[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5107 Introduced in House (IH)]







106th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 5107

             To make certain corrections in copyright law.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           September 6, 2000

Mr. Coble (for himself, Mr. Berman, Mr. Conyers, Mrs. Bono, Mr. Wexler, 
 Mr. Delahunt, Ms. Lofgren, Mr. Boucher, Ms. McCarthy of Missouri, and 
  Mr. Rogan) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                       Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
             To make certain corrections in copyright law.

    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 ``Work Made For Hire and Copyright 
Corrections Act of 2000''.

SEC. 2. WORK MADE FOR HIRE.

    (a) Definition.--The definition of ``work made for hire'' contained 
in section 101 of title 17, United States Code, is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (2), by striking ``as a sound 
        recording,''; and
            (2) by inserting after paragraph (2) the following:
        ``In determining whether any work is eligible to be considered 
        a work made for hire under paragraph (2), neither the amendment 
        contained in section 1011(d) of the Intellectual Property and 
        Communications Omnibus Reform Act of 1999, as enacted by 
        section 1000(a)(9) of Public Law 106-113, nor the deletion of 
        the words added by that amendment--
                    ``(A) shall be considered or otherwise given any 
                legal significance, or
                    ``(B) shall be interpreted to indicate 
                congressional approval or disapproval of, or 
                acquiescence in, any judicial determination,
        by the courts or the Copyright Office. Paragraph (2) shall be 
        interpreted as if both section 2(a)(1) of the Work Made For 
        Hire and Copyright Corrections Act of 2000 and section 1011(d) 
        of the Intellectual Property and Communications Omnibus Reform 
        Act of 1999, as enacted by section 1000(a)(9) of Public Law 
        106-113, were never enacted, and without regard to any inaction 
        or awareness by the Congress at any time of any judicial 
        determinations.''.
    (b) Effective Date.--
            (1) Effective date.--The amendments made by this section 
        shall be effective as of November 29, 1999.
            (2) Severability.--If the provisions of paragraph (1), or 
        any application of such provisions to any person or 
        circumstance, is held to be invalid, the remainder of this 
        section, the amendments made by this section, and the 
        application of this section to any other person or circumstance 
        shall not be affected by such invalidation.

SEC. 3. OTHER AMENDMENTS TO TITLE 17, UNITED STATES CODE.

    (a) Amendments to Chapter 7.--Chapter 7 of title 17, United States 
Code, is amended as follows:
            (1) Section 710, and the item relating to that section in 
        the table of contents for chapter 7, are repealed.
            (2) Section 705(a) is amended to read as follows:
    ``(a) The Register of Copyrights shall ensure that records of 
deposits, registrations, recordations, and other actions taken under 
this title are maintained, and that indexes of such records are 
prepared.''.
            (3)(A) Section 708(a) is amended to read as follows:
    ``(a) Fees.--Fees shall be paid to the Register of Copyrights, in 
the amounts in effect on the date of enactment of the Work Made For 
Hire and Copyright Corrections Act of 2000, as adjusted under 
subsection (b)--
            ``(1) on filing each application under section 408 for 
        registration of a copyright claim or for a supplementary 
        registration, including the issuance of a certificate of 
        registration if registration is made;
            ``(2) on filing each application for registration of a 
        claim for renewal of a subsisting copyright under section 
        304(a), including the issuance of a certificate of registration 
        if registration is made;
            ``(3) for the issuance of a receipt for a deposit under 
        section 407;
            ``(4) for the recordation, as provided by section 205, of a 
        transfer of copyright ownership or other document;
            ``(5) for the filing, under section 115(b), of a notice of 
        intention to obtain a compulsory license;
            ``(6) for the recordation, under section 302(c), of a 
        statement revealing the identity of an author of an anonymous 
        or pseudonymous work, or for the recordation, under section 
        302(d), of a statement relating to the death of an author;
            ``(7) for the issuance, under section 706, of an additional 
        certificate of registration;
            ``(8) for the issuance of any other certification; and
            ``(9) for the making and reporting of a search as provided 
        by section 705, and for any related services.
The Register is authorized to fix fees for other services, including 
the cost of preparing copies of Copyright Office records, whether or 
not such copies are certified, based on the cost of providing the 
service.''.
                    (B) Section 708(b) is amended by striking the 
                matter preceding paragraph (1) and inserting the 
                following:
    ``(b) Adjustment of Fees.--The Register of Copyrights may, by 
regulation, adjust the fees for the actions specified in paragraphs (1) 
through (9) of subsection (a) in the following manner:''.
    (b) Conforming Amendment.--Section 121(a) of title 17, United 
States Code, is amended by striking ``sections 106 and 710'' and 
inserting ``section 106''.
    (c) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall take 
effect on the date of enactment of this Act.
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