104TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. R. 1734
AN ACT
To reauthorize the National Film Preservation
Board, and for other purposes.
104TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. R. 1734
AN ACT
To reauthorize the National Film Preservation Board, and
for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
TITLE I—REAUTHORIZATION OF
THE NATIONAL FILM PRESER-
VATION BOARD
SEC. 101. SHORT TITLE.
This title may be cited as the ‘‘National Film Preser-
vation Act of 1996’’.
SEC. 102. NATIONAL FILM REGISTRY OF THE LIBRARY OF
CONGRESS.
The Librarian of Congress (hereafter in this Act re-
ferred to as the ‘‘Librarian’’) shall continue the National
Film Registry established and maintained under the Na-
tional Film Preservation Act of 1988 (Public Law 100–
446), and the National Film Preservation Act of 1992
(Public Law 102–307) pursuant to the provisions of this
title, for the purpose of maintaining and preserving films
that are culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.
SEC. 103. DUTIES OF THE LIBRARIAN OF CONGRESS.
(a) POWERS.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Librarian shall, after
consultation with the Board established pursuant to
section 104—
(A) continue the implementation of the
comprehensive national film preservation pro-
gram for motion pictures established under the
National Film Preservation Act of 1992, in con-
junction with other film archivists, educators
and historians, copyright owners, film industry
representatives, and others involved in activities
related to film preservation, taking into account
the objectives of the national film preservation
study and the comprehensive national plan con-
ducted under the National Film Preservation
Act of 1992. This program shall—
(i) coordinate activities to assure that
efforts of archivists and copyright owners,
and others in the public and private sector,
are effective and complementary;
(ii) generate public awareness of and
support for these activities;
(iii) increase accessibility of films for
educational purposes; and
(iv) undertake studies and investiga-
tions of film preservation activities as
needed, including the efficacy of new tech-
nologies, and recommend solutions to im-
prove these practices;
(B) establish criteria and procedures under
which films may be included in the National
Film Registry, except that no film shall be eligi-
ble for inclusion in the National Film Registry
until 10 years after such film’s first publication;
(C) establish procedures under which the
general public may make recommendations to
the Board regarding the inclusion of films in
the National Film Registry; and
(D) determine which films satisfy the cri-
teria established under subparagraph (B) and
qualify for inclusion in the National Film Reg-
istry, except that the Librarian shall not select
more than 25 films each year for inclusion in
the Registry.
(2) PUBLICATION OF FILMS IN REGISTRY.—The
Librarian shall publish in the Federal Register the
name of each film that is selected for inclusion in
the National Film Registry.
(3) SEAL.—The Librarian shall provide a seal
to indicate that a film has been included in the Na-
tional Film Registry and is the Registry version of
that film. The Librarian shall establish guidelines
for approval of the use of the seal in accordance
with subsection (b).
(b) USE OF SEAL.—The seal provided under sub-
section (a)(3) may only be used on film copies of the Reg-
istry version of a film. Such seal may be used only after
the Librarian has given approval to those persons seeking
to apply the seal in accordance with the guidelines under
subsection (a)(3). In the case of copyrighted works, only
the copyright owner or an authorized licensee of the copy-
right owner may place or authorize the placement of the
seal on any film copy of a Registry version of a film se-
lected for inclusion in the National Film Registry, and the
Librarian may place the seal on any film copy of the Reg-
istry version of any film that is maintained in the National
Film Registry Collection in the Library of Congress. Any-
one authorized to place the seal on any film copy of any
Registry version of a film may accompany such seal with
the following language: ‘‘This film was selected for inclu-
sion in the National Film Registry by the National Film
Preservation Board of the Library of Congress because of
its cultural, historical, or aesthetic significance.’’.
SEC. 104. NATIONAL FILM PRESERVATION BOARD.
(a) NUMBER AND APPOINTMENT.—
(1) MEMBERS.—The Librarian shall establish
in the Library of Congress a National Film Preser-
vation Board to be comprised of 20 members, who
shall be selected by the Librarian in accordance with
this section. Subject to subparagraphs (C) and (N),
the Librarian shall request each organization listed
in subparagraphs (A) through (Q) to submit a list
of 3 candidates qualified to serve as a member of the
Board. Except for the members-at-large appointed
under subparagraph (2), the Librarian shall appoint
one member from each such list submitted by such
organizations, and shall designate from that list an
alternate who may attend at Board expense those
meetings to which the individual appointed to the
Board cannot attend. The organizations are the fol-
lowing:
(A) The Academy of Motion Picture Arts
and Sciences.
(B) The Directors Guild of America.
(C) The Writers Guild of America. The
Writers Guild of America East and the Writers
Guild of America West shall each nominate
three candidates, and a representative from one
organization shall be selected as the member
and a representative from the other organiza-
tion as the alternate.
(D) The National Society of Film Critics.
(E) The Society for Cinema Studies.
(F) The American Film Institute.
(G) The Department of Film and Tele-
vision of the School of Theater, Film and Tele-
vision at the University of California, Los An-
geles.
(H) The Department of Film and Tele-
vision of the Tisch School of the Arts at New
York University.
(I) The University Film and Video Asso-
ciation.
(J) The Motion Picture Association of
America.
(K) The Alliance of Motion Picture and
Television Producers.
(L) The Screen Actors Guild of America.
(M) The National Association of Theater
Owners.
(N) The American Society of Cinematog-
raphers and the International Photographers
Guild, which shall jointly submit one list of 3
candidates from which a member and alternate
will be selected.
(O) The United States Members of the
International Federation of Film Archives.
(P) The Association of Moving Image Ar-
chivists.
(Q) 
The 
Society 
of 
Composers 
and
Lyricists.
(2) MEMBERS-AT-LARGE.—In addition to the
Members appointed under paragraph (1), the Li-
brarian shall appoint up to 3 members-at-large. The
Librarian shall also select an alternate for each
member at-large, who may attend at Board expense
those meetings which the member at-large cannot
attend.
(b) CHAIR.—The Librarian shall appoint one member
of the Board to serve as Chair.
(c) TERM OF OFFICE.—
(1) TERMS.—The term of each member of the
Board shall be 4 years, except that there shall be no
limit to the number of terms that any individual
member may serve.
(2) REMOVAL
OF
MEMBER
OR
ORGANIZA-
TION.—The Librarian shall have the authority to re-
move any member of the Board, or the organization
listed in subsection (a) such member represents, if
the member, or organization, over any consecutive 2-
year period, fails to attend at least one regularly
scheduled Board meeting.
(3) VACANCIES.—A vacancy in the Board shall
be filled in the manner in which the original appoint-
ment was made under subsection (a), except that the
Librarian may fill the vacancy from a list of can-