I
107TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. R. 5211
To amend title 17, United States Code, to limit the liability of copyright
owners for protecting their works on peer-to-peer networks.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JULY 25, 2002
Mr. BERMAN (for himself, Mr. COBLE, Mr. SMITH of Texas, and Mr.
WEXLER) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com-
mittee on the Judiciary
A BILL
To amend title 17, United States Code, to limit the liability
of copyright owners for protecting their works on peer-
to-peer networks.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. LIMITATION ON LIABILITY FOR PROTECTION
OF COPYRIGHTED WORKS ON PEER-TO-PEER
NETWORKS.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 5 of title 17, United
States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol-
lowing new section:
‘‘§ 514. Remedies for infringement: use of tech-
nologies to prevent infringement of copy-
righted works on peer-to-peer computer
networks
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any State or
Federal statute or other law, and subject to the limitations
set forth in subsections (b) and (c), a copyright owner
shall not be liable in any criminal or civil action for dis-
abling, interfering with, blocking, diverting, or otherwise
impairing the unauthorized distribution, display, perform-
ance, or reproduction of his or her copyrighted work on
a publicly accessible peer-to-peer file trading network, if
such impairment does not, without authorization, alter,
delete, or otherwise impair the integrity of any computer
file or data residing on the computer of a file trader.
‘‘(b) EXCEPTIONS.—Subsection (a) shall not apply to
a copyright owner in a case in which—
‘‘(1) in the course of taking an action permitted
by subsection (a), the copyright owner—
‘‘(A) impairs the availability within a pub-
licly accessible peer-to-peer file trading network
of a computer file or data that does not contain
a work, or portion thereof, in which the copy-
right owner has an exclusive right granted
under section 106, except as may be reasonably
necessary to impair the distribution, display,
performance, or reproduction of such a work, or
portion thereof, in violation of any of the exclu-
sive rights of the copyright owner under section
106;
‘‘(B) causes economic loss to any person
other than affected file traders; or
‘‘(C) causes economic loss of more than
$50.00 per impairment to the property of the
affected file trader, other than economic loss in-
volving computer files or data made available
through a publicly accessible peer-to-peer file
trading network that contain works in which
the owner has an exclusive right granted under
section 106; or
‘‘(2) the copyright owner fails to comply with
the requirements of subsection (c).
‘‘(c) NOTIFICATION REQUIREMENT.—(1) A copyright
owner shall not be liable under subsection (a) for an act
to which subsection (a) applies only if—
‘‘(A) the copyright owner has notified the De-
partment of Justice, in such manner as the Attorney
General shall specify, of the specific technologies the
copyright owner intends to use to impair the unau-
thorized distribution, display, performance, or repro-
duction of the owner’s copyrighted works over a pub-
licly accessible peer-to-peer file trading network; and
‘‘(B) the notification under paragraph (1) was
made at least 7 days before the copyright owner en-
gaged in the act.
‘‘(2) At the request of an affected file trader or the
assignee of an Internet Protocol address used by an af-
fected file trader, a copyright owner shall provide notice
to the affected file trader or assignee (as the case may
be) of—
‘‘(A) the reason for impairing trading in the
computer file or data containing the copyrighted
work of the copyright owner;
‘‘(B) the name and address of the copyright
owner; and
‘‘(C) the right of the affected file trader to
bring an action described in subsection (d).
‘‘(3) The notification by a copyright owner under
paragraph (1) shall not be construed for any purpose as
an admission of an unlawful act.
‘‘(d) CAUSE OF ACTION FOR WRONGFUL IMPAIR-
MENT.—(1) If, pursuant to the authority provided by sub-
section (a), a copyright owner knowingly and intentionally
impairs the distribution, display, performance, or repro-
duction of a particular computer file or data, and has no
reasonable basis to believe that such distribution, display,
performance, or reproduction constitutes an infringement
of copyright, and an affected file trader suffers economic
loss in excess of $250 as a result of the act by the copy-
right owner, the affected file trader may seek compensa-
tion for such economic loss in accordance with the fol-
lowing:
‘‘(A) The affected file trader may file a claim
for such compensation with the Attorney General
not later than 1 year after the date on which the
claim accrues. The Attorney General shall, not later
than 10 days after the claim is filed, serve notice of
the claim on the copyright owner against whom the
claim is brought, and shall investigate the claim.
The claim shall be in writing under oath or affirma-
tion and shall contain such information and be in
such form as the Attorney General requires. The
claim shall not be made public by the Attorney Gen-
eral.
‘‘(B) If the Attorney General determines after
such investigation that there is not reasonable cause
to believe that the facts alleged in the claim are
true, the Attorney General shall dismiss the claim
and promptly notify the affected file trader and the
‘‘(3) a peer-to-peer file trading network is ‘pub-
licly accessible’ if—
‘‘(A) participation in the network is sub-
stantially open to the public; and
‘‘(B) the network enables the transmission
of computer files or data over the Internet or
any other public network of computers;
‘‘(4) the term ‘file trader’ means an individual
who is utilizing a publicly accessible, peer-to-peer file
trading network to transmit, make available for
transmission, or download computer files or data, or
the owner of a computer that is connected to a pub-
licly accessible, peer-to-peer file trading network and
is engaged in the transmission of computer files or
data through the peer-to-peer file trading network;
‘‘(5) the term ‘distribution’, in the case of a
computer connected to a peer-to-peer file trading
network, includes the placement of a computer file
or data in an area of a computer that is accessible
to other computers connected to the peer-to-peer file
trading network; and
‘‘(6) the term ‘copyright owner’ means a legal
or beneficial owner of an exclusive right under sec-
tion 106 and any party authorized to act on the
owner’s behalf.’’.
(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of sec-
tions for chapter 5 of title 17, United States Code, is
amended by adding at the end the following new item:
‘‘514. Remedies for infringement: use of technologies to prevent infringement of
copyrighted works on peer-to-peer computer networks.’’.
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