I 
109TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 5439 
To amend title 17, United States Code, to provide for limitation of remedies 
in cases in which the copyright owner cannot be located, and for other 
purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MAY 22, 2006 
Mr. SMITH of Texas introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on the Judiciary 
A BILL 
To amend title 17, United States Code, to provide for limita-
tion of remedies in cases in which the copyright owner 
cannot be located, 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 ‘‘Orphan Works Act 
of 2006’’. 
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SEC. 2. LIMITATION ON REMEDIES IN CASES INVOLVING 
ORPHAN WORKS. 
(a) LIMITATION ON REMEDIES.—Chapter 5 of title 
17, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end 
the following new section: 
‘‘§ 514. Limitation on remedies in cases involving or-
phan works 
‘‘(a) LIMITATION ON REMEDIES.— 
‘‘(1) CONDITIONS.—Notwithstanding sections 
502 through 505, in an action brought under this 
title for infringement of copyright in a work, the 
remedies for infringement shall be limited under 
subsection (b) if the infringer sustains the burden of 
proving, and the court finds, that— 
‘‘(A) before the infringing use of the work 
began, the infringer, a person acting on behalf 
of the infringer, or any person jointly and sev-
erally liable with the infringer for the infringe-
ment of the work— 
‘‘(i) performed and documented a rea-
sonably diligent search in good faith to lo-
cate the owner of the infringed copyright; 
but 
‘‘(ii) was unable to locate the owner; 
and 
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‘‘(B) the infringing use of the work pro-
vided attribution, in a manner reasonable under 
the circumstances, to the author and owner of 
the copyright, if known with a reasonable de-
gree of certainty based on information obtained 
in performing the reasonably diligent search. 
‘‘(2) 
DEFINITIONS; 
REQUIREMENTS
FOR 
SEARCHES.— 
‘‘(A) OWNER OF INFRINGED COPYRIGHT.— 
For purposes of paragraph (1), the ‘owner’ of 
an infringed copyright in a work is the legal or 
beneficial owner of, or any party with authority 
to grant or license, an exclusive right under sec-
tion 106 applicable to the infringement. 
‘‘(B) REQUIREMENTS
FOR
REASONABLY 
DILIGENT SEARCH.—(i) For purposes of para-
graph (1), a search to locate the owner of an 
infringed copyright in a work— 
‘‘(I) is ‘reasonably diligent’ only if it 
includes steps that are reasonable under 
the circumstances to locate that owner in 
order to obtain permission for the use of 
the work; and 
‘‘(II) is not ‘reasonably diligent’ solely 
by reference to the lack of identifying in-
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formation with respect to the copyright on 
the copy or phonorecord of the work. 
‘‘(ii) The steps referred to in clause (i)(I) 
shall ordinarily include, at a minimum, review 
of the information maintained by the Register 
of Copyrights under subparagraph (C). 
‘‘(iii) A reasonably diligent search includes 
the use of reasonably available expert assistance 
and reasonably available technology, which may 
include, if reasonable under the circumstances, 
resources for which a charge or subscription fee 
is imposed. 
‘‘(C) 
INFORMATION
TO
GUIDE 
SEARCHES.—The Register of Copyrights shall 
receive, maintain, and make available to the 
public, including through the Internet, informa-
tion from authoritative sources, such as indus-
try guidelines, statements of best practices, and 
other relevant documents, that is designed to 
assist users in conducting and documenting a 
reasonably diligent search under this sub-
section. Such information may include— 
‘‘(i) the records of the Copyright Of-
fice that are relevant to identifying and lo-
cating copyright owners; 
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‘‘(ii) other sources of copyright owner-
ship information reasonably available to 
users; 
‘‘(iii) methods to identify copyright 
ownership information associated with a 
work; 
‘‘(iv) sources of reasonably available 
technology tools and reasonably available 
expert assistance; and 
‘‘(v) best practices for documenting a 
reasonably diligent search. 
‘‘(b) LIMITATIONS ON REMEDIES.—The limitations 
on remedies in a case to which subsection (a) applies are 
the following: 
‘‘(1) MONETARY RELIEF.— 
‘‘(A) GENERAL
RULE.—Subject to sub-
paragraph (B), an award for monetary relief 
(including actual damages, statutory damages, 
costs, and attorney’s fees) may not be made, 
other than an order requiring the infringer to 
pay reasonable compensation for the use of the 
infringed work. 
‘‘(B) EXCEPTIONS.—(i) An order requiring 
the infringer to pay reasonable compensation 
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