MESSAGE
| DATE | 2002-07-22 |
| FROM | Ruben I Safir
|
| SUBJECT | Subject: [hangout] Movies = Legal Tender?
|
Call Senator Schmurer and Clinton today....
On 2002.07.19 14:55 Seth Johnson wrote:
(Keep the colon on the end of the URL)
> http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c107:S.2395:
Anticounterfeiting Amendments of 2002 (Introduced in Senate)
107th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 2395
To prevent and punish counterfeiting and copyright piracy,
and for other purposes.
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
April 30, 2002
Mr. BIDEN (for himself, Mr. ALLEN, Mr. HOLLINGS, Mrs. BOXER,
Mrs. MURRAY, Mr. SMITH of Oregon, Mr. NELSON of Nebraska,
and Mr. DORGAN) introduced the following bill; which was
read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
------------------------------------------------------
A BILL
To prevent and punish counterfeiting and copyright piracy,
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 `Anticounterfeiting Amendments
of 2002'.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds that--
(1) American innovation, and the protection of that
innovation by the government, has been a critical component
of the economic growth of this Nation throughout the history
of the Nation;
(2) copyright-based industries represent one of the most
valuable economic assets of this country, contributing over
5 percent of the gross domestic product of the United States
and creating significant job growth and tax revenues;
(3) the American intellectual property sector employs
approximately 4,300,000 people, representing over 3 percent
of total United States employment;
(4) the proliferation of organized criminal counterfeiting
enterprises threatens the economic growth of United States
copyright industries;
(5) the American intellectual property sector has invested
millions of dollars to develop highly sophisticated
authentication features that assist consumers and law
enforcement in distinguishing genuine intellectual property
products and packaging from counterfeits;
(6) in order to thwart these industry efforts,
counterfeiters traffic in, and tamper with, genuine
authentication features, for example, by obtaining genuine
authentication features through illicit means and then
commingling these features with counterfeit software or
packaging;
(7) Federal law does not provide adequate civil and criminal
remedies to combat tampering activities that directly
facilitate counterfeiting crimes; and
(8) in order to strengthen Federal enforcement against
counterfeiting of copyrighted works, Congress must enact
legislation that--
(A) prohibits trafficking in, and tampering with,
authentication features of copyrighted works; and
(B) permits aggrieved parties an appropriate civil cause of
action.
SEC. 3. PROHIBITION AGAINST TRAFFICKING IN ILLICIT
AUTHENTICATION FEATURES.
(a) IN GENERAL- Section 2318 of title 18, United States
Code, is amended--
(1) by striking the heading and inserting `Trafficking in
counterfeit labels, illicit authentication features, or
counterfeit documentation or packaging';
(2) by striking subsection (a) and inserting the following:
`(a) Whoever, in any of the circumstances described in
subsection (c), knowingly traffics in--
`(1) a counterfeit label affixed to, or designed to be
affixed to--
`(A) a phonorecord;
`(B) a copy of a computer program;
`(C) a copy of a motion picture or other audiovisual work;
or
`(D) documentation or packaging;
`(2) an illicit authentication feature affixed to or
embedded in, or designed to be affixed to or embedded in--
`(A) a phonorecord;
`(B) a copy of a computer program;
`(C) a copy of a motion picture or other audiovisual work;
or
`(D) documentation or packaging; or
`(3) counterfeit documentation or packaging,
shall be fined under this title or imprisoned for not more
than 5 years, or both.';
(3) in subsection (b)--
(A) in paragraph (2), by striking `and' at the end;
(B) in paragraph (3)--
(i) by striking `and `audiovisual work' have' and inserting
the following: `, `audiovisual work', and `copyright owner'
have'; and
(ii) by striking the period at the end and inserting a
semicolon; and
(C) by adding at the end the following:
`(4) the term `authentication feature' means any hologram,
watermark, certification, symbol, code, image, sequence of
numbers or letters, or other physical feature that either
individually or in combination with another feature is used
