RAP Act of 2023

Subjects: Law


<html><body><pre>[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2952 Introduced in House (IH)]

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118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2952

 To amend the Federal Rules of Evidence to limit the admissibility of 
evidence of a defendant's creative or artistic expression against such 
                   defendant, and for other purposes.


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                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 27, 2023

   Mr. Johnson of Georgia (for himself, Mr. Bowman, Mr. Thompson of 
Mississippi, Ms. Wilson of Florida, Ms. Porter, Ms. Kamlager-Dove, Ms. 
  Crockett, Mr. Carter of Louisiana, Mr. Carson, Mr. Robert Garcia of 
 California, Ms. Jackson Lee, Ms. Jayapal, Mr. McGovern, Ms. Bush, Mr. 
Mullin, Mr. Payne, Ms. Williams of Georgia, Ms. Lee of California, Ms. 
 Tlaib, Ms. Ocasio-Cortez, and Ms. Lee of Pennsylvania) introduced the 
  following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend the Federal Rules of Evidence to limit the admissibility of 
evidence of a defendant's creative or artistic expression against such 
                   defendant, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Restoring Artistic Protection Act of 
2023'' or the ``RAP Act of 2023''.

SEC. 2. LIMITATION ON ADMISSIBILITY OF DEFENDANT'S CREATIVE OR ARTISTIC 
              EXPRESSION.

    (a) In General.--Article IV of the Federal Rules of Evidence is 
amended by adding at the end the following:
``Rule 416. Limitation on admissibility of defendant's creative or 
              artistic expression.
    ``(a) Creative and Artistic Expressions Inadmissible.--Except as 
provided in subsection (b), evidence of a defendant's creative or 
artistic expression, whether original or derivative, is not admissible 
against such defendant.
    ``(b) Exception.--A court may admit evidence described in 
subsection (a) if the Government, in a hearing conducted outside the 
hearing of the jury, proves by clear and convincing evidence--
            ``(1)(A) if the expression is original, that defendant 
        intended a literal meaning, rather than figurative or fictional 
        meaning; or
            ``(B) if the expression is derivative, that the defendant 
        intended to adopt the literal meaning of the expression as the 
        defendant's own thought or statement;
            ``(2)(A) in a criminal case, that the creative expression 
        refers to the specific facts of the crime alleged; or
            ``(B) in a civil case, that the creative expression refers 
        to the specific facts alleged in the complaint;
            ``(3) that the expression is relevant to an issue of fact 
        that is disputed; and
            ``(4) that the expression has distinct probative value not 
        provided by other admissible evidence.
    ``(c) Ruling on the Record.--In any hearing under subsection (b), 
the court shall make its ruling on the record, and shall include its 
findings of fact essential to its ruling.
    ``(d) Redaction and Limiting Instructions.--If the court admits any 
evidence described in subsection (a) pursuant to the exception under 
subsection (b), the court shall--
            ``(1) ensure that the expression is redacted in a manner to 
        limit the evidence presented to the jury to that which is 
        specifically excepted under subsection (b); and
            ``(2) provide appropriate limiting instructions to the 
        jury.
    ``(e) Definition.--In this section, the term `creative or artistic 
expression' means the expression or application of creativity or 
imagination in the production or arrangement of forms, sounds, words, 
movements or symbols, including music, dance, performance art, visual 
art, poetry, literature, film, and other such objects or media.''.
    (b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of contents for the Federal 
Rules of Evidence is amended by inserting after the item relating to 
rule 415 the following:

``416. Limitation on admissibility of defendant's creative or artistic 
                            expression.''.
                                 &lt;all&gt;
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