Section
1. Short Title.
This Act may be cited as the “Digital Millennium
Copyright Act”.
Title
I - WIPO Treaties Implementation
Sec. 101. Short Title.
This title may be cited as the "WIPO Copyright and
Performances and Phonograms Treaties Implementation Act of 1998".
*
* * * * * *
Sec. 104. Evaluation of Impact of Copyright Law and Amendments on Electronic
Commerce and Technological Development.
(a)
Evaluation by the Register of Copyrights and the Assistant Secretary for Communications
and Information. - The Register of Copyrights and the Assistant Secretary for Communications
and Information of the Department of Commerce shall jointly evaluate -
(1)
the effects of the amendments made by this title and the development of electronic
commerce and associated technology on the operation of sections 109 and 117 of
title 17, United States Code; and
(2) the relationship
between existing and emergent technology and the operation of sections 109 and
117 of title 17, United States Code.
(b) Report to Congress. - The
Register of Copyrights and the Assistant Secretary for Communications and Information
of the Department of Commerce shall, not later than 24 months after the date of
the enactment of this Act, submit to the Congress a joint report on the evaluation
conducted under subsection (a), including any legislative recommendations the
Register and the Assistant Secretary may have.
Sec. 105. Effective Date.
(a) In General. - Except as otherwise
provided in this title, this title and the amendments made by this title shall
take effect on the date of the enactment of this Act.
(b)
Amendments Relating to Certain International Agreements. - (1) The following shall
take effect upon the entry into force of the WIPO Copyright Treaty with respect
to the United States:
(A) Paragraph (5) of the definition
of "international agreement" contained in section 101 of title 17, United States
Code, as amended by section 102(a)(4) of this Act.
(B)
The amendment made by section 102(a)(6) of this Act.
(C)
Subparagraph (C) of section 104A(h)(1) of title 17, United States Code, as amended
by section 102(c)(1) of this Act.
(D) Subparagraph (C)
of section 104A(h)(3) of title 17, United States Code, as amended by section 102(c)(2)
of this Act.
(2) The following shall take effect upon
the entry into force of the WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty with respect
to the United States:
(A) Paragraph (6) of the definition
of "international agreement" contained in section 101 of title 17, United States
Code, as amended by section 102(a)(4) of this Act.
(B)
The amendment made by section 102(a)(7) of this Act.
(C)
The amendment made by section 102(b)(2) of this Act.
(D)
Subparagraph (D) of section 104A(h)(1) of title 17, United States Code, as amended
by section 102(c)(1) of this Act.
(E) Subparagraph (D)
of section 104A(h)(3) of title 17, United States Code, as amended by section 102(c)(2)
of this Act.
(F) The amendments made by section 102(c)(3)
of this Act.
* * * * * * *
Title
II - Online Copyright Infringement Liability Limitation
Sec. 201. Short Title.
This title may be cited as the "Online
Copyright Infringement Liability Limitation Act".
*
* * * * * *
Sec. 203. Effective Date.
This
title and the amendments made by this title shall take effect on the date of the
enactment of this Act.
* *
* * * * *
Title IV - Miscellaneous Provisions
Sec. 401. Provisions Relating to the Commissioner of Patents and Trademarks
and the Register of Copyrights
(a) Compensation. - (1) Section 3(d)
of title 35, United States Code, is amended by striking "prescribed by law for
Assistant Secretaries of Commerce" and inserting "in effect for level III of
the Executive Schedule under section 5314 of title 5, United States Code".
*
* * * * * *
(3) Section 5314 of title 5, United States
Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:
"Assistant
Secretary of Commerce and Commissioner of Patents and Trademarks.
"Register
of Copyrights.".
* * * *
* * *
Sec. 403. Limitations on Exclusive Rights; Distance Education.
(a) Recommendations by Register of Copyrights. - Not
later than 6 months after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Register
of Copyrights, after consultation with representatives of copyright owners, nonprofit
educational institutions, and nonprofit libraries and archives, shall submit to
the Congress recommendations on how to promote distance education through digital
technologies, including interactive digital networks, while maintaining an appropriate
balance between the rights of copyright owners and the needs of users of copyrighted
works. Such recommendations shall include any legislation the Register of Copyrights
considers appropriate to achieve the objective described in the preceding sentence.
