[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1257 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







106th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1257

 To amend statutory damages provisions of title 17, United States Code.


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                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             June 22, 1999

  Mr. Hatch (for himself, Mr. Leahy, and Mr. Schumer) introduced the 
 following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 
                             the Judiciary

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                                 A BILL


 
 To amend statutory damages 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,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Digital Theft Deterrence and 
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 
                ``$150,000'';
                    (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 
        willful 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''.
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