Pro Codes Act

Bill: 117-hr-6769
Sponsor: full_name: Rep. Deutch, Theodore E. [D-FL-22]
Introduced: 2022-02-18
Policy area: Commerce
Latest action: action_date: 2022-02-18
text: Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.

Summaries:
action_date: 2022-02-18
action_desc: Introduced in House
text: <p><strong>Protecting and Enhancing Public Access to Codes Act or the Pro Codes Act</strong></p> <p>This bill modifies copyright protections for works that have been adopted by reference into law.</p> <p>Specifically, if a work that is otherwise subject to copyright protection has been adopted or incorporated by reference, in full or in part, into any law or regulation, the original work shall be protected under copyright only if the copyright owner makes the work available for free on a publicly accessible website.</p>

tv_txt: I 117th CONGRESS 2d Session H. R. 6769 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES February 18, 2022 Mr. Deutch (for himself and Mr. Issa ) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To amend title 17, United States Code, to include requirements for works adopted by reference into law, and for other purposes.

1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Protecting and Enhancing Public Access to Codes Act or the Pro Codes Act . 2. Works Incorporated by Reference into Law Chapter 1 of title 17, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following new section: 123. Works Incorporated by Reference into Law (a) Work incorporated by reference into law or regulation An original work of authorship otherwise subject to protection under this title that has been adopted or incorporated by reference, in full or in part, into any Federal, State, or municipal law or regulation, shall retain such protection only if the owner of the copyright makes the work available at no monetary cost for viewing by the public in electronic form on a publicly accessible website in a location on the website that is readily accessible to the public. (b) Burden of proof In any cause of action in which a party asserts that the owner of a copyright has failed to comply with the requirements of subsection (a), the burden of proof shall be on the party making such an assertion to prove that the owner of the copyright has failed to comply. (c) Transparency Nothing in this section shall be construed as inconsistent with the requirements for transparency in Federal expenditure information as set forth in the DATA Act ( Public Law 113–101 ; 31 U.S.C. 6101 ). .