any other form of relief resulting from contamina-
tion or pollution of the environment, or the threat of
such contamination or pollution.
(d) As used in this section, the term ‘‘environment’’
has the meaning given to such term in section 101(8) of
the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensa-
tion, and Liability Act of 1980 (42 U.S.C. 9601(8)).
(e) This subtitle shall be construed and applied after
consideration of its legislative history to promote uniform-
ity of law in the various jurisdictions.
SEC. 424. JURISDICTION OF FEDERAL COURTS.
The district courts of the United States shall not
have jurisdiction over any civil action pursuant to this sub-
title, based on section 1331 or 1337 of title 28, United
States Code.
SEC. 425. EFFECTIVE DATE.
(a) This subtitle shall take effect on the date of its
enactment and shall apply to all civil actions pursuant to
this subtitle commenced on or after such date, including
any action in which the harm or the conduct which caused
the harm occurred before the effective date of this subtitle.
(b) If any provision of this subtitle would shorten the
period during which a manufacturer or product seller
would otherwise be exposed to liability, the claimant may,
notwithstanding the otherwise applicable time period,
bring any civil action pursuant to this subtitle within one
year after the effective date of this subtitle.
PART II—OUT OF COURT PROCEDURES
SEC. 431. EXPEDITED PRODUCT LIABILITY SETTLEMENTS.
(a) Any claimant may bring a civil action for damages
against a person for harm caused by a product pursuant
to applicable State law, except to the extent such law is
superseded by this part.
(b) Any claimant may, in addition to any claim for
relief made in accordance with State law, include in such
claimant’s complaint an offer of settlement for a specific
dollar amount.
(c) The defendant may make an offer of settlement
for a specific dollar amount within sixty days after service
of the claimant’s complaint or within the time permitted
pursuant to State law for a responsive pleading, whichever
is longer, except that if such pleading includes a motion
to dismiss in accordance with applicable law, the defend-
ant may tender such relief to the claimant within ten days
after the court’s determination regarding such motion.
(d) In any case in which an offer of settlement is
made pursuant to subsection (b) or (c) of this section, the
court may, upon motion made prior to the expiration of
the applicable period for response, enter an order extend-
ing such period. Any such order shall contain a schedule
for discovery of evidence material to the issue of the ap-
propriate amount of relief, and shall not extend such pe-
riod for more than sixty days. Any such motion shall be
accompanied by a supporting affidavit of the moving party
setting forth the reasons why such extension is necessary
to promote the interests of justice and stating that the
information likely to be discovered is material, and is not,
after reasonable inquiry, otherwise available to the moving
party.
(e) If the defendant, as offeree, does not accept the
offer of settlement made by a claimant in accordance with
subsection (b) of this section within the time permitted
pursuant to State law for a responsive pleading or, if such
pleading includes a motion to dismiss in accordance with
applicable law, within thirty days after the court’s deter-
mination regarding such motion, and a verdict is entered
in such action equal to or greater than the specific dollar
amount of such offer of settlement, the court shall enter
judgment against the defendant and shall include in such
judgment an amount for the claimant’s reasonable attor-
ney’s fees and costs. Such fees shall be offset against any
fees owed by the claimant to the claimant’s attorney by
reason of the verdict.
(f) If the claimant, as offeree, does not accept the
offer of settlement made by a defendant in accordance
with subsection (c) of this section within thirty days after
the date on which such offer is made and a verdict is en-
tered in such action equal to or less than the specific dollar
amount of such offer of settlement, the court shall reduce
the amount of the verdict in such action by an amount
equal to the reasonable attorney’s fees and costs owed by
the defendant to the defendant’s attorney by reason of the
verdict, except that the amount of such reduction shall not
exceed that portion of the verdict which is allocable to non-
economic loss and economic loss for which the claimant
has received or will receive collateral benefits.
(g) For purposes of this section, attorney’s fees shall
be calculated on the basis of an hourly rate which should
not exceed that which is considered acceptable in the com-
munity in which the attorney practices, considering the at-
torney’s qualifications and experience and the complexity
of the case.
