[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 354 Introduced in House (IH)]







106th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 354

   To amend title 17, United States Code, to provide protection for 
                  certain collections of information.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            January 19, 1999

  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 provide protection for 
                  certain 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 14--MISAPPROPRIATION OF COLLECTIONS OF INFORMATION

``Sec.
``1401. Definitions.
``1402. Prohibition against misappropriation.
``1403. Permitted acts.
``1404. Exclusions.
``1405. Relationship to other laws.
``1406. Civil remedies.
``1407. Criminal offenses and penalties.
``1408. Limitations on actions.
``Sec. 1401. Definitions
    ``As used in this chapter:
            ``(1) Collection of information.--The term `collection of 
        information' means information that has been collected and has 
        been organized for the purpose of bringing discrete items of 
        information together in one place or through one source so that 
        users may access them.
            ``(2) 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.
            ``(3) Potential market.--The term `potential market' means 
        any market that a person claiming protection under section 1402 
        has current and demonstrable plans to exploit or that is 
        commonly exploited by persons offering similar products or 
        services incorporating collections of information.
            ``(4) Commerce.--The term `commerce' means all commerce 
        which may be lawfully regulated by the Congress.
``Sec. 1402. Prohibition against misappropriation
    ``Any person who extracts, or uses in commerce, all or a 
substantial part, measured either quantitatively or qualitatively, of a 
collection of information gathered, organized, or maintained by another 
person through the investment of substantial monetary or other 
resources, so as to cause harm to the actual or potential market of 
that other person, or a successor in interest of that other person, for 
a product or service that incorporates that collection of information 
and is offered or intended to be offered for sale or otherwise in 
commerce by that other person, or a successor in interest of that 
person, shall be liable to that person or successor in interest for the 
remedies set forth in section 1406.
``Sec. 1403. Permitted acts
    ``(a) Educational, Scientific, Research, and Additional Reasonable 
Uses.--
            ``(1) Certain nonprofit educational, scientific, or 
        research uses.-- Notwithstanding section 1402, no person shall 
        be restricted from extracting or using information for 
        nonprofit educational, scientific, or research purposes in a 
        manner that does not harm directly the actual market for the 
        product or service referred to in section 1402.
            ``(2) Additional reasonable uses.--
                    ``(A) In general.--Notwithstanding section 1402, an 
                individual act of use or extraction of information done 
                for the purpose of illustration, explanation, example, 
                comment, criticism, teaching, research, or analysis, in 
                an amount appropriate and customary for that purpose, 
                is not a violation of this chapter, if it is reasonable 
                under the circumstances. In determining whether such an 
                act is reasonable under the circumstances, the 
                following factors shall be considered:
                            ``(i) The extent to which the use or 
                        extraction is commercial or nonprofit.
                            ``(ii) The good faith of the person making 
                        the use or extraction.
                            ``(iii) The extent to which and the manner 
                        in which the portion used or extracted is 
                        incorporated into an independent work or 
                        collection, and the degree of difference 
                        between the collection from which the use or 
                        extraction is made and the independent work or 
                        collection.
                            ``(iv) Whether the collection from which 
                        the use or extraction is made is primarily 
                        developed for or marketed to persons engaged in 
                        the same field or business as the person making 
                        the use or extraction.
                In no case shall a use or extraction be permitted under 
                this paragraph if the used or extracted portion is 
                offered or intended to be offered for sale or otherwise 
                in commerce and is likely to serve as a market 
                substitute for all or part of the collection from which 
                the use or extraction is made.
                    ``(B) Definition.--For purposes of this paragraph, 
                the term `individual act' means an act that is not part 
                of a pattern, system, or repeated practice by the same 
                party, related parties, or parties acting in concert 
                with respect to the same collection of information or a 
                series of related collections of information.
    ``(b) Individual Items of Information and Other Insubstantial 
Parts.--Nothing in this chaptershall prevent the extraction or use of 
an individual item of information, or other insubstantial part of a 
collection of information, in itself. An individual item of 
information, including a work of authorship, shall not itself be 
considered a substantial part of a collection of information under 
section 1402. Nothing in this subsection shall permit the repeated or 
systematic extraction or use of individual items or insubstantial parts 
of a collection of information so as to circumvent the prohibition 
contained in section 1402.
    ``(c) 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.
    ``(d) Use of Information for Verification.--Nothing in this chapter 
shall restrict any person from extracting or using a collection of 
information within any entity or organization, for the sole purpose of 
verifying the accuracy of information independently gathered, 
organized, or maintained by that person. Under no circumstances shall 
the information so used be extracted from the original collection and 
made available to others in a manner that harms the actual or potential 
market for the collection of information from which it is extracted or 
used.
    ``(e) News Reporting.--Nothing in this chapter shall restrict any 
person from extracting or using information for the sole purpose of 
news reporting, including news gathering, dissemination, and comment, 
unless the information so extracted or used is time sensitive and has 
been gathered by a news reporting entity, and the extraction or use is 
part of a consistent pattern engaged in for the purpose of direct 
competition.
    ``(f) Transfer of Copy.--Nothing in this chapter shall restrict the 
owner of a particular lawfully made copy of all or part of a collection 
of information from selling or otherwise disposing of the possession of 
that copy.
``Sec. 1404. Exclusions
    ``(a) Government Collections of Information.--
            ``(1) Exclusion.--Protection under this chapter shall not 
        extend to collections of information gathered, organized, or 
        maintained by or for a government entity, whether Federal, 
        State, or local, including any employee or agent of such 
        entity, or any person exclusively licensed by such entity, 
        within the scope of the employment, agency, or license. Nothing 
        in this subsection shall preclude protection under this chapter 
        for information gathered, organized, or maintained by such an 
        agent or licensee that is not within the scope of such agency 
        or license, or by a Federal or State educational institution in 
        the course of engaging in education or scholarship.
            ``(2) Exception.--The exclusion under paragraph (1) does 
        not apply to any information required to be collected and 
        disseminated--
                    ``(A) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 by 
                a national securities exchange, a registered securities 
                association, or a registered securities information 
                processor, subject to section 1405(g) of this title; or
                    ``(B) under the Commodity Exchange Act by a 
                contract market, subject to section 1405(g) of this 
                title.
    ``(b) Computer Programs.--
            ``(1) Protection not extended.--Subject to paragraph (2), 
