I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 801 

To amend title 17, United States Code, with respect to works connected 

to certain funding agreements. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 3, 2009 

Mr. CONYERS (for himself, Mr. ISSA, Mr. WEXLER, Mr. FRANKS of Arizona, 

and Mr. COHEN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To amend title 17, United States Code, with respect to 

works connected to certain funding agreements. 

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 ‘‘Fair Copyright in Re5 search Works Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. LIMITATIONS ON FEDERAL GOVERNMENT REGARD7 ING EXTRINSIC WORKS. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 201 of title 17, United 

9 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol10 lowing new subsection: 


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1 ‘‘(f) LIMITATIONS ON THE FEDERAL GOVERN2 MENT.— 

3 ‘‘(1) LIMITATIONS REGARDING FUNDING

4 AGREEMENTS.—No Federal agency may, in connec5 tion with a funding agreement— 

6 ‘‘(A) impose or cause the imposition of any 

7 term or condition that— 

8 ‘‘(i) requires the transfer or license to 

9 or for a Federal agency of— 

10 ‘‘(I) any right provided under 

11 paragraph (3), (4), or (5) of section 

12 106 in an extrinsic work; or 

13 ‘‘(II) any right provided under 

14 paragraph (1) or (2) of section 106 in 

15 an extrinsic work, to the extent that, 

16 solely for purposes of this subsection, 

17 such right involves the availability to 

18 the public of that work; or 

19 ‘‘(ii) requires the absence or abandon20 ment of any right described in subclause 

21 (I) or (II) of clause (i) in an extrinsic 

22 work; 

23 ‘‘(B) impose or cause the imposition of, as 

24 a condition of a funding agreement, the waiver 


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1 of, or assent to, any prohibition under subpara2 graph (A); or 

3 ‘‘(C) assert any rights under this title in 

4 material developed under any funding agree5 ment that restrain or limit the acquisition or 

6 exercise of rights under this title in an extrinsic 

7 work. 

8 Any term, condition, or assertion prohibited under 

9 subparagraph (A), (B), or (C) shall be given no ef10 fect under this title or otherwise. 

11 ‘‘(2) CONSTRUCTION.— 

12 ‘‘(A) CERTAIN OTHER RIGHTS NOT LIM13 ITED.—Nothing in paragraph (1)(A)(i)(II) shall 

14 be construed to limit the rights provided to the 

15 copyright owner under paragraphs (1) and (2) 

16 of section 106. 

17 ‘‘(B) NO NEW COPYRIGHT PROTECTION

18 CREATED.—Nothing in this subsection provides 

19 copyright protection to any subject matter that 

20 is not protected under section 102. 

21 ‘‘(3) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 

22 ‘‘(A) EXTRINSIC WORK.—The term ‘extrin23 sic work’ means any work, other than a work 

24 of the United States Government, that is based 


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1 upon, derived from, or related to, a funding 

2 agreement and— 

3 ‘‘(i) is also funded in substantial part 

4 by one or more other entities, other than 

5 a Federal agency, that are not a party to 

6 the funding agreement or acting on behalf 

7 of such a party; or 

8 ‘‘(ii) represents, reflects, or results 

9 from a meaningful added value or process 

10 contributed by one or more other entities, 

11 other than a Federal agency, that are not 

12 a party to the funding agreement or acting 

13 on behalf of such a party. 

14 ‘‘(B) FEDERAL AGENCY.—The term ‘Fed15 eral agency’ means any department, agency, or 

16 instrumentality of the United States Govern17 ment. 

18 ‘‘(C) FUNDING AGREEMENT.—The term 

19 ‘funding agreement’ means any contract, grant, 

20 or other agreement entered into between a Fed21 eral agency and any person under which funds 

22 are provided by a Federal agency, in whole or 

23 in part, for the performance of experimental, 

24 developmental, or research activities.’’. 


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1 (b) APPLICABILITY.—The amendment made by sub2 section (a) applies to any funding agreement that is en3 tered into on or after the date of the enactment of this 

4 Act. 

5 (c) REPORT TO CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES.—Not 

6 later than the date that is 5 years after the date of the 

7 enactment of this Act, the Register of Copyrights shall, 

8 after consulting with the Comptroller General and with 

9 Federal agencies that provide funding under funding 

10 agreements and with publishers in the private sector, re11 view and submit to the appropriate congressional commit12 tees a report on the Register’s views on section 201(f) of 

13 title 17, United States Code, as added by subsection (a) 

14 of this section, taking into account the development of and 

15 access to extrinsic works and materials developed under 

16 funding agreements, including the role played by pub17 lishers in the private sector and others. 

18 (d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

19 (1) EXTRINSIC WORK; FEDERAL AGENCY; 

20 FUNDING AGREEMENT.—The terms ‘‘extrinsic 

21 work’’, ‘‘Federal agency’’, and ‘‘funding agreement’’ 

22 have the meanings given those terms in section 

23 201(f)(3) of title 17, United States Code, as added 

24 by subsection (a) of this section. 


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1 (2) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT2 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com3 mittees’’ means the Committee on the Judiciary and 

4 the Committee on Appropriations of the House of 

5 Representatives and the Committee on the Judiciary 

6 and the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate. 

Æ 


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