SEC. 432. ALTERNATIVE DISPUTE RESOLUTION PROCE-
DURES.
(a) In lieu of or in addition to making an offer of
settlement under section 431 of this part, a claimant or
defendant may, within the time permitted for the making
of such an offer under section 431 of this part, offer to
proceed pursuant to any voluntary alternative dispute res-
olution procedure established or recognized under the law
of the State in which the civil action for damages for harm
caused by a product is brought or under the rules of the
court in which such action is maintained.
(b) If the offeree refuses to proceed pursuant to such
alternative dispute resolution procedure and the court de-
termines that such refusal was unreasonable or not in
good faith, the court shall assess reasonable attorney’s
fees and costs against the offeree.
(c) For the purposes of this section, there shall be
created a rebuttable presumption that a refusal by an
offeree to proceed pursuant to such alternative dispute
resolution procedure was unreasonable or not in good
faith, if a verdict is rendered in favor of the offeror.
PART III—COURT PROCEDURES
SEC. 441. CIVIL ACTIONS.
A person seeking to recover for harm caused by a
product may bring a civil action against the product’s
manufacturer or product seller pursuant to applicable
State or Federal law, except to the extent such law is su-
perseded by this subtitle.
SEC. 442. UNIFORM STANDARDS OF PRODUCT SELLER LI-
ABILITY.
(a) Notwithstanding the provisions of section 441 of
this part, in any civil action for harm caused by a product,
a product seller other than a manufacturer is liable to a
claimant, only if the claimant establishes by a preponder-
ance of the evidence that—
(1)(A) the individual product unit which alleg-
edly caused the harm complained of was sold by the
defendant;
(B) the product seller failed to exercise reason-
able care with respect to the product; and
(C) such failure to exercise reasonable care was
a proximate cause of the claimant’s harm; or
(2)(A) the product seller made an express war-
ranty, independent of any express warranty made by
a manufacturer as to the same product;
(B) the product failed to conform to the war-
ranty; and
(C) the failure of the product to conform to the
warranty caused the claimant’s harm.
(b)(1) In determining whether a product seller is sub-
ject to liability under subsection (a)(1) of this section, the
trier of fact may consider the effect of the conduct of the
product seller with respect to the construction, inspection,
or condition of the product, and any failure of the product
seller to pass on adequate warnings or instructions from
the product’s manufacturer about the dangers and proper
use of the product.
(2) A product seller shall not be liable in a civil action
subject to this part based upon an alleged failure to pro-
vide warnings or instructions unless the claimant estab-
lishes that, when the product left the possession and con-
trol of the product seller, the product seller failed—
(A) to provide to the person to whom the prod-
uct seller relinquished possession and control of the
product any pamphlets, booklets, labels, inserts, or
other written warnings or instructions received while
the product was in the product seller’s possession
and control; or
(B) to make reasonable efforts to provide users
with those warnings and instructions which it re-
ceived after the product left its possession and con-
trol.
(3) A product seller shall not be liable in a civil action
subject to this part except for breach of express warranty
where there was no reasonable opportunity to inspect the
product in a manner which would or should, in the exercise
of reasonable care, have revealed the aspect of the product
which allegedly caused the claimant’s harm.
(c) Notwithstanding subsection (b), a product seller
shall be treated as the manufacturer of a product and
shall be liable for harm to the claimant caused by a prod-
uct as if it were the manufacturer of the product if—
(1) the manufacturer is not subject to service of
process under the laws of any State in which the ac-
tion might have been brought; or
(2) the court determines that the claimant
would be unable to enforce a judgment against the
manufacturer.
SEC. 443. UNIFORM STANDARDS FOR AWARD OF PUNITIVE
DAMAGES.
