115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1695 

AN ACT 

To amend title 17, United States Code, to provide additional 

responsibilities for the Register of Copyrights, 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, 
2 

•HR 1695 EH

1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Register of Copyrights 

3 Selection and Accountability Act of 2017’’. 

4 SEC. 2. REGISTER OF COPYRIGHTS. 

5 (a) AMENDMENTS.—Section 701 of title 17, United 

6 States Code, is amended— 

7 (1) in subsection (a)— 

8 (A) by striking ‘‘(a) All administrative’’ 

9 and inserting the following: 

10 ‘‘(a) REGISTER AND DIRECTOR.— 

11 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—All administrative’’; 

12 (B) by striking ‘‘director’’ and inserting 

13 ‘‘Director’’; 

14 (C) by inserting after the first sentence the 

15 following: ‘‘The Register of Copyrights shall be 

16 a citizen of the United States with a profes17 sional background and experience in copyright 

18 law, shall be capable of identifying and super19 vising a Chief Information Officer or other 

20 similar official responsible for managing mod21 ern information technology systems, and shall 

22 be appointed by the President from the individ23 uals recommended under paragraph (6), by and 

24 with the advice and consent of the Senate.’’; 

25 and 
3 

•HR 1695 EH

1 (D) in the last sentence, by striking ‘‘shall 

2 be appointed’’ and all that follows through ‘‘and 

3 shall act’’ and inserting ‘‘shall act’’; 

4 (2) in subsection (b), by redesignating para5 graphs (1) through (5) as subparagraphs (A) 

6 through (E), respectively, and adjusting the margins 

7 accordingly; 

8 (3) by redesignating subsection (b) as para9 graph (2), and adjusting the margins accordingly; 

10 (4) in paragraph (2), as so redesignated, by in11 serting ‘‘DUTIES.—’’ before ‘‘In addition’’; 

12 (5) by inserting after paragraph (2) the fol13 lowing: 

14 ‘‘(3) OATH.—The Register of Copyrights shall, 

15 before taking office, take an oath to discharge faith16 fully the duties of the Copyright Office described in 

17 paragraph (2). 

18 ‘‘(4) REMOVAL.— 

19 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Register of Copy20 rights may be removed from office by the Presi21 dent. 

22 ‘‘(B) NOTIFICATION.—The President shall 

23 provide notification to both Houses of Congress 

24 of a removal under subparagraph (A). 

25 ‘‘(5) TERM OF OFFICE.— 
4 

•HR 1695 EH

1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subpara2 graph (B), the Register of Copyrights— 

3 ‘‘(i) shall be appointed for a term of 

4 10 years; and 

5 ‘‘(ii) may serve until a successor is ap6 pointed, confirmed, and taken the oath of 

7 office. 

8 ‘‘(B) LIMITATION.—The Register of Copy9 rights may not continue to serve after the date 

10 on which Congress adjourns sine die after the 

11 date on which the 10-year period described in 

12 subparagraph (A)(i) ends. 

13 ‘‘(C) REAPPOINTMENT.—An individual ap14 pointed to the position of Register of Copy15 rights, by and with the advice and consent of 

16 the Senate, may be reappointed to that position 

17 in accordance with the requirements of this sec18 tion. 

19 ‘‘(6) PANEL FOR REGISTER OF COPYRIGHTS

20 RECOMMENDATIONS.—There is established a panel 

21 to recommend a list of at least 3 individuals to the 

22 President for appointment as the Register of Copy23 rights. The panel shall be composed of the following: 

24 ‘‘(A) The Speaker of the House of Rep25 resentatives. 
5 

•HR 1695 EH

1 ‘‘(B) The President pro tempore of the 

2 Senate. 

3 ‘‘(C) The majority and minority leaders of 

4 the House of Representatives and the Senate. 

5 ‘‘(D) The Librarian of Congress.’’; 

6 (6) by redesignating subsections (c) through (f) 

7 as subsections (b) through (e), respectively; 

8 (7) in subsection (b), as so redesignated, by in9 serting ‘‘SEAL.—’’ before ‘‘The Register’’; 

10 (8) in subsection (c), as so redesignated, by in11 serting ‘‘ANNUAL REPORT.—’’ before ‘‘The Reg12 ister’’; 

13 (9) in subsection (d), as so redesignated, by in14 serting ‘‘APPLICABILITY OF TITLE 5.—’’ before 

15 ‘‘Except as provided’’; and 

16 (10) in subsection (e), as so redesignated, by 

17 inserting ‘‘COMPENSATION.—’’ before ‘‘The Reg18 ister’’. 

19 (b) APPLICABILITY.—The amendments made by sub20 section (a) shall apply with respect to any vacancy for the 

21 Register of Copyrights after January 1, 2017. If a Reg22 ister of Copyrights is appointed during the period begin23 ning on January 1, 2017 and ending on the day before 

24 the date of the enactment of this Act, that Register shall 

25 meet the requirements of the amendments made by this 
6 

•HR 1695 EH

1 Act or shall be replaced in accordance with such amend2 ments. 

3 SEC. 3. CONSTRUCTION. 

4 Nothing in this Act may be construed to impact the 

5 mandatory deposit requirements in title 17, United States 

6 Code. 

Passed the House of Representatives April 26, 2017. 

Attest: 

Clerk. 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1695 

AN ACT 

To amend title 17, United States Code, to provide 

Copyrights, and for other purposes. additional responsibilities for the Register of