IC 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2559 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 3, 2018 

Referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

AN ACT 

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, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Marrakesh Treaty Im3 plementation Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. IMPLEMENTATION AMENDMENTS. 

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

6 States Code, is amended— 

7 (1) in section 121— 

8 (A) in subsection (a)— 

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

10 after ‘‘distribute’’; 

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

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

13 published musical work that has been fixed 

14 in the form of text or notation’’ after ‘‘lit15 erary work’’; 

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

17 and inserting ‘‘accessible formats’’; and 

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

19 with disabilities’’ and inserting ‘‘eligible 

20 persons’’; 

21 (B) in subsection (b)(1)— 

22 (i) in subparagraph (A)— 

23 (I) by inserting ‘‘in the United 

24 States’’ after ‘‘distributed’’; 


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1 (II) by striking ‘‘a specialized 

2 format’’ and inserting ‘‘an accessible 

3 format’’; and 

4 (III) by striking ‘‘blind or other 

5 persons with disabilities’’ and insert6 ing ‘‘eligible persons’’; and 

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

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

9 accessible format’’; 

10 (C) in subsection (c)(3), by striking ‘‘spe11 cialized formats’’ and inserting ‘‘accessible for12 mats’’; and 

13 (D) in subsection (d)— 

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

15 (ii) by redesignating paragraph (1) as 

16 paragraph (2); 

17 (iii) by redesignating paragraph (3) as 

18 paragraph (4); 

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

20 as so redesignated, the following: 

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

22 manner or form that gives an eligible person access 

23 to the work when the copy or phonorecord in the ac24 cessible format is used exclusively by the eligible per25 son to permit him or her to have access as feasibly 


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1 and comfortably as a person without such disability 

2 as described in paragraph (3);’’; 

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

4 as so redesignated, the following: 

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

6 regardless of any other disability— 

7 ‘‘(A) is blind; 

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

9 or reading disability that cannot be improved to 

10 give visual function substantially equivalent to 

11 that of a person who has no such impairment 

12 or disability and so is unable to read printed 

13 works to substantially the same degree as a 

14 person without an impairment or disability; or 

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

16 disability, to hold or manipulate a book or to 

17 focus or move the eyes to the extent that would 

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

19 (vi) in paragraph (4), as so redesig20 nated, by striking ‘‘; and’’ at the end and 

21 inserting a period; and 

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


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1 ‘‘§ 121A. Limitations on exclusive rights: reproduc2 tion for blind or other people with dis3 abilities in Marrakesh Treaty countries 

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

5 and 602, it is not an infringement of copyright for an au6 thorized entity, acting pursuant to this section, to export 

7 copies or phonorecords of a previously published literary 

8 work or of a previously published musical work that has 

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

10 formats to another country when the exportation is made 

11 either to— 

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

13 that is a Party to the Marrakesh Treaty; or 

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

15 Party to the Marrakesh Treaty, 

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

17 the authorized entity engaged in the exportation did not 

18 know or have reasonable grounds to know that the copies 

19 or phonorecords would be used other than by eligible per20 sons. 

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

22 and 602, it is not an infringement of copyright for an au23 thorized entity or an eligible person, or someone acting 

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

25 section, to import copies or phonorecords of a previously 

26 published literary work or of a previously published musiVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:13 Jul 03, 2018 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2559.RFH S2559

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1 cal work that has been fixed in the form of text or notation 

2 in accessible formats. 

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

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

5 practices, in keeping with its particular circumstances, 

6 to— 

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

8 entity serves are eligible persons; 

9 ‘‘(2) limit to eligible persons and authorized en10 tities the distribution of accessible format copies by 

11 the authorized entity; 

12 ‘‘(3) discourage the reproduction and distribu13 tion of unauthorized copies; 

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

15 handling of copies of works by the authorized entity, 

16 while respecting the privacy of eligible persons on an 

17 equal basis with others; and 

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

19 accessible format copies by making publicly avail20 able— 

21 ‘‘(A) the titles of works for which the au22 thorized entity has accessible format copies or 

23 phonorecords and the specific accessible formats 

24 in which they are available; and 


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

2 and authorized entity partners of the authorized 

3 entity for the cross-border exchange of acces4 sible format copies. 

5 ‘‘(d) Nothing in this section shall be construed to es6 tablish— 

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

8 ‘‘(2) a basis for regulation by any Federal agen9 cy. 

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

11 limit the ability to engage in any activity otherwise per12 mitted under this title. 

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

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

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

16 those terms in section 121; and 

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

18 Marrakesh Treaty to Facilitate Access to Published 

19 Works by Visually Impaired Persons and Persons 

20 with Print Disabilities concluded at Marrakesh, Mo21 rocco, on June 28, 2013.’’. 

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

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

24 amended by inserting after the item relating to section 

25 121 the following: 


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

with disabilities in Marrakesh Treaty countries.’’. 

Passed the Senate June 28, 2018. 

Attest: JULIE E. ADAMS, 

Secretary. 


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