(b)
Factors. - In formulating recommendations under subsection (a), the Register of
Copyrights shall consider -
(1) the need for an exemption
from exclusive rights of copyright owners for distance education through digital
networks;
(2) the categories of works to be included
under any distance education exemption;
(3) the extent
of appropriate quantitative limitations on the portions of works that may be used
under any distance education exemption;
(4) the parties
who should be entitled to the benefits of any distance education exemption;
(5)
the parties who should be designated as eligible recipients of distance education
materials under any distance education exemption;
(6)
whether and what types of technological measures can or should be employed to
safeguard against unauthorized access to, and use or retention of, copyrighted
materials as a condition of eligibility for any distance education exemption,
including, in light of developing technological capabilities, the exemption set
out in section 110(2) of title 17, United States Code;
(7)
the extent to which the availability of licenses for the use of copyrighted works
in distance education through interactive digital networks should be considered
in assessing eligibility for any distance education exemption; and
(8)
such other issues relating to distance education through interactive digital networks
that the Register considers appropriate.
*
* * * * * *
Sec. 405. Scope of Exclusive Rights in Sound Recordings; Ephemeral Recordings.
(a)
Scope of Exclusive Rights in Sound Recordings.
*
* * * * * *
(5) The amendment
made by paragraph (2)(B)(i)(III) of this subsection shall be deemed to have been
enacted as part of the Digital Performance Right in Sound Recordings Act of 1995,
and the publication of notice of proceedings under section 114(f)(1) of title
17, United States Code, as in effect upon the effective date of that Act, for
the determination of royalty payments shall be deemed to have been made for the
period beginning on the effective date of that Act and ending on December 1, 2001.
(6)
The amendments made by this subsection do not annul, limit, or otherwise impair
the rights that are preserved by section 114 of title 17, United States Code,
including the rights preserved by subsections (c), (d)(4), and (i) of such section.
*
* * * * * *
(c) Scope of Section
112(a) of Title 17 Not Affected. -
Nothing in this section or
the amendments made by this section shall affect the scope of section 112(a) of
title 17, United States Code, or the entitlement of any person to an exemption
thereunder.
* * * * * * *
Sec. 406. Assumption of Contractual Obligations Related to Transfers of
Rights in Motion Pictures.
(a) In General. - Part VI of title 28, United
States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following new chapter:
"Chapter 180 - Assumption of Certain Contractual
Obligations
"Sec.
4001. Assumption of contractual obligations related to transfers of rights in
motion pictures.
"§4001. Assumption of contractual obligations
related to transfers of rights in motion pictures
"(a) Assumption of Obligations. - (1) In the
case of a transfer of copyright ownership under United States law in a motion
picture (as the terms 'transfer of copyright ownership' and 'motion picture' are
defined in section 101 of title 17) that is produced subject to 1 or more collective
bargaining agreements negotiated under the laws of the United States, if the transfer
is executed on or after the effective date of this chapter and is not limited
to public performance rights, the transfer instrument shall be deemed to incorporate
the assumption agreements applicable to the copyright ownership being transferred
that are required by the applicable collective bargaining agreement, and the transferee
shall be subject to the obligations under each such assumption agreement to make
residual payments and provide related notices, accruing after the effective date
of the transfer and applicable to the exploitation of the rights transferred,
and any remedies under each such assumption agreement for breach of those obligations,
as those obligations and remedies are set forth in the applicable collective bargaining
agreement, if -
"(A) the transferee knows or has reason
to know at the time of the transfer that such collective bargaining agreement
was or will be applicable to the motion picture; or
"(B)
in the event of a court order confirming an arbitration award against the transferor
under the collective bargaining agreement, the transferor does not have the financial
ability to satisfy the award within 90 days after the order is issued.
"(2)
For purposes of paragraph (1)(A), 'knows or has reason to know' means any of the
following:
"(A) Actual knowledge that the collective
bargaining agreement was or will be applicable to the motion picture.
"(B)(i)
Constructive knowledge that the collective bargaining agreement was or will be
applicable to the motion picture, arising from recordation of a document pertaining
to copyright in the motion picture under section 205 of title 17 or from publication,
at a site available to the public on-line that is operated by the relevant union,
of information that identifies the motion picture as subject to a collective bargaining
agreement with that union, if the site permits commercially reasonable verification
of the date on which the information was available for access.
"(ii)
Clause (i) applies only if the transfer referred to in subsection (a)(1) occurs -
"(I)
after the motion picture is completed, or
"(II) before
the motion picture is completed and -
"(aa) within 18
months before the filing of an application for copyright registration for the
motion picture under section 408 of title 17, or
"(bb)
if no such application is filed, within 18 months before the first publication
of the motion picture in the United States.
"(C) Awareness
of other facts and circumstances pertaining to a particular transfer from which
it is apparent that the collective bargaining agreement was or will be applicable
to the motion picture.
