[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1761 Reported in House (RH)]





                                                       Calendar No. 122

106th CONGRESS

  1st Session

                               H. R. 1761

                          [Report No. 106-216]

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

          To amend provisions of title 17, United States Code.

_______________________________________________________________________

                              July 1, 1999

  Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole 
       House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed





                                                 Union Calendar No. 122
106th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1761

                          [Report No. 106-216]

          To amend provisions of title 17, United States Code.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 11, 1999

 Mr. Rogan (for himself and Mr. Coble) introduced the following bill; 
          which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

                              July 1, 1999

  Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole 
       House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed
 [Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed 
                               in italic]

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
          To amend provisions of title 17, United States Code.

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

<DELETED>SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.</DELETED>

<DELETED>    This Act may be cited as the ``Copyright Damages 
Improvement Act of 1999''.</DELETED>

<DELETED>SEC. 2. STATUTORY DAMAGES ENHANCEMENT.</DELETED>

<DELETED>    Section 504(c) of title 17, United States Code, is 
amended--</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (1) in paragraph (1)--</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    (A) by striking ``$500'' and inserting 
                ``$750''; and</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    (B) by striking ``$20,000'' and inserting 
                ``$30,000''; and</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (2) in paragraph (2)--</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    (A) by inserting ``(A)'' after 
                ``(2)'';</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    (B) by striking ``$100,000'' and inserting 
                ``$150,000'';</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    (C) by inserting after the second sentence 
                the following:</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    ``(B) In a case where the copyright owner 
        demonstrates that the infringement was part of a repeated 
        pattern or practice of infringement, the court may increase the 
        award of statutory damages to a sum of not more than $250,000 
        per work.''; and</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    (D) by striking ``The court shall remit 
                statutory damages'' and inserting the 
                following:</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    ``(C) The court shall remit statutory 
        damages''.</DELETED>

<DELETED>SEC. 3. STATUTORY DAMAGES CLARIFICATION.</DELETED>

<DELETED>    Section 504(c) of title 17, United States Code, is amended 
by inserting at the end the following new sentence: ``For purposes of 
chapter 5 of title 11, `willful' infringement shall be considered to be 
willful and malicious injury to the property of another.''.</DELETED>

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Copyright Damages Improvement Act of 
1999''.

SEC. 2. STATUTORY DAMAGES ENHANCEMENT.

    Section 504(c) of title 17, United States Code, is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (1)--
                    (A) by striking ``$500'' and inserting ``$750''; 
                and
                    (B) by striking ``$20,000'' and inserting 
                ``$30,000''; and
            (2) in paragraph (2)--
                    (A) by inserting ``(A)'' after ``(2)'';
                    (B) by striking ``$100,000'' and inserting 
                ``$300,000'';
                    (C) by inserting after the second sentence the 
                following:
            ``(B) In a case where the copyright owner demonstrates that 
        the infringement was part of a repeated pattern or practice of 
        infringement, the court may increase the award of statutory 
        damages to a sum of not more than $250,000 per work.''; and
                    (D) by striking ``The court shall remit statutory 
                damages'' and inserting the following:
            ``(C) The court shall remit statutory damages''.

SEC. 3. SENTENCING COMMISSION GUIDELINES.

    Section 2(g) of the No Electronic Theft (NET) Act (28 U.S.C. 994 
note) is amended by striking paragraph (2) and inserting the following:
    ``(2) In implementing paragraph (1), the Sentencing Commission 
shall amend the guideline applicable to criminal infringement of a 
copyright or trademark to provide an enhancement based upon the retail 
price of the legitimate items that are infringed upon and the quantity 
of the infringing items. To the extent the conduct involves a violation 
of section 2319A of title 18, United States Code, the enhancement shall 
be based upon the retail price of the infringing items and the quantity 
of the infringing items.
    ``(3) Paragraph (1) shall be implemented not later than 3 months 
after the later of--
            ``(A) the first day occurring after May 20, 1999, or
            ``(B) the first day after the date of the enactment of this 
        paragraph,
on which sufficient members of the Sentencing Commission have been 
confirmed to constitute a quorum.
    ``(4) The Commission shall promulgate the guidelines or amendments 
provided for under this section in accordance with the procedures set 
forth in section 21(a) of the Sentencing Act of 1987, as though the 
authority under that Act had not expired.''.