106TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. R. 4846
AN ACT
To establish the National Recording Registry in the Library
of Congress to maintain and preserve sound recordings
that are culturally, historically, or aesthetically signifi-
cant, 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 ‘‘National Recording
Preservation Act of 2000’’.
TITLE 
I—SOUND 
RECORDING
PRESERVATION BY THE LI-
BRARY OF CONGRESS
Subtitle A—National Recording
Registry
SEC. 101. NATIONAL RECORDING REGISTRY OF THE LI-
BRARY OF CONGRESS.
The Librarian of Congress shall establish the Na-
tional Recording Registry for the purpose of maintaining
and preserving sound recordings that are culturally, his-
torically, or aesthetically significant.
SEC. 102. DUTIES OF LIBRARIAN OF CONGRESS.
(a) ESTABLISHMENT
OF CRITERIA
AND PROCE-
DURES.—For purposes of carrying out this subtitle, the
Librarian shall—
(1) establish criteria and procedures under
which sound recordings may be included in the Na-
tional Recording Registry, except that no sound re-
cording shall be eligible for inclusion in the National
Recording Registry until 10 years after the record-
ing’s creation;
(2) establish procedures under which the gen-
eral public may make recommendations to the Na-
tional Recording Preservation Board established
under subtitle C regarding the inclusion of sound re-
cordings in the National Recording Registry; and
(3) determine which sound recordings satisfy
the criteria established under paragraph (1) and se-
lect such recordings for inclusion in the National Re-
cording Registry.
(b) PUBLICATION OF SOUND RECORDINGS IN THE
REGISTRY.—The Librarian shall publish in the Federal
Register the name of each sound recording that is selected
for inclusion in the National Recording Registry.
SEC. 103. SEAL OF THE NATIONAL RECORDING REGISTRY.
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Librarian shall provide a seal
to indicate that a sound recording has been included in
the National Recording Registry and is the Registry
version of that recording.
(b) USE OF SEAL.—The Librarian shall establish
guidelines for approval of the use of the seal provided
under subsection (a), and shall include in the guidelines
the following:
(1) The seal may only be used on recording
copies of the Registry version of a sound recording.
(2) The seal may be used only after the Librar-
ian has given approval to those persons seeking to
apply the seal in accordance with the guidelines.
(3) In the case of copyrighted mass distributed,
broadcast, or published works, only the copyright
legal owner or an authorized licensee of that copy-
right owner may place or authorize the placement of
the seal on any recording copy of the Registry
version of any sound recording that is maintained in
the National Recording Registry Collection in the
Library of Congress.
(4) Anyone authorized to place the seal on any
recording copy of any Registry version of a sound
recording may accompany such seal with the fol-
lowing language: ‘‘This sound recording is selected
for inclusion in the National Recording Registry by
the Librarian of Congress in consultation with the
National Recording Preservation Board of the Li-
brary of Congress because of its cultural, historical,
or aesthetic significance.’’.
(c) EFFECTIVE DATE OF THE SEAL.—The use of the
seal provided under subsection (a) with respect to a sound
recording shall be effective beginning on the date the Li-
brarian publishes in the Federal Register (in accordance
with section 102(b)) the name of the recording, as selected
for inclusion in the National Recording Registry.
(d) PROHIBITED USES OF THE SEAL.—
(1) PROHIBITION ON DISTRIBUTION AND EXHI-
BITION.—No person may knowingly distribute or ex-
hibit to the public a version of a sound recording or
any copy of a sound recording which bears the seal
described in subsection (a) if such recording—
(A) is not included in the National Record-
ing Registry; or
(B) is included in the National Recording
Registry but has not been approved for use of
the seal by the Librarian pursuant to the guide-
lines established under subsection (b).
(2) PROHIBITION ON PROMOTION.—No person
may knowingly use the seal described in subsection
(a) to promote any version of a sound recording or
recording copy other than a Registry version.
(e) REMEDIES FOR VIOLATIONS.—
(1) JURISDICTION.—The several district courts
of the United States shall have jurisdiction, for
cause shown, to prevent and restrain violations of
subsection (d).
(2) RELIEF.—
(A) REMOVAL OF SEAL.—Except as pro-
vided in subparagraph (B), relief for violation
of subsection (d) shall be limited to the removal
of the seal from the sound recording involved in
the violation.
(B) FINE
AND
INJUNCTIVE
RELIEF.—In
the case of a pattern or practice of the willful
violation of subsection (d), the court may order
a civil fine of not more than $10,000 and ap-
propriate injunctive relief.
(3) LIMITATION OF REMEDIES.—The remedies
provided in this subsection shall be the exclusive
remedies under this title, or any other Federal or
State law, regarding the use of the seal described in
subsection (a).
SEC. 104. NATIONAL RECORDING REGISTRY COLLECTION
OF THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS.
(a) IN GENERAL.—All copies of sound recordings on
the National Recording Registry that are received by the
Librarian under subsection (b) shall be maintained in the
Library of Congress and be known as the ‘‘National Re-
cording Registry Collection of the Library of Congress’’.
The Librarian shall by regulation and in accordance with
title 17, United States Code, provide for reasonable access
to the sound recordings and other materials in such collec-
tion for scholarly and research purposes.
(b) ACQUISITION OF QUALITY COPIES.—
junction with other sound recording archivists, educators
and historians, copyright owners, recording industry rep-
resentatives, and others involved in activities related to
sound recording preservation, and taking into account
studies conducted by the Board.