        protection under this chapter shall not extend to computer 
        programs, including, but not limited to, any computer program 
        used in the manufacture, production, operation, or maintenance 
        of a collection of information, or any element of a computer 
        program necessary to its operation.
            ``(2) Incorporated collections of information.--A 
        collection of information that is otherwise subject to 
        protection under this chapter is not disqualified from such 
        protection solely because it is incorporated into a computer 
        program.
    ``(c) Digital Online Communications.--Protection under this chapter 
shall not extend to a product or service incorporating a collection of 
information gathered, organized, or maintained to address, route, 
forward, transmit, or store digital online communications or provide or 
receive access to connections for digital online communications.
``Sec. 1405. Relationship 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, 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 1402 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, 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) Relationship to Copyright.--Protection under this chapter is 
independent of, and does not affect or enlarge the scope, duration, 
ownership, or subsistence of, any copyright protection or limitation, 
including, but not limited to, fair use, in any work of authorship that 
is contained in or consists in whole or part of a collection of 
information. This chapter does not provide any greater protection to a 
work of authorship contained in a collection of information, other than 
a work that is itself a collection of information, than is available to 
that work under any other chapter of this title.
    ``(d) Antitrust.--Nothing in this chapter shall limit in any way 
the constraints on the manner in which products and services may be 
provided to the public that are imposed by Federal and State antitrust 
laws, including those regarding single suppliers of products and 
services.
    ``(e) 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 collections of information.
    ``(f) Communications Act of 1934.--Nothing in this chapter shall 
affect the operation of the provisions of the Communications Act of 
1934 (47 U.S.C. 151 et seq.), or shall restrict any person from 
extracting or using subscriber list information, as such term is 
defined in section 222(f)(3) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 
U.S.C. 222(f)(3)), for the purpose of publishing telephone directories 
in any format.
    ``(g) Securities and Commodities Market Information.--
            ``(1) Federal agencies and acts.--Nothing in this chapter 
        shall affect--
                    ``(A) the operation of the provisions of the 
                Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (15 U.S.C. 78a et seq.) 
                or the Commodity Exchange Act (7 U.S.C. 1 et seq.);
                    ``(B) the jurisdiction or authority of the 
                Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity 
                Futures Trading Commission; or
                    ``(C) the functions and operations of self-
                regulatory organizations and securities information 
                processors under the provisions of the Securities 
                Exchange Act of 1934 and the rules and regulations 
                thereunder, including making market information 
                available pursuant to the provisions of that Act and 
                the rules and regulations promulgated thereunder.
            ``(2) Prohibition.--Notwithstanding any provision in 
        subsection (a), (b), (c), (d), or (f) of section 1403, nothing 
        in this chapter shall permit the extraction, use, resale, or 
        other disposition of real-time market information except as the 
        Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the Commodity Exchange Act, 
        and the rules and regulations thereunder may otherwise provide. 
        In addition, nothing in subsection (e) of section 1403 shall be 
        construed to permit any person to extract or use real-time 
        market information in a manner that constitutes a market 
        substitute for a real-time market information service 
        (including the real-time systematic updating of or display of a 
        substantial part of market information) provided on a real-time 
        basis.
            ``(3) Definition.--As used in this subsection, the term 
        `market information' means information relating to quotations 
        and transactions that is collected, processed, distributed, or 
        published pursuant to the provisions of the Securities Exchange 
        Act of 1934 or by a contract market that is designated by the 
        Commodity Futures Trading Commission pursuant to the Commodity 
        Exchange Act and the rules and regulations thereunder.
``Sec. 1406. Civil remedies
    ``(a) Civil Actions.--Any person who is injured by a violation of 
section 1402 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 1402. 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 1402, 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 1402, order the 
remedial modification or destruction of all copies of contents of a 
collection of information extracted or used in violation of section 
1402, 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 1402 has been 
established in any civil action arising under this section, the 
plaintiff shall be entitled to recover any damages sustained by the 
plaintiff and defendant's profits not taken into account in computing 
the damages sustained by the plaintiff. 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 gross revenue only and the defendant shall be 
required to 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 and shall award such costs and fees where it 
determines that an action was brought under this chapter in bad faith 
against a nonprofit educational, scientific, or research institution, 
library, or archives, or an employee or agent of such an entity, acting 
within the scope of his or her employment.
    ``(e) Reduction or Remission of Monetary Relief for Nonprofit 
Educational, Scientific, or Research Institutions.--The court shall 
reduce or remit entirely monetary relief under subsection (d) in any 
case in which a defendant believed and had reasonable grounds for 
believing that his or her conduct was permissible under this chapter, 
if the defendant was an employee or agent of a nonprofit educational, 
scientific, or research institution, library, or archives acting within 
the scope of his or her employment.
    ``(f) Actions Against United States Government.--Subsections (b) 
and (c) shall not apply to any action against the United States 
Government.
    ``(g) 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. 1407. Criminal offenses and penalties
    ``(a) Violation.--
            ``(1) In general.--Any person who violates section 1402 
        willfully, and--
                    ``(A) does so for direct or indirect commercial 
                advantage or financial gain, or
                    ``(B) 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).
            ``(2) Inapplicability.--This section shall not apply to an 
        employee or agent of a nonprofit educational, scientific, or 
        research institution, library, or archives acting within the 
        scope of his or her employment.
    ``(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. 1408. Limitations on actions
    ``(a) Criminal Proceedings.--No criminal proceeding shall be 
maintained under this chapter unless it is commenced within three years 
after the cause of action arises.
    ``(b) Civil Actions.--No civil action shall be maintained under 
this chapter unless it is commenced within three years after the cause 
of action arises or claim accrues.
    ``(c) Additional Limitation.--No criminal or civil action shall be 
maintained under this chapter for the extraction or use of all or a 
substantial part of a collection of information that occurs more than 
15 years after the portion of the collection that is extracted or used 
was first offered for sale or otherwise in commerce, following the 
investment of resources that qualified that portion of the collection 
for protection under this chapter. In no case shall any protection 
under this chapter resulting from a substantial investment of resources 
in maintaining a preexisting collection prevent any use or extraction 
of information from a copy of the preexisting collection after the 15 
years have expired with respect to the portion of that preexisting 
collection that is so used or extracted, and no liability under this 
chapter shall thereafter attach to such acts of use or extraction.''.

