 form application shall include—

17 ‘‘(A) the name and address of the author;

18 ‘‘(B) the title of the work;

19 ‘‘(C) the nationality or domicile of the au20 thor;

21 ‘‘(D) the year in which creation of the work

22 was completed;

23 ‘‘(E) if the work has been published, the

24 date and nation of its first publication;
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1 ‘‘(F) any other information regarded by the

2 Register of Copyrights as bearing upon the prep3 aration or identification of the work or the exist4 ence, ownership, or duration of the copyright;

5 and

6 ‘‘(G) at the option of the applicant, names,

7 addresses, and telephone numbers of persons or

8 organizations that potential users of the work

9 should contact concerning permissions or licenses

10 to use the work, and any information with re11 spect to the terms of such permissions or li12 censes.’’.

13 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by this

14 section take effect 6 months after the date of the enactment

15 of this Act.

16 SEC. 5. REGISTRATION OF CLAIM AND ISSUANCE OF CER17 TIFICATE.

18 (a) DETERMINATION OF REGISTRATION.—Section 410

19 of title 17, United States Code, is amended by striking sub20 sections (a) and (b) and inserting the following:

21 ‘‘(a) DETERMINATION OF REGISTER.—If, after exam22 ination, the Register of Copyrights determines, in accord23 ance with the provisions of this title, that there is no reason24 able possibility that a court would hold the work for which

25 a deposit is made pursuant to section 408(c) to be copy-
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1 rightable subject matter, or the Register determines that the

2 claim is invalid for any other reason, the Register shall

3 refuse registration and notify the applicant in writing of

4 the reasons for such refusal. In all other cases, the Register

5 shall register the claim and issue to the applicant a certifi6 cate of registration under the seal of the Copyright Office.

7 A certificate of registration issued under this section extends

8 only to those component parts of the work that both are

9 the subject matter of copyright and the copyright owner has

10 the right to claim. The certificate shall contain the informa11 tion set forth in the application, together with the number

12 and effective date of the registration.

13 ‘‘(b) APPEALS PROCEDURE.—The Register of Copy14 rights shall establish, and publish in the Federal Register,

15 a formal procedure by which appeals may be taken from

16 refusals under subsection (a) to register claims to copyright.

17 Such procedure shall include a final appeal to the Reg18 ister.’’.

19 (b) JUDICIAL PROCEEDINGS.—Subsection (c) of section

20 410 of title 17, United States Code, is amended—

21 (1) by inserting ‘‘EVIDENTIARY WEIGHT OF

22 CERTIFICATE.—’’ after ‘‘(c)’’; and

23 (2) by adding at the end the following: ‘‘Any

24 error or omission made in good faith or upon reason25 able reliance on counsel shall not affect the validity
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1 of the registration. In no case shall an incorrect state2 ment made in an application for copyright registra3 tion invalidate the copyright.’’.

4 (c) TECHNICAL AMENDMENT.—Subsection (d) of sec5 tion 410 of title 17, United States Code, is amended by in6 serting ‘‘EFFECTIVE DATE OF REGISTRATION.—’’ after

7 ‘‘(d)’’.

8 SEC. 6. COPYRIGHT REGISTRATION PROVISIONS.

9 (a) REGISTRATION AND INFRINGEMENT ACTIONS.—(1)

10 Section 411 of title 17, United States Code, is amended—

11 (A) by amending the section caption to read as

12 follows:

13 ‘‘§ 411. Registration and infringement actions for cer14 tain works’’;

15 (B) by striking subsection (a); and

16 (C) in subsection (b)—

17 (i) by striking ‘‘(b)’’; and

18 (ii) by striking paragraphs (1) and (2) and

19 inserting the following:

20 ‘‘(1) serves notice upon the infringer, not less

21 than 10 or more than 30 days before such fixation,

22 identifying the work and the specific time and source

23 of its first transmission; and

24 ‘‘(2) submits an application for registration of

25 the copyright claim in the work, in accordance with
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1 this title, within 3 months after the first transmission

2 of the work.’’.

3 (2) The item relating to section 411 in the table of

4 sections at the beginning of chapter 4 of title 17, United

5 States Code, is amended to read as follows:

‘‘411. Registration and infringement actions for certain works.’’.

6 (b) REGISTRATION AS PREREQUISITE TO CERTAIN

7 REMEDIES FOR INFRINGEMENT.—Section 412 of title 17,

8 United States Code, and the item relating to section 412

9 in the table of sections at the beginning of chapter 4 of title

10 17, United States Code, are repealed.

