I 
113TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 4772 
To amend title 17, United States Code, to provide for the payment of 
royalties for the performance of sound recordings fixed before February 
15, 1972, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MAY 29, 2014 
Mr. HOLDING (for himself, Mr. CONYERS, Mr. COBLE, Mrs. BLACKBURN, Ms. 
CHU, Mr. COOPER, Mr. DEUTCH, Mr. GOHMERT, and Mr. JEFFRIES) in-
troduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the 
Judiciary 
A BILL 
To amend title 17, United States Code, to provide for the 
payment of royalties for the performance of sound re-
cordings fixed before February 15, 1972, and for other 
purposes. 
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 ‘‘Respecting Senior Per-
formers as Essential Cultural Treasures Act’’ or the ‘‘RE-
SPECT Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. PAYMENT FOR USE OF CERTAIN SOUND RECORD-
INGS. 
Section 114(f)(4) of title 17, United States Code, is 
amended by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(D)(i) Any person publicly performing sound 
recordings protected under this title by means of 
transmissions under a statutory license under this 
section, or making reproductions of such sound re-
cordings under section 112(e), shall make royalty 
payments for transmissions that person makes of 
sound recordings that were fixed before February 
15, 1972, and reproductions that person makes of 
those sound recordings under the circumstances de-
scribed in section 112(e)(1), in the same manner as 
such person does for sound recordings that are pro-
tected under this title. 
‘‘(ii) If a person fails to make royalty payments 
described in clause (i) for sound recordings fixed be-
fore February 15, 1972, there shall be available, in 
addition to any remedy that may be available under 
the laws of any State, a civil action in an appro-
priate United States district court for recovery lim-
ited to the payments described in clause (i), in addi-
tion to interest, costs, and attorneys’ fees. Any such 
recovery that is obtained shall be offset against any 
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recovery for such violation that may be available 
under the laws of any State. 
‘‘(iii) No action may be brought under the laws 
of any State against a transmitting entity alleging 
infringement of a right equivalent to the right grant-
ed in section 106(6) based on a public performance 
of a sound recording fixed before February 15, 
1972, or alleging infringement of a right equivalent 
to the right granted in section 106(1) based on a re-
production of such a sound recording, if— 
‘‘(I) the performance would have been sub-
ject to statutory licensing under subsection 
(d)(2) if the sound recording had been first 
fixed on or after February 15, 1972; 
‘‘(II) the reproduction would have been 
subject to statutory licensing under section 
112(e)(1) if the sound recording had been first 
fixed on or after February 15, 1972; 
‘‘(III) the transmitting entity has satisfied 
the requirements for statutory licensing under 
subparagraph (B) and section 112(e)(6); and 
‘‘(IV) the applicable royalty was paid and 
accounted for under this subparagraph. 
‘‘(iv) This subparagraph does not confer copy-
right protection under this title upon sound record-
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ings that were fixed before February 15, 1972. Such 
sound recordings are subject to the protection avail-
able under the laws of the States, and except as pro-
vided in clause (iii), are not subject to any limitation 
of rights or remedies, or any defense, provided under 
this title. 
‘‘(v) This subparagraph shall have no effect 
with respect to any public performance that is made 
of a sound recording, or reproduction that is made 
of a sound recording under the circumstances de-
scribed in section 112(e)(1), on or after February 
15, 2067.’’. 
SEC. 3. EFFECTIVE DATE. 
The amendments made by this Act shall apply to per-
formances and reproductions of sound recordings occur-
ring on or after the date of the enactment of this Act. 
Æ 
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