SEC. 3. CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.

    (a) Table of Chapters.--The table of chapters for title 17, United 
States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:

``14. Misappropriation of Collections of Information........    1401''.
    (b) District Court Jurisdiction.--(1) Section 1338 of title 28, 
United States Code, is amended--
            (A) in the section heading by inserting ``misappropriations 
        of collections of information,'' after ``trade-marks,''; and
            (B) by adding at the end the following:
    ``(d) The district courts shall have original jurisdiction of any 
civil action arising under chapter 14 of title 17, relating to 
misappropriation of collections of information. Such jurisdiction shall 
be exclusive of the courts of the States, except that any action 
against a State governmental entity may be brought in any court that 
has jurisdiction over claims against such entity.''.
    (2) The item relating to section 1338 in the table of sections for 
chapter 85 of title 28, United States Code, is amended by inserting 
``misappropriations of collections of information,'' after ``trade-
marks,''.
    (c) Place for Bringing Actions.--(1) Section 1400 of title 28, 
United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(c) Civil actions arising under chapter 14 of title 17, relating 
to misappropriation of collections of information, may be brought in 
the district in which the defendant or the defendant's agent resides or 
may be found.''.
    (2) The section heading for section 1400 of title 28, United States 
Code, is amended to read as follows:
``Sec. 1400. Patents and copyrights, mask works, designs, and 
              collections of information''.
    (3) The item relating to section 1400 in the table of sections at 
the beginning of chapter 87 of title 28, United States Code, is amended 
to read as follows:

``1400. Patents and copyrights, mask works, designs, and collections of 
                            information.''.
    (d) Court of Federal Claims Jurisdiction.--Section 1498(e) of title 
28, United States Code, is amended by inserting ``and to protections 
afforded collections of information under chapter 14 of title 17'' 
after ``chapter 9 of title 17''.

SEC. 4. EFFECTIVE DATE.

    (a) In General.--This title and the amendments made by this title 
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 14 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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