(a) Punitive damages may, if otherwise permitted by
applicable law, be awarded in any civil action subject to
this part to any claimant who establishes by clear and con-
vincing evidence that the harm suffered was the result of
conduct manifesting a manufacturer’s or product seller’s
conscious, flagrant indifference to the safety of those per-
sons who might be harmed by a product. A failure to exer-
cise reasonable care in choosing among alternative product
designs, formulations, instructions, or warnings is not of
itself such conduct. Except as provided in subsection (b)
of this section, punitive damages may not be awarded in
the absence of a compensatory award.
(b) In any civil action in which the alleged harm to
the claimant is death and the applicable State law pro-
vides, or has been construed to provide, for damages only
punitive in nature, a defendant may be liable for any such
damages regardless of whether a claim is asserted under
this section. The recovery of any such damages shall not
bar a claim under this section.
(c)(1) Punitive damages shall not be awarded pursu-
ant to this section against a manufacturer or product sell-
er of a drug (as defined in section 201(g)(1) of the Fed-
eral Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. 321(g)(1))
or medical device (as defined under section 201(h) of the
Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C.
321(h)) which caused the claimant’s harm where—
(A) such drug or device was subject to pre-mar-
ket approval by the Food and Drug Administration
with respect to the safety of the formulation or per-
formance of the aspect of such drug or device which
caused the claimant’s harm or the adequacy of the
packaging or labeling of such drug or device, and
such drug was approved by the Food and Drug Ad-
ministration; or
(B) the drug is generally recognized as safe and
effective pursuant to conditions established by the
Food and Drug Administration and applicable regu-
lations, including packaging and labeling regulations.
The provisions of this paragraph shall not apply (i)
in any case in which the defendant withheld from or
misrepresented to the Food and Drug Administra-
tion or any other agency or official of the Federal
Government information that is material and rel-
evant to the performance of such drug or device, or
(ii) in any case in which the defendant made an ille-
gal payment to an official of the Food and Drug Ad-
ministration for the purpose of securing approval of
such drug or device.
(2) Punitive damages shall not be awarded pursuant
to this section against a manufacturer of an aircraft which
caused the claimant’s harm where—
(A) such aircraft was subject to pare-market
certification by the Federal Aviation Administration
with respect to the safety of the design or perform-
ance of the aspect of such aircraft which caused the
claimant’s harm or the adequacy of the warnings re-
garding the operation or maintenance of such air-
craft;
(B) the aircraft was certified by the Federal
Aviation Administration under the Federal Aviation
Act of 1958 (49 App. U.S.C. 1301 et seq.); and
(C) the manufacturer of the aircraft complied,
after delivery of the aircraft to a user, with Federal
Aviation Administration requirements and obliga-
tions with respect to continuing airworthiness, in-
cluding the requirement to provide maintenance and
service information related to airworthiness whether
or not such information is used by the Federal Avia-
tion Administration in the preparation of mandatory
maintenance, inspection, or repair directives.
The provisions of this paragraph shall not apply in any
case in which the defendant withheld from or misrepre-
sented to the Federal Aviation Administration information
that is material and relevant to the performance or the
maintenance or operation of such aircraft.
(d) At the request of the manufacturer or product
seller, the trier of fact shall consider in a separate proceed-
ing (1) whether punitive damages are to be awarded and
the amount of such award, or (2) the amount of punitive
damages following a determination of punitive liability. If
a separate proceeding is requested, evidence relevant only
to the claim of punitive damages, as determined by appli-
cable State law, shall be inadmissible in any proceeding
to determine whether compensatory damages are to be
awarded.
(e) In determining the amount of punitive damages,
the trier of fact shall consider all relevant evidence, includ-
ing—
(1) the financial condition of the manufacturer
or product seller;
(2) the severity of the harm caused by the con-
duct of the manufacturer or product seller;
(3) the duration of the conduct or any conceal-
ment of it by manufacturer or product seller;
(4) the profitability of the conduct to the manu-
facturer or product seller;
(5) the number of products sold by the manu-
facturer or product seller of the kind causing the
harm complained of by the claimant;
(6) awards of punitive of exemplary damages to
persons similarly situated to the claimant;
(7) prospective awards of compensatory dam-
ages to persons similarly situated to the claimant;
(8) any criminal penalties imposed on the man-
ufacturer or product seller as a result of the conduct
complained of by the claimant; and
(9) the amount of any civil fines assessed
against the defendant as a result of the conduct
complained of by the claimant.
