103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 897

AN ACT

To amend title 17, United States Code, to modify

purposes.certain registration requirements, and for other
103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 897

AN ACT

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

registration requirements, 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 ‘‘Copyright Reform Act

5 of 1993’’.
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1 SEC. 2. DEPOSIT OF COPIES OR PHONORECORDS FOR

2 LIBRARY OF CONGRESS.

3 Section 407 of title 17, United States Code, is

4 amended as follows:

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

6 and all that follows through ‘‘publication—’’ and in7 serting the following:

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

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

10 exclusive right of publication of a work in the United

11 States shall deposit, after the earliest date of such publica12 tion—’’.

13 (2) Subsection (b) is amended—

14 (A) by inserting ‘‘DEPOSIT IN COPYRIGHT

15 OFFICE.—’’ after ‘‘(b)’’; and

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

17 deposit made under this section may be used to

18 satisfy the deposit requirements of section

19 408.’’.

20 (3) Subsection (c) is amended—

21 (A) by inserting ‘‘REGULATIONS.—’’ after

22 ‘‘(c)’’; and

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

24 and inserting ‘‘Librarian of Congress’’.

25 (4) Subsection (d) is amended—
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1 (A) by redesignating paragraphs (1), (2),

2 and (3) as subparagraphs (A), (B), and (C), re3 spectively;

4 (B) by striking ‘‘(d) At any time after pub5 lication of a work as provided by subsection

6 (a)’’ and inserting the following:

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

8 year, the Librarian of Congress shall publish in the Fed9 eral Register a statement of the categories of works of

10 which the Library of Congress wishes to acquire copies

11 or phonorecords under this section during the next cal12 endar year. The Librarian shall review such statement an13 nually in light of the changes in the Library’s policies and

14 procedures, changes in technology, and changes in pat15 terns of publication. The statement shall also describe—

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

17 or phonorecord need be deposited;

18 ‘‘(B) the types of works for which the deposit

19 requirements may be fulfilled by placing the Library

20 of Congress on a subscription list; and

21 ‘‘(C) the categories of works which are exempt

22 under subsection (c) from the deposit requirements.

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

24 States of a work or body of works’’;
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1 (C) by striking ‘‘Register of Copyrights’’

2 and inserting ‘‘Librarian of Congress’’;

3 (D) by inserting after the first sentence

4 the following: ‘‘Such demand shall specify a

5 date for compliance with the demand.’’;

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

7 ‘‘are liable’’;

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

9 by subparagraph (A) of this paragraph) by

10 striking ‘‘cost of’’ and inserting ‘‘cost to’’;

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

12 by subparagraph (A) of this paragraph) by

13 striking ‘‘clauses (1) and (2)’’ and inserting

14 ‘‘subparagraphs (A) and (B)’’; and

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

16 so redesignated) the following:

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

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

19 brought under this paragraph shall be liable in such action

20 for all costs of the United States in pursuing the demand,

21 including an amount equivalent to a reasonable attorney’s

22 fee.’’.

23 (5) Subsection (e) is amended—

24 (A) by inserting ‘‘TRANSMISSION PRO25 GRAMS.—’’ after ‘‘(e)’’;
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1 (B) by striking ‘‘Register of Copyrights

2 shall, after consulting with the Librarian of

3 Congress and other interested organizations

4 and officials,’’ and inserting ‘‘Librarian of Con5 gress shall, after consulting with interested or6 ganizations and officials,’’; and

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

8 of Copyrights’’ and inserting ‘‘Librarian of

9 Congress’’.

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

11 is further amended by adding at the end the follow12 ing:

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

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

15 which copyright subsists under this title, it shall be the

16 obligation of the persons identified in subsection (a) with

17 respect to that work, subject to the requirements and ex18 ceptions specified in this section, to deposit, for the use

19 or disposition of the Library of Congress, the copies or

20 phonorecords specified in such subsection. The obligation

21 to make such deposit arises without any prior notification

22 or demand for compliance with subsection (a).

23 ‘‘(g) RECORDS OF DEPOSITS.—The Librarian of

24 Congress shall establish and maintain public records of
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1 the receipt of copies and phonorecords deposited under

2 this section.