"(b) Scope of Exclusion of Transfers
of Public Performance Rights. - For purposes of this section, the exclusion under
subsection (a) of transfers of copyright ownership in a motion picture that are
limited to public performance rights includes transfers to a terrestrial broadcast
station, cable system, or programmer to the extent that the station, system, or
programmer is functioning as an exhibitor of the motion picture, either by exhibiting
the motion picture on its own network, system, service, or station, or by initiating
the transmission of an exhibition that is carried on another network, system,
service, or station. When a terrestrial broadcast station, cable system, or programmer,
or other transferee, is also functioning otherwise as a distributor or as a producer
of the motion picture, the public performance exclusion does not affect any obligations
imposed on the transferee to the extent that it is engaging in such functions.
"(c)
Exclusion for Grants of Security Interests. - Subsection (a) shall not apply to -
"(1)
a transfer of copyright ownership consisting solely of a mortgage, hypothecation,
or other security interest; or
"(2) a subsequent transfer
of the copyright ownership secured by the security interest described in paragraph
(1) by or under the authority of the secured party, including a transfer through
the exercise of the secured party's rights or remedies as a secured party, or
by a subsequent transferee.
The exclusion under this
subsection shall not affect any rights or remedies under law or contract.
"(d)
Deferral Pending Resolution of Bona Fide Dispute. -
A
transferee on which obligations are imposed under subsection (a) by virtue of
paragraph (1) of that subsection may elect to defer performance of such obligations
that are subject to a bona fide dispute between a union and a prior transferor
until that dispute is resolved, except that such deferral shall not stay accrual
of any union claims due under an applicable collective bargaining agreement.
"(e)
Scope of Obligations Determined by Private Agreement. - Nothing in this section
shall expand or diminish the rights, obligations, or remedies of any person under
the collective bargaining agreements or assumption agreements referred to in this
section.
"(f) Failure to Notify. - If the transferor under
subsection (a) fails to notify the transferee under subsection (a) of applicable
collective bargaining obligations before the execution of the transfer instrument,
and subsection (a) is made applicable to the transferee solely by virtue of subsection
(a)(1)(B), the transferor shall be liable to the transferee for any damages suffered
by the transferee as a result of the failure to notify.
"(g)
Determination of Disputes and Claims. - Any dispute concerning the application of
subsections (a) through (f) shall be determined by an action in United States
district court, and the court in its discretion may allow the recovery of full
costs by or against any party and may also award a reasonable attorney's fee to
the prevailing party as part of the costs.
"(h) Study. - The
Comptroller General, in consultation with the Register of Copyrights, shall conduct
a study of the conditions in the motion picture industry that gave rise to this
section, and the impact of this section on the motion picture industry. The Comptroller
General shall report the findings of the study to the Congress within 2 years
after the effective date of this chapter.".
*
* * * * * *
SEC. 407. EFFECTIVE Date.
Except
as otherwise provided in this title, this title and the amendments made by this
title shall take effect on the date of the enactment of this Act.
*
* * * * * *
Title V - Protection of Certain Original
Designs
Sec. 501. Short Title.
This
Act may be referred to as the "Vessel Hull Design Protection Act".
*
* * * * * *
Sec. 504. Joint Study of the Effect of This Title2
(a)
In General. - Not later than November 1, 2003, the Register of Copyrights and the
Commissioner of Patents and Trademarks shall submit to the Committees on the Judiciary
of the Senate and the House of Representatives a joint report evaluating the effect
of the amendments made by this title.
(b) Elements for
Consideration. - In carrying out subsection (a), the Register of Copyrights and
the Commissioner of Patents and Trademarks shall consider -
(1)
the extent to which the amendments made by this title has been effective in suppressing
infringement of the design of vessel hulls;
(2) the
extent to which the registration provided for in chapter 13 of title 17, United
States Code, as added by this title, has been utilized;
(3)
the extent to which the creation of new designs of vessel hulls have been encouraged
by the amendments made by this title;
(4) the effect,
if any, of the amendments made by this title on the price of vessels with hulls
protected under such amendments; and
(5) such other
considerations as the Register and the Commissioner may deem relevant to accomplish
the purposes of the evaluation conducted under subsection (a).
Sec. 505. Effective Date.3
The amendments made by sections
502 and 503 shall take effect on the date
of the enactment of this Act.4
1Part V of the Appendix contains
provisions from the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, Pub. L. No. 105-304,
112 Stat. 2860, that do not amend title 17 of the United States Code.
2The Satellite Home Viewer Improvement
Act of 1999 amended section 504(a) in its entirety. Pub. L. No. 106-113, 113
Stat. 1501, app. I at 1501A-593.
3The Intellectual Property and
Communications Omnibus Reform Act of 1999 amended section 505 by deleting
everything at the end of the sentence, after "Act." Pub. L. No. 106-113, 113
Stat. 1501, app. I at 1501A-593.
4Section 502 added chapter
13 to title 17 of the United States Code. Section 503 made conforming
amendments. The date of enactment of this Act is October 28, 1998.
|