Title: Marrakesh Treaty Implementation Act
Policy area: Commerce

Summary:
Marrakesh Treaty Implementation Act
This bill amends federal copyright law to implement the Marrakesh Treaty to Facilitate Access to Published Works for Persons Who Are Blind, Visually Impaired, or Otherwise Print Disabled (Marrakesh Treaty).
Specifically, it modifies the limitations and exceptions to federal copyright infringement that allow published works to be reproduced and distributed in accessible formats for individuals with print disabilities. The bill:
Additionally, the bill adds a new section to allow published works in accessible formats to be exported and imported for individuals with print disabilities.

[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2559 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

<DOC>






115th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 2559

   To amend title 17, United States Code, to implement the Marrakesh 
                    Treaty, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 15, 2018

 Mr. Grassley (for himself, Mrs. Feinstein, Mr. Corker, Mr. Menendez, 
 Mr. Hatch, Ms. Harris, and Mr. Leahy) introduced the following bill; 
  which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To amend title 17, United States Code, to implement the Marrakesh 
                    Treaty, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Marrakesh Treaty Implementation 
Act''.

SEC. 2. IMPLEMENTATION AMENDMENTS.

    (a) In General.--Chapter 1 of title 17, United States Code, is 
amended--
            (1) in section 121--
                    (A) in subsection (a)--
                            (i) by inserting ``in the United States'' 
                        after ``distribute'';
                            (ii) by striking ``, nondramatic'';
                            (iii) by inserting ``or of a previously 
                        published musical work that has been fixed in 
                        the form of text or notation'' after ``literary 
                        work'';
                            (iv) by striking ``specialized formats'' 
                        and inserting ``accessible formats''; and
                            (v) by striking ``blind or other persons 
                        with disabilities'' and inserting ``eligible 
                        persons'';
                    (B) in subsection (b)(1)--
                            (i) in subparagraph (A)--
                                    (I) by inserting ``in the United 
                                States'' after ``distributed'';
                                    (II) by striking ``a specialized 
                                format'' and inserting ``an accessible 
                                format''; and
                                    (III) by striking ``blind or other 
                                persons with disabilities'' and 
                                inserting ``eligible persons''; and
                            (ii) in subparagraph (B), by striking ``a 
                        specialized format'' and inserting ``an 
                        accessible format'';
                    (C) in subsection (c)(3), by striking ``specialized 
                formats'' and inserting ``accessible formats''; and
                    (D) in subsection (d)--
                            (i) by striking paragraphs (2) and (4);
                            (ii) by redesignating paragraph (1) as 
                        paragraph (2);
                            (iii) by redesignating paragraph (3) as 
                        paragraph (4);
                            (iv) by inserting before paragraph (2), as 
                        so redesignated, the following:
            ``(1) `accessible format' means an alternative manner or 
        form that gives an eligible person access to the work when the 
        copy or phonorecord in the accessible format is used 
        exclusively by the eligible person to permit him or her to have 
        access as feasibly and comfortably as a person without such 
        disability as described in paragraph (3);'';
                            (v) by inserting after paragraph (2), as so 
                        redesignated, the following:
            ``(3) `eligible person' means an individual who, regardless 
        of any other disability--
                    ``(A) is blind;
                    ``(B) has a visual impairment or perceptual or 
                reading disability that cannot be improved to give 
                visual function substantially equivalent to that of a 
                person who has no such impairment or disability and so 
                is unable to read printed works to substantially the 
                same degree as a person without an impairment or 
                disability; or
                    ``(C) is otherwise unable, through physical 
                disability, to hold or manipulate a book or to focus or 
                move the eyes to the extent that would be normally 
                acceptable for reading; and''; and
                            (vi) in paragraph (4), as so redesignated, 
                        by striking ``; and'' at the end and inserting 
                        a period; and
            (2) by inserting after section 121 the following:
``Sec. 121A. Limitations on exclusive rights: reproduction for blind or 
              other people with disabilities in Marrakesh Treaty 
              countries
    ``(a) Notwithstanding the provisions of sections 106 and 602, it is 
not an infringement of copyright for an authorized entity, acting 
pursuant to this section, to export copies or phonorecords of a 
previously published literary work or of a previously published musical 
work that has been fixed in the form of text or notation in accessible 
formats to another country when the exportation is made either to--
            ``(1) an authorized entity located in a country that is a 
        Party to the Marrakesh Treaty; or
            ``(2) an eligible person in a country that is a Party to 
        the Marrakesh Treaty,
if prior to the exportation of such copies or phonorecords, the 
authorized entity engaged in the exportation did not know or have 
reasonable grounds to know that the copies or phonorecords would be 
used other than by eligible persons.
    ``(b) Notwithstanding the provisions of sections 106 and 602, it is 
not an infringement of copyright for an authorized entity or an 
eligible person, or someone acting on behalf of an eligible person, 
acting pursuant to this section, to import copies or phonorecords of a 
previously published literary work or of a previously published musical 
work that has been fixed in the form of text or notation in accessible 
formats.
    ``(c) In conducting activities under subsection (a) or (b), an 
authorized entity shall establish and follow its own practices, in 
keeping with its particular circumstances, to--
            ``(1) establish that the persons the authorized entity 
        serves are eligible persons;
            ``(2) limit to eligible persons and authorized entities the 
        distribution of accessible format copies by the authorized 
        entity;
            ``(3) discourage the reproduction and distribution of 
        unauthorized copies;
            ``(4) maintain due care in, and records of, the handling of 
        copies of works by the authorized entity, while respecting the 
        privacy of eligible persons on an equal basis with others; and
            ``(5) facilitate effective cross-border exchange of 
        accessible format copies by making publicly available--
                    ``(A) the titles of works for which the authorized 
                entity has accessible format copies or phonorecords and 
                the specific accessible formats in which they are 
                available; and
                    ``(B) information on the policies, practices, and 
                authorized entity partners of the authorized entity for 
                the cross-border exchange of accessible format copies.
    ``(d) Nothing in this section shall be construed to establish--
            ``(1) a cause of action under this title; or
            ``(2) a basis for regulation by any Federal agency.
    ``(e) Nothing in this section shall be construed to limit the 
ability to engage in any activity otherwise permitted under this title.
    ``(f) For purposes of this section--
            ``(1) the terms `accessible format', `authorized entity', 
        and `eligible person' have the meanings given those terms in 
        section 121; and
            ``(2) the term `Marrakesh Treaty' means the Marrakesh 
        Treaty to Facilitate Access to Published Works by Visually 
        Impaired Persons and Persons with Print Disabilities concluded 
        at Marrakesh, Morocco, on June 28, 2013.''.
    (b) Table of Sections Amendment.--The table of sections for chapter 
1 of title 17, United States Code, is amended by inserting after the 
item relating to section 121 the following:

``121A. Limitations on exclusive rights: reproduction for blind or 
                            other people with disabilities in Marrakesh 
                            Treaty countries.''.
                                 <all>