SEC. 444. UNIFORM TIME LIMITATIONS ON LIABILITY.
(a) Any civil action subject to this part shall be
barred unless the complaint is filed within two years of
the time the claimant discovered or, in the exercise of rea-
sonable care, should have discovered the harm and its
cause, except that any such action of a person under legal
disability may be filed within two years after the disability
ceases. If the commencement of such an action is stayed
or enjoined, the running of the statute of limitations under
this section shall be suspended for the period of the stay
or injunction.
(b)(1) Any civil action subject to this part shall be
barred if a product which is a capital good is alleged to
have caused harm which is not a toxic harm unless the
complaint is served and filed within twenty-five years after
the time of delivery of the product. This subsection shall
apply only if the court determines that the claimant has
received or would be eligible to receive compensation under
any State or Federal workers’ compensation law for harm
caused by the product.
(2) A motor vehicle, vessel, aircraft, or railroad used
primarily to transport passengers for hire shall not be sub-
ject to the provisions of this subsection.
(3) As used in this section, the term—
(A) ‘‘time of delivery’’ means the time when a
product is delivered to its first purchaser or lessee
who was not involved in the business of manufactur-
ing or selling such product or using it as a compo-
nent part of another product to be sold;
(B) ‘‘capital good’’ means any product, or any
component of any such product, which is of a char-
acter subject to allowance for depreciation under the
Internal Revenue Code of 1986, and which was—
(i) used in a trade or business;
(ii) held for the production of income; or
(iii) sold or donated to a governmental or
private entity for the production of goods, for
training, for demonstration, or for other similar
purposes; and
(C) ‘‘toxic harm’’ means harm which is func-
tional impairment, illness, or death of a human
being resulting from exposure to an object, sub-
stance, mixture, raw material, or physical agent of
particular chemical composition.
(c) Nothing in this section shall affect the right of
any person who is subject to liability for harm under this
subtitle to seek and obtain contribution or indemnity from
any other person who is responsible for such harm.
SEC. 445. UNIFORM STANDARDS FOR OFFSET OF WORKERS’
COMPENSATION BENEFITS.
(a) In any civil action subject to this part in which
damages are sought for harm for which the person injured
is or would have been entitled to receive compensation
under any State or Federal workers’ compensation law,
any damages awarded shall be reduced by the sum of the
amount paid as workers’ compensation benefits for such
harm and the present value of all workers’ compensation
benefits to which the employee is or would be entitled for
such harm. The determination of workers’ compensation
benefits by the trier of fact in a civil action subject to
this part shall have no binding effect on and shall not be
used as evidence in any other proceeding.
(b) A claimant in a civil action subject to this part
who is or may be eligible to receive compensation under
any State or Federal workers’ compensation law must pro-
vide written notice of the filing of the civil action to the
claimant’s employer within 30 days of the filing. The writ-
ten notice shall include information regarding the date and
court in which the civil action was filed, the names and
addresses of all plaintiffs and defendants appearing on the
complaint, the court docket number if available, and a
copy of the complaint which was filed in the civil action.
A copy of such written notice shall be filed with the court
and served upon all parties to the action. A claimant’s fail-
ure to comply with the requirements of this subsection
shall suspend the deadlines for filing responsive pleadings
and commencing discovery in the civil action, until the
claimant complies with the requirements of this sub-
section.
(c) In any civil action subject to this part in which
damages are sought for harm for which the person injured
is entitled to receive compensation under any State or
Federal workers’ compensation law, the action shall, on
application of the claimant made at claimant’s sole discre-
tion, be stayed until such time as the full amount payable
as workers’ compensation benefits has been finally deter-
mined under such workers’ compensation law.