3 ‘‘(h) DATABASE OF DEPOSIT RECORDS.—The Li4 brarian of Congress shall establish and maintain an elec5 tronic database containing its records of all deposits made

6 under this section on and after October 1, 1995, and shall

7 make such database available to the public through one

8 or more international information networks.

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

10 Congress may delegate to the Register of Copyrights or

11 other officer or employee of the Library of Congress any

12 of the Librarian’s responsibilities under this section.’’.

13 SEC. 3. COPYRIGHT REGISTRATION IN GENERAL.

14 Section 408 of title 17, United States Code, is

15 amended—

16 (1) in subsection (c)—

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

18 the following: ‘‘The Register is also authorized

19 to specify by regulation classes of material in

20 which registration may be made without deposit

21 of any copy or phonorecord, in cases in which

22 the Register determines that the purposes of

23 examination, registration, and deposit can be

24 adequately served by deposit of descriptive ma-
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1 terial only, or by a written obligation to deposit

2 copies or phonorecords at a later date.’’; and

3 (B) in paragraph (2) by striking ‘‘periodi4 cals, including newspapers’’ and all that follows

5 through the end of subparagraph (B) and in6 serting ‘‘collective works, including periodicals,

7 published within a 5-year period, on the basis

8 of a single deposit and application and upon

9 payment of any special registration fee imposed

10 under section 708(a)(10), if the application

11 identifies each work separately, including the

12 collective work containing it and its date of first

13 publication.’’; and

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

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

16 1 year after the effective date of this subsection, and at

17 1-year intervals thereafter, the Register of Copyrights

18 shall hold public hearings to consider proposals to amend

19 the regulations and practices of the Copyright Office with

20 respect to deposit of works in order to eliminate deposits

21 that are unnecessary for copyright examination or the col22 lections of the Library of Congress, and in order to sim23 plify the registration procedures.’’.
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1 SEC. 4. APPLICATION FOR COPYRIGHT REGISTRATION.

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

3 States Code, is amended—

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

5 ‘‘(a) CONTENTS OF APPLICATION.—The applica6 tion’’;

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

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

9 which ownership was obtained has been recorded in

10 the Copyright Office, the volume and page number

11 of such recordation’’;

12 (3) by striking paragraphs (9) and (10) and in13 serting the following:

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

15 work, an identification of any preexisting work or

16 works that it is substantially based on or substan17 tially incorporates, and a brief, general statement of

18 the additional material covered by the copyright

19 claim being registered;

20 ‘‘(10) at the option of the applicant, names, ad21 dresses, and telephone numbers of persons or orga22 nizations that potential users of the work should

23 contact concerning permissions or licenses to use the

24 work, and any information with respect to the terms

25 of such permissions or licenses; and’’; and

26 (4) by adding at the end the following:
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1 ‘‘(b) SHORT-FORM APPLICATION.—

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

3 Copyrights shall prescribe a short-form application

4 which may be used whenever—

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

6 ‘‘(B) the claimant is the author;

7 ‘‘(C) the work is not anonymous, pseudon8 ymous, or made for hire; and

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

10 portions of it, have not been previously pub11 lished or registered.

12 ‘‘(2) CONTENTS OF SHORT-FORM.—The short13 form application shall include—

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

15 ‘‘(B) the title of the work;

16 ‘‘(C) the nationality or domicile of the au17 thor;

18 ‘‘(D) the year in which creation of the

19 work was completed;

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

21 date and nation of its first publication;

22 ‘‘(F) any other information regarded by

23 the Register of Copyrights as bearing upon the

24 preparation or identification of the work or the
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1 existence, ownership, or duration of the copy2 right; and

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

4 addresses, and telephone numbers of persons or

5 organizations that potential users of the work

6 should contact concerning permissions or li7 censes to use the work, and any information

8 with respect to the terms of such permissions or

9 licenses.’’.

10 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by

11 this section take effect 6 months after the date of the en12 actment of this Act.

