I 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5704 

To amend title 10, United States Code, to allow faculty members at Department of Defense service academies and schools of professional military 

education to secure copyrights for certain scholarly works that they 

produce as part of their official duties in order to submit such works 

for publication, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 1, 2010 

Mr. PLATTS (for himself, Mr. SKELTON, Mr. MCKEON, Mr. SNYDER, and Mr. 

WITTMAN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committees on Transportation and Infrastructure and Armed Services, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such 

provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To amend title 10, United States Code, to allow faculty 

members at Department of Defense service academies 

and schools of professional military education to secure 

copyrights for certain scholarly works that they produce 

as part of their official duties in order to submit such 

works for publication, 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, 


jbell on DSKDVH8Z91PROD with BILLS
2 

•HR 5704 IH

1 SECTION 1. LIMITED AUTHORITY FOR DEPARTMENT OF 

2 DEFENSE PERSONNEL WHO ARE FACULTY 

3 MEMBERS AT DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE 

4 SCHOOLS OR OTHER ACADEMIES TO SECURE 

5 COPYRIGHTS FOR CERTAIN SCHOLARLY 

6 WORKS. 

7 (a) AUTHORITY.—(1) Chapter 53 of title 10, is 

8 amended by inserting after section 1033 the following new 

9 section: 

10 ‘‘§ 1033a. Faculty of service academies and Depart11 ment of Defense professional schools: lim12 ited authority to secure copyrights for 

13 certain works 

14 ‘‘(a) AUTHORITY.—Subject to regulations prescribed 

15 under subsection (f), a person who is a member of the 

16 Army, Navy, Air Force, or Marine Corps, or a civilian em17 ployee of the Department of Defense, and is a faculty 

18 member of an institution described in subsection (e) may, 

19 notwithstanding section 105 or 201(b) of title 17, secure 

20 copyright protection under title 17 for a qualifying work, 

21 but only for purposes of publication by a scholarly press 

22 or journal for which such a copyright is normally a re23 quirement for publication or otherwise as may be pre24 scribed under regulations under this section. 

25 ‘‘(b) QUALIFYING WORKS.—A work is a qualifying 

26 work for purposes of this section if the work— 


jbell on DSKDVH8Z91PROD with BILLS
3 

•HR 5704 IH

1 ‘‘(1) is prepared as part of a person’s official 

2 duties; and 

3 ‘‘(2) meets such criteria as the Secretary of De4 fense may prescribe by regulation as a scholarly 

5 work for which copyright protection as provided in 

6 subsection (a) is warranted. 

7 ‘‘(c) TRANSFER OF COPYRIGHT.—Upon acceptance 

8 for publication of a work for which copyright protection 

9 exists by reason of subsection (a), the person holding the 

10 copyright shall transfer the copyright to the owner or pub11 lisher of the medium in which the work will be published. 

12 ‘‘(d) ROYALTIES, ETC.—No royalties or other com13 pensation may be accepted by a person described in sub14 section (a) by reason of copyright protection that exists 

15 by reason of subsection (a). 

16 ‘‘(e) COVERED INSTITUTIONS.—The institutions re17 ferred to in subsection (a) are the following: 

18 ‘‘(1) The United States Military Academy, 

19 United States Naval Academy, and United States 

20 Air Force Academy. 

21 ‘‘(2) The National Defense University. 

22 ‘‘(3) Any war college of the armed forces. 

23 ‘‘(4) Any graduate-level college or university of 

24 the Department of Defense. 

25 ‘‘(5) The Coast Guard Academy. 


jbell on DSKDVH8Z91PROD with BILLS
4 

•HR 5704 IH

1 ‘‘(6) The United States Merchant Marine Acad2 emy. 

3 ‘‘(f) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary of Defense shall 

4 prescribe regulations for the purposes of this section. Such 

5 regulations shall include provisions specifying the types of 

6 works for which copyright protection may be secured by 

7 a person described in subsection (a).’’. 

8 (2) The table of sections at the beginning of such 

9 chapter is amended by inserting after the item relating 

10 to section 1033 the following new item: 

‘‘1033a. Faculty of service academies and Department of Defense professional 

schools: limited authority to secure copyrights for certain 

works.’’. 