(d)(1) Except as provided in paragraph (2) of this
subsection, unless the manufacturer or product seller has
expressly agreed to indemnify or hold an employer harm-
less for harm to an employee caused by a product, neither
the employer nor the workers’ compensation insurance
carrier of the employer shall have a right of subrogation,
contribution or implied indemnity against the manufac-
turer or product seller or a lien against the claimant’s re-
covery from the manufacturer or product seller if the harm
is one for which a civil action for harm caused by a prod-
uct may be brought pursuant to this subtitle.
(2) Paragraph (1) of this subsection shall not apply
if the employer or the workers’ compensation insurer of
the employer establishes, and the trier of fact determines,
that the claimant’s harm was not in any way caused by
the fault of the claimant’s employer or coemployees. In
order to establish this fact an employer or the workers’
compensation insurer of the employer may intervene in a
civil action filed by an employee at any time after the filing
of a complaint. In the event that the civil action is resolved
prior to obtaining a verdict by the trier of fact, any resolu-
tion of the action by settlement or other means shall af-
ford the employer or the workers’ compensation insurer
of the employer an opportunity to participate and to assert
a right of subrogation, contribution, or implied indemnity
if the claimant’s harm was not in any way caused by the
fault of the claimant’s employer or coemployees.
(e)(1) Except as provided in subsection (f), in any
civil action subject to this part in which damages are
sought for harm for which the person injured is or would
have been entitled to receive compensation under any
State or Federal workers’ compensation law, no third-
party tortfeasor may maintain any action for implied in-
demnity or contribution against the employer, any
coemployee, or the exclusive representative of the person
who was injured.
(2) Nothing in this subtitle shall be construed to af-
fect any provision of a State or Federal workers’ com-
pensation law which prohibits a person who is or would
have been entitled to receive compensation under any such
law, or any other person whose claim is or would have
been derivative from such a claim, from recovering for
harm caused by a product in any action other than a work-
ers’ compensation claim against a present or former em-
ployer or workers’ compensation insurer of the employer,
any coemployee, or the exclusive representative of the per-
son who was injured. Any action other than such a work-
ers’ compensation claim shall be prohibited, except that
nothing in this subtitle shall be construed to affect any
State or Federal workers’ compensation law which permits
recovery based on a claim of an intentional tort by the
employer or coemployee, where the claimant’s harm was
caused by such an intentional tort.
(f) Subsection (e) shall not apply and applicable State
law shall control if the employer or the workers’ compensa-
tion insurer of the employer, in a civil action subject to
this part, asserts or attempts to assert, because of sub-
section (d), a right of subrogation, contribution, or implied
indemnity against the manufacturer or product seller or
a lien against the claimant’s recovery from the manufac-
turer or product seller.
SEC. 446. SEVERAL LIABILITY FOR NONECONOMIC DAM-
AGES.
(a) In any product liability action, the liability of each
defendant for noneconomic damages shall be several only
and shall not be joint. Each defendant shall be liable only
for the amount of noneconomic damages allocated to such
defendant in direct proportion to such defendant’s per-
centage of responsibility as determined under subsection
(b) of this section. A separate judgment shall be rendered
against such defendant for that amount.
100
(b) For purposes of this section, the trier of fact shall
determine the proportion of responsibility of each party
for the claimant’s harm.
(c) As used in this section, the term—
(1) ‘‘noneconomic damages’’ means subjective,
nonmonetary losses including, but not limited to,
pain, suffering, inconvenience, mental suffering,
emotional distress, loss of society and companion-
ship, loss of consortium, injury to reputation and
humiliation; the term does not include objectively
verifiable monetary losses including, but not limited
to, medical expenses, loss of earnings, burial costs,
loss of use of property, costs of repair or replace-
ment, costs of obtaining substitute domestic services,
rehabilitation and training expenses, loss of employ-
ment, or loss of business or employment opportuni-
ties; and
(2) ‘‘product liability action’’ includes any ac-
tion involving a claim, third-party claim, cross-claim,
counterclaim, or contribution claim in a civil action
in which a manufacturer or product seller is found
liable for harm caused by a product.