(b) CONTENTS OF PROGRAM SPECIFIED.—The pro-
gram established under subsection (a) shall—
(1) coordinate activities to assure that efforts of
archivists and copyright owners, and others in the
public and private sector, are effective and com-
plementary;
(2) generate public awareness of and support
for these activities;
(3) increase accessibility of sound recordings for
educational purposes;
(4) undertake studies and investigations of
sound recording preservation activities as needed, in-
cluding the efficacy of new technologies, and rec-
ommend solutions to improve these practices; and
(5) utilize the audiovisual conservation center of
the Library of Congress at Culpeper, Virginia, to en-
sure that preserved sound recordings included in the
National Recording Registry are stored in a proper
manner and disseminated to researchers, scholars,
and the public as may be appropriate in accordance
with title 17, United States Code, and the terms of
any agreements between the Librarian and persons
who hold copyrights to such recordings.
SEC. 112. PROMOTING ACCESSIBILITY AND PUBLIC AWARE-
NESS OF SOUND RECORDINGS.
The Librarian shall carry out activities to make
sound recordings included in the National Recording Reg-
istry more broadly accessible for research and educational
purposes and to generate public awareness and support
of the Registry and the comprehensive national sound re-
cording preservation program established under this sub-
title.
Subtitle C—National Recording
Preservation Board
SEC. 121. ESTABLISHMENT.
The Librarian shall establish in the Library of Con-
gress a National Recording Preservation Board whose
members shall be selected in accordance with the proce-
dures described in section 122.
SEC. 122. APPOINTMENT OF MEMBERS.
(a) SELECTIONS FROM LISTS SUBMITTED BY ORGA-
NIZATIONS.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Librarian shall request
each organization described in paragraph (2) to sub-
mit a list of three candidates qualified to serve as
a member of the Board. The Librarian shall appoint
one member from each such list, and shall designate
from that list an alternate who may attend at Board
expense those meetings which the individual ap-
pointed to the Board cannot attend.
(2) ORGANIZATIONS DESCRIBED.—The organi-
zations described in this paragraph are as follows:
(A) National Academy of Recording Arts
and Sciences (NARAS).
(B) Recording Industry Association of
America (RIAA).
(C) Association for Recorded Sound Collec-
tions (ARSC).
(D) American Society of Composers, Au-
thors and Publishers (ASCAP).
(E) Broadcast Music, Inc. (BMI).
(F) Songwriters Association (SESAC).
(G) American Federation of Musicians
(AF of M).
(H) Music Library Association.
(I) American Musicological Society.
(J) National Archives and Record Admin-
istration.
(K) National Association of Recording
Merchandisers (NARM).
(L) Society for Ethnomusicology.
(M) American Folklore Society.
(N) Country Music Foundation.
(O) Audio Engineering Society (AES).
(P) National Academy of Popular Music.
(Q) Digital Media Association (DiMA).
(b) OTHER MEMBERS.—In addition to the members
appointed under subsection (a), the Librarian may appoint
not more than five members-at-large. The Librarian shall
select an alternate for each member-at-large, who may at-
tend at Board expense those meetings that the member-
at-large cannot attend.
(c) CHAIR.—The Librarian shall appoint one member
of the Board to serve as Chair.
(d) 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
OF
ORGANIZA-
TION.—The Librarian shall have the authority to re-
move any member of the Board (or, in the case of
a member appointed under subsection (a)(1), the or-
ganization that such member represents) if the
member or organization over any consecutive 2-year
period fails to attend at least one regularly sched-
uled 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-
didates previously submitted by the organization or
organizations involved. Any member appointed to fill
a vacancy shall be appointed for the remainder of
the term of the member’s predecessor.
SEC. 123. SERVICE OF MEMBERS; MEETINGS.
(a) REIMBURSEMENT OF EXPENSES.—Members of
the Board shall serve without pay, but may receive travel
expenses, including per diem in lieu of subsistence, in ac-
cordance with sections 5702 and 5703 of title 5, United
States Code.
(b) CONFLICT OF INTEREST.—The Librarian shall
establish rules and procedures to address any potential
conflict of interest between a member of the Board and
responsibilities of the Board.
(c) MEETINGS.—The Board shall meet at least once
each fiscal year. Meetings shall be at the call of the Li-
brarian.
(d) QUORUM.—Eleven members of the Board shall
constitute a quorum for the transaction of business.
SEC. 124. RESPONSIBILITIES OF BOARD.
(a) REVIEW AND RECOMMENDATION OF NOMINA-
TIONS FOR NATIONAL RECORDING REGISTRY.—
(1) IN
GENERAL.—The Board shall review
nominations of sound recordings submitted to it for
inclusion in the National Recording Registry and ad-
vise the Librarian, as provided in subtitle A, with re-
spect to the inclusion of such recordings in the Reg-
istry and the preservation of these and other sound
recordings that are culturally, historically, or aes-
thetically significant.
(2) SOURCE
OF
NOMINATIONS.—The Board
shall consider for inclusion in the National Record-
ing Registry nominations submitted by the general
public as well as representatives of sound recording
archives and the sound recording industry (such as
the guilds and societies representing sound recording
artists) and other creative artists.
(b) STUDY
AND REPORT
ON SOUND RECORDING
PRESERVATION
AND RESTORATION.—The Board shall
conduct a study and issue a report on the following issues:
(1) The current state of sound recording
archiving, preservation and restoration activities.
(2) Taking into account the research and other
activities carried out by or on behalf of the National