I
107TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. R. 4643
To provide for the special application of the antitrust laws to certain negotia-
tions of freelance writers and freelance artists for the sale of their
written and graphic material to publishers.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
MAY 2, 2002
Mr. CONYERS (for himself and Mr. CANNON) introduced the following bill;
which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
A BILL
To provide for the special application of the antitrust laws
to certain negotiations of freelance writers and freelance
artists for the sale of their written and graphic material
to publishers.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Freelance Writers and
Artists Protection Act of 2002’’.
SEC. 2. APPLICATION OF ANTITRUST LAWS TO FREELANCE
WRITERS AND FREELANCE ARTISTS.
The antitrust laws shall apply to freelance writers or
freelance artists for purposes of negotiating the terms and
conditions of contracts for the sale of written material or
graphic material created by them to publishers, in the
same manner as such laws apply to collective bargaining
by employees who are members of a bargaining unit recog-
nized under the National Labor Relations Act (29 U.S.C.
151 et seq.) to engage in collective bargaining with an em-
ployer.
SEC. 3. COPYRIGHT REGISTRATION AS PREREQUISITE TO
CERTAIN REMEDIES FOR INFRINGEMENT.
Section 412(2) of title 17, United States Code, is
amended to read as follows:
‘‘(2) any infringement of copyright commenced
after first publication of the work and before the ef-
fective date of its registration, unless—
‘‘(A) such registration is made within three
months after the first publication of the work;
or
‘‘(B) if the work is not a work made for
hire, and was first published as a contribution
to a collective work, registration of the collective
work was made within three months after the
first publication of the collective work or prior
to the infringement.’’.
SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS.
For purposes of this Act:
(1) ANTITRUST
LAWS.—The term ‘‘antitrust
laws’’—
(A) has the meaning given it in subsection
(a) of the first section of the Clayton Act (15
U.S.C. 12(a)), except that such term includes
section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act
(15 U.S.C. 45) to the extent such section 5 ap-
plies to unfair methods of competition; and
(B) includes any State law similar to any
of the laws referred to in subparagraph (A).
(2) FREELANCE
WRITER; FREELANCE
ART-
IST.—The terms ‘‘freelance writer’’ and ‘‘freelance
artist’’ mean an individual who creates—
(A) an article, book, essay, poem, or other
written material; or
(B) a photograph, graphic art work, de-
sign, layout, chart, or other graphical material;
for present or future compensation other than on a
‘‘work made for hire’’ basis, but excludes such an in-
dividual to whom the National Labor Relations Act
applies.
(3) PUBLISHER.—The term ‘‘publisher’’ means
a person that produces any periodical, magazine,
newspaper, book, manual, advertising materials, or
other similar material, whether in printed, electronic,
or other form.
SEC. 5. CRIMINAL INFRINGEMENT.
(a) TITLE 17, UNITED STATES CODE.—Section
506(a)(2) of title 17, United States Code, is amended by
inserting ‘‘or are unpublished,’’ after ‘‘$1,000’’.
(b) TITLE 18, UNITED STATES CODE.—Section
2319(c)(3) of title 18, United States Code, is amended
by inserting ‘‘or are unpublished,’’ after ‘‘$1,000’’.
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