[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2652 Introduced in House (IH)]







105th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2652

To amend title 17, United States Code, to prevent the misappropriation 
                     of collections of information.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            October 9, 1997

  Mr. Coble introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                       Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend title 17, United States Code, to prevent the misappropriation 
                     of collections of information.

    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 ``Collections of Information 
Antipiracy Act''.

SEC. 2. MISAPPROPRIATION OF COLLECTIONS OF INFORMATION.

    Title 17, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the 
following new chapter:

      ``CHAPTER 12--MISAPPROPRIATION OF COLLECTIONS OF INFORMATION

``Sec.
``1201. Prohibition against misappropriation.
``1202. Permitted acts.
``1203. Exclusions.
``1204. Definitions.
``1205. Relationship to other laws.
``1206. Civil remedies.
``1207. Criminal offenses and penalties.
``1208. Limitations on actions.
``Sec. 1201. Prohibition against misappropriation
    ``Any person who extracts, or uses in commerce, all or a 
substantial part of a collection of information gathered, organized, or 
maintained by another person through the investment of substantial 
monetary or other resources, so as to harm that other person's actual 
or potential market for a product or service that incorporates that 
collection of information and is offered by that other person in 
commerce, shall be liable to that person for the remedies set forth in 
section 1206.
``Sec. 1202. Permitted acts
    ``(a) Individual Items of Information and Other Insubstantial 
Parts.--Nothing in this chapter shall prevent the extraction or use of 
an individual item of information, or other insubstantial part of a 
collection of information, in itself.
    ``(b) Gathering or Use of Information Obtained Through Other 
Means.--Nothing in this chapter shall restrict any person from 
independently gathering information or using information obtained by 
means other than extracting it from a collection of information 
gathered, organized, or maintained by another person through the 
investment of substantial monetary or other resources.
    ``(c) Use of Information for Verification.--Nothing in this chapter 
shall restrict any person from extracting information, or from using 
information within any entity or organization, for the sole purpose of 
verifying the accuracy of information independently gathered, 
organized, or maintained by that person.
    ``(d) Not-For-Profit Educational, Scientific, or Research Uses.--
Nothing in this chapter shall restrict any person from extracting or 
using information for not-for-profit educational, scientific, or 
research purposes in a manner that does not harm the actual or 
potential market for the product or service referred to in section 
1201.
    ``(e) News Reporting.--Nothing in this chapter shall restrict any 
person from extracting or using information for the sole purpose of 
news reporting.
``Sec. 1203. Exclusions
    ``(a) Government Collections of Information.--Protection under this 
chapter shall not extend to a governmental entity, whether Federal, 
State, or local, including any employee or agent of such an entity, or 
any person exclusively licensed by such an entity, with respect to 
collections of information gathered, organized, or maintained within 
the scope of such employment, agency, or license.
    ``(b) Computer Programs.--Protection under this chapter shall not 
extend to computer programs, including without limitation any computer 
program used in the manufacture, production, operation, or maintenance 
of a collection of information. The preceding sentence shall not apply 
to a collection of information directly or indirectly incorporated in a 
computer program.
``Sec. 1204. Definitions
    ``As used in this chapter:
            ``(1) Information.--The term `information' means facts, 
        data, works of authorship, or any other intangible material 
        capable of being collected and organized in a systematic way.
            ``(2) Commerce.--The term `commerce' means all commerce 
        which may be lawfully regulated by the Congress.
``Sec. 1205. Relations to other laws
    ``(a) Other Rights Not Affected.--Subject to subsection (b), 
nothing in this chapter shall affect rights, limitations, or remedies 
concerning copyright, or any other rights or obligations relating to 
information, including laws with respect to patent, trademark, design 
rights, antitrust or competition, trade secrets, privacy, access to 
public documents, and the law of contract.
    ``(b) Preemption of State Law.--On or after the effective date of 
this chapter, all rights that are equivalent to the rights specified in 
section 1201 with respect to the subject matter of this chapter shall 
be governed exclusively by Federal law, and no person is entitled to 
any equivalent right in such subject matter under the common law or 
statutes of any State. State laws with respect to trademark, design 
rights, antitrust or competition, trade secrets, privacy, access to 
