I 
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. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
APRIL 27, 2023 
Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia (for himself, Mr. BOWMAN, Mr. THOMPSON of Mis-
sissippi, 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 Pennsyl-
vania) 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 admissi-
bility of evidence of a defendant’s creative or artistic 
expression against such defendant, and for other pur-
poses. 
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 ‘‘Restoring Artistic Pro-
tection Act of 2023’’ or the ‘‘RAP Act of 2023’’. 
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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 INAD-
MISSIBLE.—Except as provided in subsection (b), evidence 
of a defendant’s creative or artistic expression, whether 
original or derivative, is not admissible against such de-
fendant. 
‘‘(b) EXCEPTION.—A court may admit evidence de-
scribed 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 de-
fendant intended a literal meaning, rather than figu-
rative or fictional meaning; or 
‘‘(B) if the expression is derivative, that the de-
fendant intended to adopt the literal meaning of the 
expression as the defendant’s own thought or state-
ment; 
‘‘(2)(A) in a criminal case, that the creative ex-
pression refers to the specific facts of the crime al-
leged; or 
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‘‘(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 sub-
section (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 arrange-
ment of forms, sounds, words, movements or symbols, in-
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cluding 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.’’. 
Æ 
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