I
106TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. R. 5107
To make certain corrections in copyright law.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
SEPTEMBER 6, 2000
Mr. COBLE (for himself, Mr. BERMAN, Mr. CONYERS, Mrs. BONO, Mr.
WEXLER, Mr. DELAHUNT, Ms. LOFGREN, Mr. BOUCHER, Ms. MCCAR-
THY of Missouri, and Mr. ROGAN) introduced the following bill; which
was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
A BILL
To make certain corrections in copyright law.
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 ‘‘Work Made For Hire
and Copyright Corrections Act of 2000’’.
SEC. 2. WORK MADE FOR HIRE.
(a) DEFINITION.—The definition of ‘‘work made for
hire’’ contained in section 101 of title 17, United States
Code, is amended—
(1) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘as a sound
recording,’’; and
(2) by inserting after paragraph (2) the fol-
lowing:
‘‘In determining whether any work is eligible to be
considered a work made for hire under paragraph
(2), neither the amendment contained in section
1011(d) of the Intellectual Property and Commu-
nications Omnibus Reform Act of 1999, as enacted
by section 1000(a)(9) of Public Law 106–113, nor
the 
deletion 
of 
the 
words 
added 
by 
that
amendment—
‘‘(A) shall be considered or otherwise given
any legal significance, or
‘‘(B) shall be interpreted to indicate con-
gressional approval or disapproval of, or acqui-
escence in, any judicial determination,
by the courts or the Copyright Office. Paragraph (2)
shall be interpreted as if both section 2(a)(1) of the
Work Made For Hire and Copyright Corrections Act
of 2000 and section 1011(d) of the Intellectual
Property and Communications Omnibus Reform Act
of 1999, as enacted by section 1000(a)(9) of Public
Law 106–113, were never enacted, and without re-
gard to any inaction or awareness by the Congress
at any time of any judicial determinations.’’.
(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—
(1) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made
by this section shall be effective as of November 29,
1999.
(2) SEVERABILITY.—If the provisions of para-
graph (1), or any application of such provisions to
any person or circumstance, is held to be invalid, the
remainder of this section, the amendments made by
this section, and the application of this section to
any other person or circumstance shall not be af-
fected by such invalidation.
SEC. 3. OTHER AMENDMENTS TO TITLE 17, UNITED STATES
CODE.
(a) AMENDMENTS TO CHAPTER 7.—Chapter 7 of
title 17, United States Code, is amended as follows:
(1) Section 710, and the item relating to that
section in the table of contents for chapter 7, are re-
pealed.
(2) Section 705(a) is amended to read as fol-
lows:
‘‘(a) The Register of Copyrights shall ensure that
records of deposits, registrations, recordations, and other
actions taken under this title are maintained, and that in-
dexes of such records are prepared.’’.
(3)(A) Section 708(a) is amended to read as
follows:
‘‘(a) FEES.—Fees shall be paid to the Register of
Copyrights, in the amounts in effect on the date of enact-
ment of the Work Made For Hire and Copyright Correc-
tions Act of 2000, as adjusted under subsection (b)—
‘‘(1) on filing each application under section
408 for registration of a copyright claim or for a
supplementary registration, including the issuance of
a certificate of registration if registration is made;
‘‘(2) on filing each application for registration
of a claim for renewal of a subsisting copyright
under section 304(a), including the issuance of a
certificate of registration if registration is made;
‘‘(3) for the issuance of a receipt for a deposit
under section 407;
‘‘(4) for the recordation, as provided by section
205, of a transfer of copyright ownership or other
document;
‘‘(5) for the filing, under section 115(b), of a
notice of intention to obtain a compulsory license;
‘‘(6) for the recordation, under section 302(c),
of a statement revealing the identity of an author of
an anonymous or pseudonymous work, or for the
recordation, under section 302(d), of a statement re-
lating to the death of an author;
‘‘(7) for the issuance, under section 706, of an
additional certificate of registration;
‘‘(8) for the issuance of any other certification;
and
‘‘(9) for the making and reporting of a search
as provided by section 705, and for any related serv-
ices.
The Register is authorized to fix fees for other services,
including the cost of preparing copies of Copyright Office
records, whether or not such copies are certified, based
on the cost of providing the service.’’.
(B) Section 708(b) is amended by striking
the matter preceding paragraph (1) and insert-
ing the following:
‘‘(b) ADJUSTMENT OF FEES.—The Register of Copy-
rights may, by regulation, adjust the fees for the actions
specified in paragraphs (1) through (9) of subsection (a)
in the following manner:’’.
(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 121(a) of
title 17, United States Code, is amended by striking ‘‘sec-
tions 106 and 710’’ and inserting ‘‘section 106’’.
(c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by
this section shall take effect on the date of enactment of
this Act.
Æ