11 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—Section 1033a of title 10, 

12 United States Code, as added by subsection (a), shall 

13 apply only with respect to works that, as determined under 

14 regulations prescribed under that section, are produced 

15 after the date of the enactment of this Act. 

16 (c) DEADLINE FOR REGULATIONS.—The Secretary of 

17 Defense shall prescribe regulations under subsection (f) of 

18 section 1033a of title 10, United States Code, as added 

19 by subsection (a), not later than 180 days after the date 

20 of the enactment of this Act. 


jbell on DSKDVH8Z91PROD with BILLS
5 

•HR 5704 IH

1 SEC. 2. LIMITED AUTHORITY FOR FACULTY MEMBERS AT 

2 COAST GUARD ACADEMY TO SECURE COPY3 RIGHTS FOR CERTAIN SCHOLARLY WORKS. 

4 (a) AUTHORITY.—(1) Chapter 9 of title 14, is amend5 ed by inserting after section 196 the following new section: 

6 ‘‘§ 198. Limited authority for faculty members to se7 cure copyrights for certain works 

8 ‘‘(a) AUTHORITY.—Subject to regulations prescribed 

9 under subsection (f), a person who is a member of the 

10 Coast Guard, or a civilian employee of the Coast Guard, 

11 and is a faculty member of an institution described in sub12 section (e) may, notwithstanding section 105 or 201(b) of 

13 title 17, secure copyright protection under title 17 for a 

14 qualifying work, but only for purposes of publication by 

15 a scholarly press or journal for which such a copyright 

16 is normally a requirement for publication or otherwise as 

17 may be prescribed under regulations under this section. 

18 ‘‘(b) QUALIFYING WORKS.—A work is a qualifying 

19 work for purposes of this section if the work— 

20 ‘‘(1) is prepared as part of a person’s official 

21 duties; and 

22 ‘‘(2) meets such criteria as the Secretary may 

23 prescribe by regulation as a scholarly work for which 

24 copyright protection as provided in subsection (a) is 

25 warranted. 


jbell on DSKDVH8Z91PROD with BILLS
6 

•HR 5704 IH

1 ‘‘(c) TRANSFER OF COPYRIGHT.—Upon acceptance 

2 for publication of a work for which copyright protection 

3 exists by reason of subsection (a), the person holding the 

4 copyright shall transfer the copyright to the owner or pub5 lisher of the medium in which the work will be published. 

6 ‘‘(d) ROYALTIES, ETC.—No royalties or other com7 pensation may be accepted by a person described in sub8 section (a) by reason of copyright protection that exists 

9 by reason of subsection (a). 

10 ‘‘(e) COVERED INSTITUTIONS.—The institutions re11 ferred to in subsection (a) are the following: 

12 ‘‘(1) The Coast Guard Academy. 

13 ‘‘(2) The United States Merchant Marine Acad14 emy. 

15 ‘‘(3) The United States Military Academy, 

16 United States Naval Academy, and United States 

17 Air Force Academy. 

18 ‘‘(4) The National Defense University. 

19 ‘‘(5) Any war college of the armed forces. 

20 ‘‘(6) Any graduate-level college or university of 

21 the Department of Defense. 

22 ‘‘(f) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary shall prescribe 

23 regulations for the purposes of this section. Such regula24 tions shall include provisions specifying the types of works 


jbell on DSKDVH8Z91PROD with BILLS
7 

•HR 5704 IH

1 for which copyright protection may be secured by a person 

2 described in subsection (a).’’. 

3 (2) The table of sections at the beginning of such 

4 chapter is amended by inserting after the item relating 

5 to section 196 the following new item: 

‘‘198. Limited authority for faculty members to secure copyrights for certain 

works.’’. 

6 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—Section 198 of title 14, 

7 United States Code, as added by subsection (a), shall 

8 apply only with respect to works that, as determined under 

9 regulations prescribed under that section, are produced 

10 after the date of the enactment of this Act. 