11 SEC. 7. REMEDIES FOR INFRINGEMENT.

12 Section 504(c)(2) of title 17, United States Code, is

13 amended in the second sentence—

14 (1) by striking ‘‘court it’’ and inserting ‘‘court

15 in’’;

16 (2) by inserting ‘‘or eliminate’’ after ‘‘reduce’’;

17 and

18 (3) by striking ‘‘to a sum of not less than $200’’.

19 SEC. 8. NOTIFICATION OF FILING AND DETERMINATION OF

20 ACTIONS.

21 Section 508 of title 17, United States Code, is amend22 ed—

23 (1) in subsection (a)—
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1 (A) in the first sentence by inserting ‘‘and

2 the party filing the action’’ after ‘‘United

3 States’’; and

4 (B) in the second sentence by inserting

5 ‘‘and the party filing the action’’ after ‘‘clerk’’;

6 and

7 (2) in subsection (b) by inserting ‘‘and the party

8 filing the action’’ after ‘‘clerk of the court’’.

9 SEC. 9. STUDY ON MANDATORY DEPOSIT.

10 (a) SUBJECT MATTER OF STUDY.—Upon the enact11 ment of this Act, the Librarian of Congress shall conduct

12 a study of the mandatory deposit provisions of section 407

13 of title 17, United States Code. Such study shall place par14 ticular emphasis on the implementation of section 407(e)

15 of such title with respect to the deposit of transmission pro16 grams, as well as possible alternative methods of obtaining

17 deposits if the mandatory deposit requirements of such sec18 tion 407 are expanded to authorize the collection, archival

19 preservation, and use by the Library of Congress of other

20 publicly transmitted works, including unpublished works

21 such as computer programs and online databases.

22 (b) CONDUCT OF STUDY.—The study under subsection

23 (a) shall be conducted by the Register of Copyright, in con24 sultation with any affected interests, and may include the
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1 voluntary establishment, in collaboration with representa2 tives of such interests, of practical tests and pilot projects.

3 (c) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 18 months

4 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Librarian

5 shall submit to the Congress a report on the results of the

6 study conducted under this section, together with rec7 ommendations the Librarian has on—

8 (1) safeguarding the interests of copyright own9 ers whose works are subject to the mandatory deposit

10 provisions referred to in subsection (a);

11 (2) fulfilling the present and future needs of the

12 Library of Congress with respect to archival and

13 other collections development; and

14 (3) any legislation that may be necessary.

15 SEC. 10. STUDIES OF EFFECTS OF REGISTRATION AND DE16 POSIT PROVISIONS.

17 Upon the enactment of this Act, the Librarian of Con18 gress, after consultation with the Register of Copyrights and

19 any affected interests, shall commence a study of the extent

20 to which changes in the registration and deposit provisions

21 of title 17, United States Code, that are made by this Act

22 have affected the acquisitions of the Library of Congress and

23 the operations of the copyright registration system, and any

24 recommendations the Librarian may have with respect to

25 such effects. Not later than 3 years after the date of the en-
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1 actment of this Act, the Librarian shall submit to the Con2 gress a report on such study. The Librarian may conduct

3 further studies described in the first sentence, and report

4 to the Congress on such studies.

5 SEC. 11. CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.

6 (a) DEFINITIONS.—Section 101 of title 17, United

7 States Code, is amended by striking the definition of the

8 ‘‘country of origin’’ of a Berne Convention work.

9 (b) INFRINGEMENT OF COPYRIGHT.—Section 501(b) of

10 title 17, United States Code, is amended in the first sen11 tence by striking ‘‘, subject to the requirements of section

12 411,’’.

13 (c) REMEDIES FOR INFRINGEMENT.—Section 504(a) of

14 title 17, United States Code, is amended by striking ‘‘Ex15 cept as otherwise provided by this title, an’’ and inserting

16 ‘‘An’’.

17 SEC. 12. ADDITIONAL TECHNICAL AMENDMENTS.

18 (a) AMENDMENTS TO TITLE 17, UNITED STATES

19 CODE.—Title 17, United States Code, is amended as fol20 lows:

21 (1) The definition of ‘‘publicly’’ contained in sec22 tion 101 is amended—

23 (A) by striking ‘‘clause’’ and inserting

24 ‘‘paragraph’’; and
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1 (B) by striking ‘‘processs’’ and inserting

2 ‘‘process’’.

3 (2) The definition of ‘‘registration’’ contained in

4 section 101 is amended by striking ‘‘412,’’.