public documents, and the law of contract shall not be deemed to 
provide equivalent rights for purposes of this subsection.
    ``(c) Licensing.--Nothing in this chapter shall restrict the rights 
of parties freely to enter into licenses or any other contracts with 
respect to the use of information.
    ``(d) Communications Act of 1934.--Nothing in this chapter shall 
affect the operation of section 222(e) of the Communications Act of 
1934 (47 U.S.C. 222(e)), as added by the Telecommunications Act of 
1996.
``Sec. 1206. Civil remedies
    ``(a) Civil Actions.--Any person who is injured by a violation of 
section 1201 may bring a civil action for such a violation in an 
appropriate United States district court without regard to the amount 
in controversy, except that any action against a State governmental 
entity may be brought in any court that has jurisdiction over claims 
against such entity.
    ``(b) Temporary and Permanent Injunctions.--Any court having 
jurisdiction of a civil action under this section shall have the power 
to grant temporary and permanent injunctions, according to the 
principles of equity and upon such terms as the court may deem 
reasonable, to prevent a violation of section 1201. Any such injunction 
may be served anywhere in the United States on the person enjoined, and 
may be enforced by proceedings in contempt or otherwise by any United 
States district court having jurisdiction over that person.
    ``(c) Impoundment.--At any time while an action under this section 
is pending, the court may order the impounding, on such terms as it 
deems reasonable, of all copies of contents of a collection of 
information extracted or used in violation of section 1201, and of all 
masters, tapes, disks, diskettes, or other articles by means of which 
such copies may be reproduced. The court may, as part of a final 
judgment or decree finding a violation of section 1201, order the 
remedial modification or destruction of all copies of contents of a 
collection of information extracted or used in violation of section 
1201, and of all masters, tapes, disks, diskettes, or other articles by 
means of which such copies may be reproduced.
    ``(d) Monetary Relief.--When a violation of section 1201 has been 
established in any civil action arising under this section, the 
plaintiff shall be entitled, subject to the principles of equity, to 
recover defendant's profits, any damages sustained by the plaintiff, 
and the costs of the action. The court shall assess such profits or 
damages or cause the same to be assessed under its direction. In 
assessing profits the plaintiff shall be required to prove defendant's 
sales only; defendant must prove all elements of cost or deduction 
claims. In assessing damages the court may enter judgment, according to 
the circumstances of the case, for any sum above the amount found as 
actual damages, not exceeding three times such amount. The court in its 
discretion may award reasonable costs and attorney's fees to the 
prevailing party.
    ``(e) Actions Against United States Government.--Subsections (b) 
and (c) shall not apply to any action against the United States 
Government.
    ``(f) Relief Against State Entities.--The relief provided under 
this section shall be available against a State governmental entity to 
the extent permitted by applicable law.
``Sec. 1207. Criminal offenses and penalties
    ``(a) Violation.--Any person who violates section 1201 willfully, 
and--
            ``(1) does so for direct or indirect commercial advantage 
        or financial gain, or
            ``(2) thereby causes loss or damage aggregating $10,000 or 
        more in any 1-year period to the person who gathered, 
        organized, or maintained the information concerned,
shall be punished as provided in subsection (b).
    ``(b) Penalties.--An offense under subsection (a) shall be 
punishable by a fine of not more than $250,000 or imprisonment for not 
more than 5 years, or both. A second or subsequent offense under 
subsection (a) shall be punishable by a fine of not more than $500,000 
or imprisonment for not more than 10 years, or both.
``Sec. 1208. Limitations on actions
    ``(a) Criminal Proceedings.--No criminal proceeding shall be 
maintained under the provisions of this chapter unless it is commenced 
within three years after the cause of action arose.
    ``(b) Civil Actions.--No civil action shall be maintained under the 
provisions of this chapter unless it is commenced within three years 
after the claim accrued.''.

SEC. 3. CONFORMING AMENDMENT.

    The table of chapters for title 17, United States Code, is amended 
by adding at the end the following:

``12. Misappropriation of Collections of Information........    1201''.

SEC. 4. EFFECTIVE DATE.

    ``(a) In General.--This Act and the amendments made by this Act 
shall take effect on the date of the enactment of this Act, and shall 
apply to acts committed on or after that date.
    ``(b) Prior Acts Not Affected.--No person shall be liable under 
chapter 12 of title 17, United States Code, as added by section 2 of 
this Act, for the use of information lawfully extracted from a 
collection of information prior to the effective date of this Act, by 
that person or by that person's predecessor in interest.
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