11 (c) DEADLINE FOR REGULATIONS.—The Secretary of 

12 the department in which the Coast Guard is operating 

13 shall prescribe regulations under subsection (f) of section 

14 198 of title 14, United States Code, as added by sub15 section (a), not later than 180 days after the date of the 

16 enactment of this Act. 

17 SEC. 3. LIMITED AUTHORITY FOR FACULTY MEMBERS AT 

18 UNITED STATES MERCHANT MARINE ACAD19 EMY TO SECURE COPYRIGHTS FOR CERTAIN 

20 WORKS. 

21 (a) AUTHORITY.—Title XIII of the Merchant Marine 

22 Act, 1936 (46 App. U.S.C. 1295 et seq.) is amended by 

23 adding at the end the following new section: 


jbell on DSKDVH8Z91PROD with BILLS
8 

•HR 5704 IH

1 ‘‘SEC. 1308. LIMITED AUTHORITY FOR FACULTY MEMBERS 

2 TO SECURE COPYRIGHTS FOR CERTAIN 

3 WORKS. 

4 ‘‘(a) AUTHORITY.—Subject to regulations prescribed 

5 under subsection (f), a person who is an employee of the 

6 Department of Transportation and is a faculty member 

7 of an institution described in subsection (e) may, notwith8 standing section 105 or 201(b) of title 17, secure copy9 right protection under title 17 for a qualifying work, but 

10 only for purposes of publication by a scholarly press or 

11 journal for which such a copyright is normally a require12 ment for publication or otherwise as may be prescribed 

13 under regulations under this section. 

14 ‘‘(b) QUALIFYING WORKS.—A work is a qualifying 

15 work for purposes of this section if the work— 

16 ‘‘(1) is prepared as part of a person’s official 

17 duties; and 

18 ‘‘(2) meets such criteria as the Secretary of 

19 Transportation may prescribe by regulation as a 

20 scholarly work for which copyright protection as pro21 vided in subsection (a) is warranted. 

22 ‘‘(c) TRANSFER OF COPYRIGHT.—Upon acceptance 

23 for publication of a work for which copyright protection 

24 exists by reason of subsection (a), the person holding the 

25 copyright shall transfer the copyright to the owner or pub26 lisher of the medium in which the work will be published. 


jbell on DSKDVH8Z91PROD with BILLS
9 

•HR 5704 IH

1 ‘‘(d) ROYALTIES, ETC.—No royalties or other com2 pensation may be accepted by a person described in sub3 section (a) by reason of copyright protection that exists 

4 by reason of subsection (a). 

5 ‘‘(e) COVERED INSTITUTIONS.—The institutions re6 ferred to in subsection (a) are the following: 

7 ‘‘(1) The United States Merchant Marine Acad8 emy. 

9 ‘‘(2) The Coast Guard Academy. 

10 ‘‘(3) The United States Military Academy, 

11 United States Naval Academy, and United States 

12 Air Force Academy. 

13 ‘‘(4) The National Defense University. 

14 ‘‘(5) Any war college of the armed forces. 

15 ‘‘(6) Any graduate-level college or university of 

16 the Department of Defense. 

17 ‘‘(f) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary of Transpor18 tation shall prescribe regulations for the purposes of this 

19 section. Such regulations shall include provisions speci20 fying the types of works for which copyright protection 

21 may be secured by a person described in subsection (a).’’. 

22 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—Section 1308 of Merchant 

23 Marine Act, 1936, as added by subsection (a), shall apply 

24 only with respect to works that, as determined under reguVerDate Mar 15 2010 02:13 Jul 07, 2010 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5704.IH H5704

jbell on DSKDVH8Z91PROD with BILLS
10 

•HR 5704 IH

1 lations prescribed under that section, are produced after 

2 the date of the enactment of this Act. 

3 (c) DEADLINE FOR REGULATIONS.—The Secretary of 

4 Transportation shall prescribe regulations under section 

5 1308 of Merchant Marine Act, 1936, as added by sub6 section (a), not later than 180 days after the date of the 

7 enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


jbell on DSKDVH8Z91PROD with BILLS