5 (3) Section 108(e) is amended in the matter pre6 ceding paragraph (1) by striking ‘‘pair’’ and insert7 ing ‘‘fair’’.

8 (4) Section 109(b)(2)(B) is amended by striking

9 ‘‘Copyright’’ and inserting ‘‘Copyrights’’.

10 (5) Section 304(c) is amended in the matter pre11 ceding paragraph (1) by striking ‘‘the subsection

12 (a)(1)(C) and inserting ‘‘subsection (a)(1)(C)’’.

13 (6) Section 405(b) is amended by striking ‘‘con14 dition or’’ and inserting ‘‘condition for’’.

15 (7) The item relating to section 504 in the table

16 of sections at the beginning of chapter 5 is amended

17 by striking ‘‘Damage’’ and inserting ‘‘Damages’’.

18 (8) Section 501(a) is amended by striking ‘‘sec19 tions 106 through 118’’ and inserting ‘‘section 106’’.

20 (9) Section 509(b) is amended by striking ‘‘mer21 chandise; and baggage’’ and inserting ‘‘merchandise,

22 and baggage’’.

23 (10) Section 601 of title 17, United States Code,

24 is amended—
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1 (A) in subsection (a) by striking

2 ‘‘nondramtic’’ and inserting ‘‘nondramatic’’; and

3 (B) in subsection (b)(1) by striking

4 ‘‘subsustantial’’ and inserting ‘‘substantial’’.

5 (11) Section 801(b)(4) of title 17, United States

6 Code, is amended by adding a period after ‘‘chapter

7 10’’.

8 (12) The item relating to section 903 in the table

9 of sections at the beginning of chapter 9 is amended

10 to read as follows:

‘‘903. Ownership, transfer, licensing, and recordation.’’.

11 (13) Section 909(b)(1) is amended—

12 (A) by striking ‘‘force’’ and inserting

13 ‘‘work’’; and

14 (B) by striking ‘‘sumbol’’ and inserting

15 ‘‘symbol’’.

16 (14) Section 910(a) is amended in the second

17 sentence by striking ‘‘as used’’ and inserting ‘‘As

18 used’’.

19 (15) Section 1006(b)(1) is amended by striking

20 ‘‘Federation Television’’ and inserting ‘‘Federation of

21 Television’’.

22 (16) Section 1007 is amended—

23 (A) in subsection (a)(1) by striking ‘‘the

24 calendar year in which this chapter takes effect’’

25 and inserting ‘‘calendar year 1992’’; and
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1 (B) in subsection (b) by striking ‘‘the year

2 in which this section takes effect’’ and inserting

3 ‘‘1992’’.

4 (17) The table of chapters at the beginning of

5 title 17, United States Code, is amended—

6 (A) by amending the item relating to chap7 ter 6 to read as follows:

‘‘6. Manufacturing Requirements and Importation ............... 601’’;

8 (B) by amending the item relating to chap9 ter 9 to read as follows:

‘‘9. Protection of Semiconductor Chip Products ...................... 901’’;

10 and

11 (C) by adding at the end the following:

‘‘10. Digital Audio Recording Devices and Media ................... 1001’’.

12 (b) OTHER PROVISIONS OF LAW.—(1) Section

13 2319(b)(1) of title 18, United States Code, is amended by

14 striking ‘‘at last’’ and inserting ‘‘at least’’.

15 (2) Section 1(a)(1) of the Act entitled ‘‘An Act to

16 amend chapter 9 of title 17, United States Code, regarding

17 protection extended to semiconductor chip products of for18 eign entities’’, approved November 9, 1987 (17 U.S.C. 914

19 note), is amended by striking ‘‘orginating’’ and inserting

20 ‘‘originating’’.

21 (3) Section 3(a)(1)(C) of the Audio Home Recording

22 Act of 1992 is amended by striking ‘‘adding the following
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1 new paragraph at the end’’ and inserting ‘‘inserting after

2 paragraph (3) the following new paragraph’’.

3 SEC. 13. EFFECTIVE DATE.

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in section 4(b),

5 and subject to subsection (b) of this section, this Act and

6 the amendments made by this Act take effect on the date

7 of the enactment of this Act.

8 (b) PENDING ACTIONS.—The amendments and repeals

9 made by section 6 shall not affect any action brought under

10 title 17, United States Code, before the date of the enactment

11 of this Act.

Amend the title so as to read: ‘‘A bill to amend title

17, United States Code, to modify certain registration requirements, and for other purposes.’’.

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