101
SEC. 447. DEFENSES INVOLVING INTOXICATING ALCOHOL
OR DRUGS.
(a) In any civil action subject to this subtitle in which
all defendants are manufacturers or product sellers, it
shall be a complete defense to such action that the claim-
ant was intoxicated or was under the influence of intoxi-
cating alcohol or any drug and that as a result of such
intoxication or the influence of the alcohol or drug the
claimant was more than 50 percent responsible for the ac-
cident or event which resulted in such claimant’s harm.
(b) In any civil action subject to this subtitle in which
not all defendants are manufacturers or product sellers
and the trier of fact determines that no liability exists
against those defendants who are not manufacturers or
product sellers, the court shall enter a judgment notwith-
standing the verdict in favor of any defendant which is
a manufacturer or product seller if it is proved that the
claimant was intoxicated or was under the influence of in-
toxicating alcohol or any drug and that as a result of such
intoxication or the influence of the alcohol or drug the
claimant was more than 50 percent responsible for the ac-
cident or event which resulted in such claimant’s harm.
(c)(1) For purposes of this section, the determination
of whether a person was intoxicated or was under the in-
fluence of intoxicating alcohol or any drug shall be made
pursuant to applicable State law.
102
(2) As used in this section, the term ‘‘drug’’ means
any non-over-the-counter drug which has not been pre-
scribed by a physician for use by the claimant.
TITLE V—REGULATORY REVIEW
SEC. 501. FINDINGS.
The Congress finds that—
(1) administrative action is too frequently pro-
pelled by a concern with politically visible results, at
the expense of less apparent impacts;
(2) traditional regulatory cost-benefit analysis
frequently fails to examine the effect of restrictive
regulations on overall human welfare in terms of re-
duced health and safety, reduced consumer choice,
substitution effects, and impeded technological ad-
vancement;
(3) in promulgating regulations, agencies often
fail to examine the risk that their suppositions are
erroneous, or to compare the risks of acting on
faulty suppositions with the risks of inaction; and
(4) in analyzing new and existing regulations,
there is a need for agencies to move beyond tradi-
tional cost-benefit analysis to risk-risk analysis
which examines the factors described in paragraph
(2).
103
SEC. 502. COMPETITIVENESS RISK ASSESSMENT.
No agency shall propose or promulgate a regulation
without first analyzing its effects on the health and safety
of consumers and workers, both directly and indirectly, in-
cluding effects due to wage and job losses, price increases,
product restrictions, technological delays, and substitution
effects. In any such analysis, health and safety effects
shall be expressed both in monetary terms and in terms
of lives lost and injuries occurred. Such analysis shall also
examine related distributional effects, describing any eco-
nomic and social groups who will be disproportionately af-
fected.
TITLE VI—TOTAL QUALITY
MANAGEMENT
SEC. 601. FORMATION AND USE OF QUALITY CIRCLES AND
JOINT PRODUCTION TEAMS.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 8(a)(2) of the National
Labor Relations Act (29 U.S.C. 158(a)(2)) is amended by
inserting before the semicolon at the end the following:
‘‘: Provided further, That nothing in this paragraph shall
prohibit the formation or operation of quality circles or
joint production teams composed of labor and manage-
ment, with or without the participation of representatives
of labor organizations’’.
(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by
this section shall apply to the formation or operation of
104
quality circles or joint production teams after the date of
the enactment of this Act.
TITLE VII—LONG-TERM
INVESTMENT
SEC. 701. SHORT TITLE.
This title may be cited as the ‘‘Long-Term Invest-
ment Promotion Act of 1993’’.
SEC. 702. FINDINGS.
