[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 604 Introduced in House (IH)]







105th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 604

To amend title 17, United States Code, with respect to the duration of 
                   copyright, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            February 5, 1997

  Mr. Gallegly (for himself, Mr. Coble, Mr. Berman, Mr. McCollum, Ms. 
Lofgren, Mr. Goodlatte, Mr. Clement, Mr. Gekas, Mr. Underwood, and Mr. 
    Owens) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                       Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend title 17, United States Code, with respect to the duration of 
                   copyright, 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 ``Copyright Term Extension Act of 
1997''.

SEC. 2. DURATION OF COPYRIGHT PROVISIONS.

    (a) Preemption With Respect to Other Laws.--Section 301(c) of title 
17, United States Code, is amended by striking ``February 15, 2047'' 
each place it appears and inserting ``February 15, 2067''.
    (b) Duration of Copyright: Works Created on or After January 1, 
1978.--Section 302 of title 17, United States Code, is amended--
            (1) in subsection (a) by striking ``fifty'' and inserting 
        ``70'';
            (2) in subsection (b) by striking ``fifty'' and inserting 
        ``70'';
            (3) in subsection (c) in the first sentence--
                    (A) by striking ``seventy-five'' and inserting 
                ``95''; and
                    (B) by striking ``one hundred'' and inserting 
                ``120''; and
            (4) in subsection (e) in the first sentence--
                    (A) by striking ``seventy-five'' and inserting 
                ``95'';
                    (B) by striking ``one hundred'' and inserting 
                ``120''; and
                    (C) by striking ``fifty'' each place it appears and 
                inserting ``70''.
    (c) Duration of Copyright: Works Created but Not Published or 
Copyrighted Before January 1, 1978.--Section 303 of title 17, United 
States Code, is amended in the second sentence by striking ``December 
31, 2027'' and inserting ``December 31, 2047''.
    (d) Duration of Copyright: Subsisting Copyrights.--
            (1) Section 304 of title 17, United States Code, is 
        amended--
                    (A) in subsection (a)--
                            (i) in paragraph (1)--
                                    (I) in subparagraph (B) by striking 
                                ``47'' and inserting ``67''; and
                                    (II) in subparagraph (C) by 
                                striking ``47'' and inserting ``67'';
                            (ii) in paragraph (2)--
                                    (I) in subparagraph (A) by striking 
                                ``47'' and inserting ``67''; and
                                    (II) in subparagraph (B) by 
                                striking ``47'' and inserting ``67''; 
                                and
                            (iii) in paragraph (3)--
                                    (I) in subparagraph (A)(i) by 
                                striking ``47'' and inserting ``67''; 
                                and
                                    (II) in subparagraph (B) by 
                                striking ``47'' and inserting ``67''; 
                                and
                    (B) by amending subsection (b) to read as follows:
    ``(b) Copyrights in Their Renewal Term.--Any copyright still in its 
renewal term at the time that the Copyright Term Extension Act of 1997 
becomes effective shall endure for a term of 95 years from the date 
copyright was originally secured.''.
            (2) Section 102 of the Copyright Renewal Act of 1992 
        (Public Law 102-307; 106 Stat. 266; 17 U.S.C. 304 note) is 
        amended--
                    (A) in subsection (c)--
                            (i) by striking ``47'' and inserting 
                        ``67'';
                            (ii) by striking ``(as amended by 
                        subsection (a) of this section)''; and
                            (iii) by striking ``effective date of this 
                        section'' each place it appears and inserting 
                        ``effective date of the Copyright Term 
                        Extension Act of 1997''; and
                    (B) in subsection (g)(2) in the second sentence by 
                inserting before the period the following: ``, except 
                each reference to forty-seven years in such provisions 
                shall be deemed to be 67 years''.

SEC. 3. REPRODUCTION BY LIBRARIES AND ARCHIVES.

    Section 108 of title 17, United States Code, is amended--
            (1) by redesignating subsection (h) as subsection (i); and
            (2) by inserting after subsection (g) the following:
    ``(h) For purposes of this section, during the last 20 years of any 
term of copyright of a published work, a library or archives, including 
a nonprofit educational institution that functions as such, may 
reproduce, distribute, display, or perform in facsimile or digital form 
a copy or phonorecord of such work, or portions thereof, for purposes 
of preservation, scholarship, or research, if such library or archives 
has first determined, on the basis of a reasonable investigation, that 
none of the conditions set forth in paragraphs (1), (2), and (3) apply. 
No reproduction, distribution, display, or performance is authorized 
under this subsection if--
            ``(1) the work is subject to normal commercial 
        exploitation;
            ``(2) a copy or phonorecord of the work can be obtained at 
        a reasonable price; or
            ``(3) the copyright owner or its agent provides notice 
        pursuant to regulations promulgated by the Register of 
        Copyrights that either of the conditions set forth in 
        paragraphs (1) and (2) applies.
The exemption provided in this subsection does not apply to any 
subsequent uses by users other than such library or archives.''.

SEC. 4. EFFECTIVE DATE.

    This Act and the amendments made by this Act shall take effect on 
the date of the enactment of this Act.
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