[DOCID: f:h1621ih.txt]

105th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1621

 To amend the provisions of title 17, United States Code, with respect
         to the duration of copyright, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 15, 1997

   Mr. Bono introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
                       Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 To amend the provisions of title 17, United States Code, with respect
         to the duration of copyright, and for other purposes.

    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 ``Copyright Term Extension Act of
1997''.

SEC. 2. DURATION OF COPYRIGHT PROVISIONS.

    (a) Preemption With Respect to Other Laws.--Section 301(c) of title
17, United States Code, is amended by striking ``February 15, 2047''
each place it appears and inserting ``February 15, 2067''.
    (b) Duration of Copyright: Works Created on or After January 1,
1978.--Section 302 of title 17, United States Code, is amended--
            (1) in subsection (a) by striking ``fifty'' and inserting
        ``70'';
            (2) in subsection (b) by striking ``fifty'' and inserting
        ``70'';
            (3) in subsection (c) in the first sentence--
                    (A) by striking ``seventy-five'' and inserting
                ``95''; and
                    (B) by striking ``one hundred'' and inserting
                ``120''; and
            (4) in subsection (e) in the first sentence--
                    (A) by striking ``seventy-five'' and inserting
                ``95'';
                    (B) by striking ``one hundred'' and inserting
                ``120''; and
                    (C) by striking ``fifty'' each place it appears and
                inserting ``70''.
    (c) Duration of Copyright: Works Created but Not Published or
Copyrighted Before January 1, 1978.--Section 303 of title 17, United
States Code, is amended in the second sentence by striking ``December
31, 2027'' and inserting ``December 31, 2047''.
    (d) Duration of Copyright: Subsisting Copyrights.--
            (1) In general.--Section 304 of title 17, United States
        Code, is amended--
                    (A) in subsection (a)--
                            (i) in paragraph (1)--
                                    (I) in subparagraph (B) by striking
                                ``47'' and inserting ``67''; and
                                    (II) in subparagraph (C) by
                                striking ``47'' and inserting ``67'';
                            (ii) in paragraph (2)--
                                    (I) in subparagraph (A) by striking
                                ``47'' and inserting ``67''; and
                                    (II) in subparagraph (B) by
                                striking ``47'' and inserting ``67'';
                                and
                            (iii) in paragraph (3)--
                                    (I) in subparagraph (A)(i) by
                                striking ``47'' and inserting ``67'';
                                and
                                    (II) in subparagraph (B) by
                                striking ``47'' and inserting ``67'';
                    (B) by amending subsection (b) to read as follows:
    ``(b) Copyrights in Their Renewal Term at the Time of the Effective
Date of the Copyright Term Extension Act of 1997.--Any copyright still
in its renewal term at the time that the Copyright Term Extension Act
of 1997 becomes effective shall have a copyright term of 95 years from
the date copyright was originally secured.'';
                    (C) in subsection (c)(4)(A) in the first sentence
                by inserting ``or, in the case of a termination under
                subsection (d), within the five-year period specified
                by subsection (d)(2),'' after ``specified by clause (3)
                of this subsection,''; and
                    (D) by adding at the end the following new
                subsection:
    ``(d) Termination Rights Provided in Subsection (c) Which Have
Expired on or Before the Effective Date of the Copyright Term Extension
Act of 1997.--In the case of any copyright other than a work made for
hire, subsisting in its renewal term on the effective date of the
Copyright Term Extension Act of 1997 for which the termination right
provided in subsection (c) has expired by such date, where the author
or owner of the termination right has not previously exercised such
termination right, the exclusive or nonexclusive grant of a transfer or
license of the renewal copyright or any right under it, executed before
January 1, 1978, by any of the persons designated in subsection
(a)(1)(C) of this section, other than by will, is subject to
termination under the following conditions:
            ``(1) The conditions specified in subsection (c) (1), (2),
        (4), (5), and (6) of this section apply to terminations of the
        last 20 years of copyright term as provided by the amendments
        made by the Copyright Term Extension Act of 1997.
            ``(2) Termination of the grant may be effected at any time
        during a period of 5 years beginning at the end of 75 years
        from the date copyright was originally secured.''.
            (2) Copyright renewal act of 1992.--Section 102 of the
        Copyright Renewal Act of 1992 (Public Law 102-307; 106 Stat.
        266; 17 U.S.C. 304 note) is amended--
                    (A) in subsection (c)--
                            (i) by striking ``47'' and inserting
                        ``67'';
                            (ii) by striking ``(as amended by
                        subsection (a) of this section)''; and
                            (iii) by striking ``effective date of this
                        section'' each place it appears and inserting
                        ``effective date of the Copyright Term
                        Extension Act of 1997''; and
                    (B) in subsection (g)(2) in the second sentence by
                inserting before the period the following: ``, except
                each reference to forty-seven years in such provisions
                shall be deemed to be 67 years''.

SEC. 3. REPRODUCTION BY LIBRARIES AND ARCHIVES.

    Section 108 of title 17, United States Code, is amended--
            (1) by redesignating subsection (h) as subsection (i); and
            (2) by inserting after subsection (g) the following:
    ``(h)(1) For purposes of this section, during the last 20 years of
any term of copyright of a published work, a library or archives,
including a nonprofit educational institution that functions as such,
may reproduce, distribute, display, or perform in facsimile or digital
form a copy or phonorecord of such work, or portions thereof, for
purposes of preservation, scholarship, or research, if such library or
archives has first determined, on the basis of a reasonable
investigation, that none of the conditions set forth in subparagraphs
(A), (B), and (C) of paragraph (2) apply.
    ``(2) No reproduction, distribution, display, or performance is
authorized under this subsection if--
            ``(A) the work is subject to normal commercial
        exploitation;
            ``(B) a copy or phonorecord of the work can be obtained at
        a reasonable price; or
            ``(C) the copyright owner or its agent provides notice
        pursuant to regulations promulgated by the Register of
        Copyrights that either of the conditions set forth in
        subparagraphs (A) and (B) applies.
    ``(3) The exemption provided in this subsection does not apply to
any subsequent uses by users other than such library or archives.''.

SEC. 4. DISTRIBUTION OF PHONORECORDS.

    Section 303 of title 17, United States Code, is amended--
            (1) in the first sentence by striking ``Copyright'' and
        inserting ``(a) Copyright''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following:
    ``(b) The distribution before January 1, 1978, of phonorecords
shall not constitute publication of the musical work embodied therein
for purposes of the Copyright Act of 1909.''.

SEC. 5. EFFECTIVE DATES.

    (a) In General.--Except as provided in subsection (b), this Act and
the amendments made by this Act shall take effect on the date of the
enactment of this Act.
    (b) Distribution of Phonorecords.--The amendment made by section 4
shall not be a basis to reopen an action nor to commence a subsequent
action for copyright infringement if an action in which such claim was
raised was dismissed by final judgment before the date of enactment of
this Act. The amendment made by section 4 shall not apply to any action
pending on the date of enactment in any court in which a party, prior
to the date of enactment, sought dismissal of, judgment on, or
declaratory relief regarding a claim of infringement by arguing that
the adverse party had no valid copyright in a musical work by virtue of
the distribution of phonorecords embodying it.
                                 <all>