The Congress finds that—
(1) there is an urgent need to extend the time
horizons of industry in the United States and there
is too much pressure to maximize short-term profits
and shareholder value, often at the expense of long-
term competitive viability;
(2) a fundamental cause of United States in-
dustry’s preoccupation with short-term performance
is the Securities and Exchange Commission’s re-
quirement for publicly-held corporations to report
their financial status on a quarterly basis;
(3) a large and growing share of the capital of
United States firms is owned by mutual funds and
pension funds, and the managers of these funds are
under constant pressure to maximize the current
value of their portfolios since this is the principal
criteria by which their performance is judged;
105
(4) because portfolio managers and stockholders
evaluate a company’s performance on the basis of
quarterly financial reports, managers tend to empha-
size short-term profits even when it raises possible
conflicts with longer term investment;
(5) short-term business horizons can lead to
underinvestment in technology development, human
resources, total quality, and capital assets;
(6) a preoccupation with short-term business
horizons worked before when America dominated the
world economy but such an antiinvestment and
antimodernization approach seems ill-suited to a
world characterized by rapid technological change,
global competition based on quality and a constant
need for bringing innovation into the marketplace;
(7) achievement of continuously improved tech-
nology and quality requires long-term investment in
research, development, commercialization, and acqui-
sition of new capital equipment; and
(8) in contrast to the short-term preoccupation
in the United States, in Japan and Germany firms
report their financial results on an annual rather
than quarterly basis and this factor contributes to
significantly longer time horizons, in some instances
spanning many decades, for business decisions.
106
SEC. 703. ELIMINATION OF QUARTERLY REPORTS.
Section 13(a)(2) of the Securities Exchange Act of
1934 (15 U.S.C. 78m(a)(2)) is amended by striking ‘‘, and
such quarterly reports (and such copies thereof),’’.
TITLE 
VIII—AMENDMENTS 
TO
THE 
STEVENSON-WYDLER
TECHNOLOGY 
INNOVATION
ACT OF 1980
SEC. 801. AMENDMENT TO THE STEVENSON-WYDLER TECH-
NOLOGY INNOVATION ACT OF 1980.
Section 12(a) of the Stevenson-Wydler Technology
Innovation Act of 1980 (15 U.S.C. 3710a(a)) is amended
by striking ‘‘may permit’’ and inserting in lieu thereof
‘‘shall permit, under authority of this or any other appro-
priate Act,’’.
SEC. 802. COPYRIGHT FOR SOFTWARE.
(a) Section 12 of the Stevenson-Wydler Technology
Innovation Act of 1980 (15 U.S.C. 3710a) is amended by
adding at the end the following new subsection:
‘‘(h) COPYRIGHT OF COMPUTER SOFTWARE.—Each
Federal agency may secure copyright on behalf of the
United States as author or proprietor in any computer
software prepared in whole or in part by employees of the
United States Government in the course of work under
a cooperative research and development agreement entered
into under the authority of subsection (a)(1) of this sec-
107
tion, or under any other equivalent authority, notwith-
standing the limitations contained in section 105 of title
17, United States Code; and may grant or agree to grant
in advance to a collaborating party, licenses or assign-
ments for such copyrights, or options thereto, retaining
a nonexclusive, nontransferable, irrevocable, paid-up li-
cense to reproduce, adapt, translate, distribute, and pub-
licly perform or display the computer software throughout
the world by or on behalf of the Government and such
other rights as the Federal agency deems appropriate.’’.
(b) Section 4 of the Stevenson-Wydler Technology In-
novation Act of 1980 (15 U.S.C. 3703) is amended by
adding at the end the following new paragraph:
‘‘(14) ‘Computer software’ means a computer
program, as defined in section 101 of title 17, Unit-
ed States Code, and any associated documentation,
supporting materials, or user instructions.’’.
SEC. 803. ROYALTY PAYMENTS TO AUTHORS.
SEC. 3. (a) Section 14(a) (1)(A), (2), and (3) of the
Stevenson-Wydler Technology Innovation Act of 1980 (15
U.S.C. 3710c(a) (1)(A), (2), and (3)) is amended—
(1) by inserting ‘‘or computer software’’ after
‘‘inventions’’ each place it appears;
(2) by inserting ‘‘or computer software’’ after
‘‘invention’’ each place it appears;