[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 149 (Thursday, October 30, 1997)]
[Senate]
[Pages S11498-S11499]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




     TECHNICAL CORRECTIONS TO THE SATELLITE HOME VIEWER ACT OF 1994

  Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the 
Judiciary Committee be discharged from further consideration of H.R. 
672, and further that the Senate proceed to its immediate 
consideration.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered. The clerk 
will report.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

       A bill (H.R. 672) to make technical amendments to certain 
     provisions of title 17 of the United States Code.

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection to the immediate 
consideration of the bill?
  There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the bill.


                           Amendment No. 1541

       (Purpose: To make clarifying amendments to section 303 of 
     title 17, United States Code)

  Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, Senator Hatch has an amendment at the 
desk, and I ask for its immediate consideration.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

       The Senator from Iowa [Mr. Grassley], for Mr. Hatch, 
     proposes an amendment numbered 1541.

  Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that reading of 
the amendment be dispensed with.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The amendment is as follows:

       On page 15, insert the following after line 8 and 
     redesignate the succeeding sections, and references thereto, 
     accordingly:

     SEC. 11. DISTRIBUTION OF PHONORECORDS.

       Section 303 of title 17, United States Code, is amended--
       (1) by striking ``Copyright'' and inserting ``(a) 
     Copyright''; and
       (2) by inserting at the end the following:
       ``(b) The distribution before January 1, 1978, of a 
     phonorecord shall not for any purpose constitute a 
     publication of the musical work embodied therein.''.

  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, in March, the House passed H.R. 672. On 
April 17, the Senate Judiciary Committee reported our companion bill, 
S. 506.
  The only substantive difference between the two bills is that S. 506 
provides that the reasonable costs of a ratemaking proceeding conducted 
by a copyright arbitration royalty panel will be split 50-50 between 
the parties who would receive royalties from the royalty rate adopted 
in the proceeding and the parties who would pay the royalty rate so 
adopted. H.R. 672 provides that the costs shall be borne by the parties 
in direct proportion to their share of the distribution. The Copyright 
Office believes that the House version provides the copyright 
arbitration royalty panels with greater flexibility in certain 
circumstances. It is for this reason that the Senate is taking up the 
House version of the bill.
  Last year, when the House considered and passed a similar bill, H.R. 
1861, it included another section clarifying that the distribution of 
phonorecords prior to 1978 did not constitute action divesting 
copyright for the musical composition. This section was intended to 
clarify the Copyright Law of 1909 on an issue that has become a matter 
of increasing litigation in a number of Federal Circuits since the 
Ninth Circuit decision in the ZZ Top case. I was disappointed last year 
that the Senate did not proceed to consider and pass that bill.
  We now have that opportunity. The amendment to H.R. 672 adds back 
into the bill clarifications, which Chairman Hatch and I have 
cosponsored as part of another measure this year. This improvement will 
clarify an esoteric but increasingly important point of copyright law 
under the 1909 Act with respect to copyrights of musical compositions 
created more than 20 years ago.
  I therefore urge the adoption of the amendment to H.R. 672 and the 
immediate passage of the bill.
  Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the 
amendment be considered read, agreed to, the bill be considered read 
for a third time, and passed, as amended, the motion to reconsider be 
laid upon the table, and that any statements relating to the bill 
appear in the Record.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The amendment (No. 1541) was agreed to.

[[Page S11499]]

  The bill (H.R. 672), as amended, was deemed read a third time, and 
passed.

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