13 SEC. 5. REGISTRATION OF CLAIM AND ISSUANCE OF CER14 TIFICATE.

15 (a) DETERMINATION OF REGISTRATION.—Section

16 410 of title 17, United States Code, is amended by strik17 ing subsections (a) and (b) and inserting the following:

18 ‘‘(a) DETERMINATION OF REGISTER.—If, after ex19 amination, the Register of Copyrights determines, in ac20 cordance with the provisions of this title, that there is no

21 reasonable possibility that a court would hold the work

22 for which a deposit is made pursuant to section 408(c)

23 to be copyrightable subject matter, or the Register deter24 mines that the claim is invalid for any other reason, the

25 Register shall refuse registration and notify the applicant
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1 in writing of the reasons for such refusal. In all other

2 cases, the Register shall register the claim and issue to

3 the applicant a certificate of registration under the seal

4 of the Copyright Office. A certificate of registration issued

5 under this section extends only to those component parts

6 of the work that both are the subject matter of copyright

7 and the copyright owner has the right to claim. The cer8 tificate shall contain the information set forth in the appli9 cation, together with the number and effective date of the

10 registration.

11 ‘‘(b) APPEALS PROCEDURE.—The Register of Copy12 rights shall establish, and publish in the Federal Register,

13 a formal procedure by which appeals may be taken from

14 refusals under subsection (a) to register claims to copy15 right. Such procedure shall include a final appeal to the

16 Register.’’.

17 (b) JUDICIAL PROCEEDINGS.—Subsection (c) of sec18 tion 410 of title 17, United States Code, is amended—

19 (1) by inserting ‘‘EVIDENTIARY WEIGHT OF

20 CERTIFICATE.—’’ after ‘‘(c)’’; and

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

22 error or omission made in good faith or upon rea23 sonable reliance on counsel shall not affect the valid24 ity of the registration. In no case shall an incorrect
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1 statement made in an application for copyright reg2 istration invalidate the copyright.’’.

3 (c) TECHNICAL AMENDMENT.—Subsection (d) of sec4 tion 410 of title 17, United States Code, is amended by

5 inserting ‘‘EFFECTIVE DATE OF REGISTRATION.—’’ after

6 ‘‘(d)’’.

7 SEC. 6. COPYRIGHT REGISTRATION PROVISIONS.

8 (a) REGISTRATION AND INFRINGEMENT ACTIONS.—

9 (1) Section 411 of title 17, United States Code, is amend10 ed—

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 trans2 mission 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

10 title 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

19 $200’’.

20 SEC. 8. NOTIFICATION OF FILING AND DETERMINATION OF

21 ACTIONS.

22 Section 508 of title 17, United States Code, is

23 amended—

24 (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

8 party 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

14 particular emphasis on the implementation of section

15 407(e) of such title with respect to the deposit of trans16 mission programs, as well as possible alternative methods

17 of obtaining deposits if the mandatory deposit require18 ments of such section 407 are expanded to authorize the

19 collection, archival preservation, and use by the Library

20 of Congress of other publicly transmitted works, including

21 unpublished works such as computer programs and online

22 databases.

23 (b) CONDUCT OF STUDY.—The study under sub24 section (a) shall be conducted by the Register of Copy25 right, in consultation with any affected interests, and may
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1 include the voluntary establishment, in collaboration with

2 representatives of such interests, of practical tests and

3 pilot projects.

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

5 months after the date of the enactment of this Act, the

6 Librarian shall submit to the Congress a report on the

7 results of the study conducted under this section, together

8 with recommendations the Librarian has on—

9 (1) safeguarding the interests of copyright own10 ers whose works are subject to the mandatory de11 posit provisions referred to in subsection (a);

12 (2) fulfilling the present and future needs of

13 the Library of Congress with respect to archival and

14 other collections development; and

15 (3) any legislation that may be necessary.

16 SEC. 10. STUDIES OF EFFECTS OF REGISTRATION AND DE17 POSIT PROVISIONS.

18 Upon the enactment of this Act, the Librarian of

19 Congress, after consultation with the Register of Copy20 rights and any affected interests, shall commence a study

21 of the extent to which changes in the registration and de22 posit provisions of title 17, United States Code, that are

23 made by this Act have affected the acquisitions of the Li24 brary of Congress and the operations of the copyright reg25 istration system, and any recommendations the Librarian
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1 may have with respect to such effects. Not later than 3

2 years after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Li3 brarian shall submit to the Congress a report on such

4 study. The Librarian may conduct further studies de5 scribed in the first sentence, and report to the Congress

6 on such studies.

7 SEC. 11. CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.

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

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

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

11 (b) INFRINGEMENT OF COPYRIGHT.—Section 501(b)

12 of title 17, United States Code, is amended in the first

13 sentence by striking ‘‘, subject to the requirements of sec14 tion 411,’’.

