II 

Calendar No. 414 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2559 

To amend title 17, United States Code, to implement the Marrakesh Treaty, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 15, 2018 

Mr. GRASSLEY (for himself, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, Mr. CORKER, Mr. MENENDEZ, 

Mr. HATCH, Ms. HARRIS, Mr. LEAHY, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, Mr. DURBIN, 

and Mr. KENNEDY) introduced the following bill; which was read twice 

and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

MAY 15, 2018 

Reported by Mr. GRASSLEY, without amendment 

A BILL 

To amend title 17, United States Code, to implement the 

Marrakesh Treaty, 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 ‘‘Marrakesh Treaty Im5 plementation Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. IMPLEMENTATION AMENDMENTS. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 1 of title 17, United 

3 States Code, is amended— 

4 (1) in section 121— 

5 (A) in subsection (a)— 

6 (i) by inserting ‘‘in the United States’’ 

7 after ‘‘distribute’’; 

8 (ii) by striking ‘‘, nondramatic’’; 

9 (iii) by inserting ‘‘or of a previously 

10 published musical work that has been fixed 

11 in the form of text or notation’’ after ‘‘lit12 erary work’’; 

13 (iv) by striking ‘‘specialized formats’’ 

14 and inserting ‘‘accessible formats’’; and 

15 (v) by striking ‘‘blind or other persons 

16 with disabilities’’ and inserting ‘‘eligible 

17 persons’’; 

18 (B) in subsection (b)(1)— 

19 (i) in subparagraph (A)— 

20 (I) by inserting ‘‘in the United 

21 States’’ after ‘‘distributed’’; 

22 (II) by striking ‘‘a specialized 

23 format’’ and inserting ‘‘an accessible 

24 format’’; and 


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1 (III) by striking ‘‘blind or other 

2 persons with disabilities’’ and insert3 ing ‘‘eligible persons’’; and 

4 (ii) in subparagraph (B), by striking 

5 ‘‘a specialized format’’ and inserting ‘‘an 

6 accessible format’’; 

7 (C) in subsection (c)(3), by striking ‘‘spe8 cialized formats’’ and inserting ‘‘accessible for9 mats’’; and 

10 (D) in subsection (d)— 

11 (i) by striking paragraphs (2) and (4); 

12 (ii) by redesignating paragraph (1) as 

13 paragraph (2); 

14 (iii) by redesignating paragraph (3) as 

15 paragraph (4); 

16 (iv) by inserting before paragraph (2), 

17 as so redesignated, the following: 

18 ‘‘(1) ‘accessible format’ means an alternative 

19 manner or form that gives an eligible person access 

20 to the work when the copy or phonorecord in the ac21 cessible format is used exclusively by the eligible per22 son to permit him or her to have access as feasibly 

23 and comfortably as a person without such disability 

24 as described in paragraph (3);’’; 


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1 (v) by inserting after paragraph (2), 

2 as so redesignated, the following: 

3 ‘‘(3) ‘eligible person’ means an individual who, 

4 regardless of any other disability— 

5 ‘‘(A) is blind; 

6 ‘‘(B) has a visual impairment or perceptual 

7 or reading disability that cannot be improved to 

8 give visual function substantially equivalent to 

9 that of a person who has no such impairment 

10 or disability and so is unable to read printed 

11 works to substantially the same degree as a 

12 person without an impairment or disability; or 

13 ‘‘(C) is otherwise unable, through physical 

14 disability, to hold or manipulate a book or to 

15 focus or move the eyes to the extent that would 

16 be normally acceptable for reading; and’’; and 

17 (vi) in paragraph (4), as so redesig18 nated, by striking ‘‘; and’’ at the end and 

19 inserting a period; and 

20 (2) by inserting after section 121 the following: 

21 ‘‘§ 121A. Limitations on exclusive rights: reproduc22 tion for blind or other people with dis23 abilities in Marrakesh Treaty countries 

24 ‘‘(a) Notwithstanding the provisions of sections 106 

25 and 602, it is not an infringement of copyright for an auVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:22 May 15, 2018 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2559.RS S2559

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1 thorized entity, acting pursuant to this section, to export 

2 copies or phonorecords of a previously published literary 

3 work or of a previously published musical work that has 

4 been fixed in the form of text or notation in accessible 

5 formats to another country when the exportation is made 

6 either to— 

7 ‘‘(1) an authorized entity located in a country 

8 that is a Party to the Marrakesh Treaty; or 

9 ‘‘(2) an eligible person in a country that is a 

10 Party to the Marrakesh Treaty, 

11 if prior to the exportation of such copies or phonorecords, 

12 the authorized entity engaged in the exportation did not 

13 know or have reasonable grounds to know that the copies 

14 or phonorecords would be used other than by eligible per15 sons. 

16 ‘‘(b) Notwithstanding the provisions of sections 106 

17 and 602, it is not an infringement of copyright for an au18 thorized entity or an eligible person, or someone acting 

19 on behalf of an eligible person, acting pursuant to this 

20 section, to import copies or phonorecords of a previously 

21 published literary work or of a previously published musi22 cal work that has been fixed in the form of text or notation 

23 in accessible formats. 

24 ‘‘(c) In conducting activities under subsection (a) or 

25 (b), an authorized entity shall establish and follow its own 


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1 practices, in keeping with its particular circumstances, 

2 to— 

3 ‘‘(1) establish that the persons the authorized 

4 entity serves are eligible persons; 

5 ‘‘(2) limit to eligible persons and authorized en6 tities the distribution of accessible format copies by 

7 the authorized entity; 

8 ‘‘(3) discourage the reproduction and distribu9 tion of unauthorized copies; 

10 ‘‘(4) maintain due care in, and records of, the 

11 handling of copies of works by the authorized entity, 

12 while respecting the privacy of eligible persons on an 

13 equal basis with others; and 

14 ‘‘(5) facilitate effective cross-border exchange of 

15 accessible format copies by making publicly avail16 able— 

17 ‘‘(A) the titles of works for which the au18 thorized entity has accessible format copies or 

19 phonorecords and the specific accessible formats 

20 in which they are available; and 

21 ‘‘(B) information on the policies, practices, 

22 and authorized entity partners of the authorized 

23 entity for the cross-border exchange of acces24 sible format copies. 


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1 ‘‘(d) Nothing in this section shall be construed to es2 tablish— 

3 ‘‘(1) a cause of action under this title; or 

4 ‘‘(2) a basis for regulation by any Federal agen5 cy. 

6 ‘‘(e) Nothing in this section shall be construed to 

7 limit the ability to engage in any activity otherwise per8 mitted under this title. 

9 ‘‘(f) For purposes of this section— 

10 ‘‘(1) the terms ‘accessible format’, ‘authorized 

11 entity’, and ‘eligible person’ have the meanings given 

12 those terms in section 121; and 

13 ‘‘(2) the term ‘Marrakesh Treaty’ means the 

14 Marrakesh Treaty to Facilitate Access to Published 

15 Works by Visually Impaired Persons and Persons 

16 with Print Disabilities concluded at Marrakesh, Mo17 rocco, on June 28, 2013.’’. 

18 (b) TABLE OF SECTIONS AMENDMENT.—The table of 

19 sections for chapter 1 of title 17, United States Code, is 

20 amended by inserting after the item relating to section 

21 121 the following: 

‘‘121A. Limitations on exclusive rights: reproduction for blind or other people 

with disabilities in Marrakesh Treaty countries.’’. 


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Calendar No. 414 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2559 

A BILL 

To amend title 17, United States Code, to impleposes. ment the Marrakesh Treaty, and for other purMAY 15, 2018 

Reported without amendment 


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