15 (c) REMEDIES FOR INFRINGEMENT.—Section 504(a)

16 of title 17, United States Code, is amended by striking

17 ‘‘Except as otherwise provided by this title, an’’ and in18 serting ‘‘An’’.

19 SEC. 12. ADDITIONAL TECHNICAL AMENDMENTS.

20 (a) AMENDMENTS TO TITLE 17, UNITED STATES

21 CODE.—Title 17, United States Code, is amended as fol22 lows:

23 (1) The definition of ‘‘publicly’’ contained in

24 section 101 is amended—
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1 (A) by striking ‘‘clause’’ and inserting

2 ‘‘paragraph’’; and

3 (B) by striking ‘‘processs’’ and inserting

4 ‘‘process’’.

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

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

7 (3) Section 108(e) is amended in the matter

8 preceding paragraph (1) by striking ‘‘pair’’ and in9 serting ‘‘fair’’.

10 (4) Section 109(b)(2)(B) is amended by strik11 ing ‘‘Copyright’’ and inserting ‘‘Copyrights’’.

12 (5) Section 304(c) is amended in the matter

13 preceding paragraph (1) by striking ‘‘the subsection

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

15 (6) Section 405(b) is amended by striking ‘‘con16 dition or’’ and inserting ‘‘condition for’’.

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

18 of sections at the beginning of chapter 5 is amended

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

20 (8) Section 501(a) is amended by striking ‘‘sec21 tions 106 through 118’’ and inserting ‘‘section 106’’.

22 (9) Section 509(b) is amended by striking

23 ‘‘merchandise; and baggage’’ and inserting ‘‘mer24 chandise, and baggage’’.
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1 (10) Section 601 of title 17, United States

2 Code, is amended—

3 (A) in subsection (a) by striking

4 ‘‘nondramtic’’ and inserting ‘‘nondramatic’’;

5 and

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

7 ‘‘subsustantial’’ and inserting ‘‘substantial’’.

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

9 States Code, is amended by adding a period after

10 ‘‘chapter 10’’.

11 (12) The item relating to section 903 in the

12 table of sections at the beginning of chapter 9 is

13 amended to read as follows:

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

14 (13) Section 909(b)(1) is amended—

15 (A) by striking ‘‘force’’ and inserting ‘‘work’’;

16 and

17 (B) by striking ‘‘sumbol’’ and inserting ‘‘sym18 bol’’.

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

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

21 used’’.

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

23 ‘‘Federation Television’’ and inserting ‘‘Federation

24 of Television’’.

25 (16) Section 1007 is amended—
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1 (A) in subsection (a)(1) by striking ‘‘the

2 calendar year in which this chapter takes ef3 fect’’ and inserting ‘‘calendar year 1992’’; and

4 (B) in subsection (b) by striking ‘‘the year

5 in which this section takes effect’’ and inserting

6 ‘‘1992’’.

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

8 title 17, United States Code, is amended—

9 (A) by amending the item relating to chap10 ter 6 to read as follows:

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

11 (B) by amending the item relating to chap12 ter 9 to read as follows:

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

13 and

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

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

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

16 2319(b)(1) of title 18, United States Code, is amended

17 by striking ‘‘at last’’ and inserting ‘‘at least’’.

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

19 amend chapter 9 of title 17, United States Code, regard20 ing protection extended to semiconductor chip products of

21 foreign entities’’, approved November 9, 1987 (17 U.S.C.

22 914 note), is amended by striking ‘‘orginating’’ and insert23 ing ‘‘originating’’.
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1 (3) Section 3(a)(1)(C) of the Audio Home Recording

2 Act of 1992 is amended by striking ‘‘adding the following

3 new paragraph at the end’’ and inserting ‘‘inserting after

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

5 SEC. 13. EFFECTIVE DATE.

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in section

7 4(b), and subject to subsection (b) of this section, this Act

8 and the amendments made by this Act take effect on the

9 date of the enactment of this Act.

10 (b) PENDING ACTIONS.—The amendments and re11 peals made by section 6 shall not affect any action brought

12 under title 17, United States Code, before the date of the

13 enactment of this Act.

Passed the House of Representatives November 20,

1993.

Attest:

Clerk.

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