by the respective copyright owner to verify that a
phonorecord, a copy of a computer program, a copy of a
motion picture or other audiovisual work, or documentation
or packaging is not counterfeit or otherwise infringing of
any copyright;
`(5) the term `documentation or packaging' means
documentation or packaging for a phonorecord, copy of a
computer program, or copy of a motion picture or other
audiovisual work; and
`(6) the term `illicit authentication feature' means an
authentication feature, that--
`(A) without the authorization of the respective copyright
owner has been tampered with or altered so as to facilitate
the reproduction or distribution of--
`(i) a phonorecord;
`(ii) a copy of a computer program;
`(iii) a copy of a motion picture or other audiovisual work;
or
`(iv) documentation or packaging;
in violation of the rights of the copyright owner under
title 17;
`(B) is genuine, but has been distributed, or is intended
for distribution, without the authorization of the
respective copyright owner; or
`(C) appears to be genuine, but is not.';
(4) in subsection (c)--
(A) by striking paragraph (3) and inserting the following:
`(3) the counterfeit label or illicit authentication feature
is affixed to, is embedded in, or encloses, or is designed
to be affixed to, to be embedded in, or to enclose--
`(A) a phonorecord of a copyrighted sound recording;
`(B) a copy of a copyrighted computer program;
`(C) a copy of a copyrighted motion picture or other
audiovisual work; or
`(D) documentation or packaging; or'; and
(B) in paragraph (4), by striking `for a computer program';
(5) in subsection (d)--
(A) by inserting `or illicit authentication features' after
`counterfeit labels' each place it appears;
(B) by inserting `or illicit authentication features' after
`such labels'; and
(C) by inserting before the period at the end the following:
`, and of any equipment, device, or materials used to
manufacture, reproduce, or assemble the counterfeit labels
or illicit authentication features'; and
(6) by adding at the end the following:
`(f) CIVIL REMEDIES FOR VIOLATION-
`(1) IN GENERAL- Any copyright owner who is injured by a
violation of this section or is threatened with injury, may
bring a civil action in an appropriate United States
district court.
`(2) DISCRETION OF COURT- In any action brought under
paragraph (1), the court--
`(A) may grant 1 or more temporary or permanent injunctions
on such terms as the court determines to be reasonable to
prevent or restrain violations of this section;
`(B) at any time while the action is pending, may order the
impounding, on such terms as the court determines to be
reasonable, of any article that is in the custody or control
of the alleged violator and that the court has reasonable
cause to believe was involved in a violation of this
section; and
`(C) may award to the injured party--
`(i) reasonable attorney fees and costs; and
`(ii)(I) actual damages and any additional profits of the
violator, as provided by paragraph (3); or
`(II) statutory damages, as provided by paragraph (4).
`(3) ACTUAL DAMAGES AND PROFITS-
`(A) IN GENERAL- The injured party is entitled to recover--
`(i) the actual damages suffered by the injured party as a
result of a violation of this section, as provided by
subparagraph (B); and
`(ii) any profits of the violator that are attributable to a
violation of this section and are not taken into account in
computing the actual damages.
`(B) CALCULATION OF DAMAGES- The court shall calculate
actual damages by multiplying--
`(i) the value of the phonorecords or copies to which
counterfeit labels, illicit authentication features, or
counterfeit documentation or packaging were affixed or
embedded, or designed to be affixed or embedded; by
`(ii) the number of phonorecords or copies to which
counterfeit labels, illicit authentication features, or
counterfeit documentation or packaging were affixed or
embedded, or designed to be affixed or embedded, unless such
calculation would underestimate the actual harm suffered by
the copyright owner.
`(C) DEFINITION- For purposes of this paragraph, the term
`value of the phonorecord or copy' means--
`(i) the retail value of an authorized phonorecord of a
copyrighted sound recording;
`(ii) the retail value of an authorized copy of a
copyrighted computer program; or
`(iii) the retail value of a copy of a copyrighted motion
picture or other audiovisual work.
`(4) STATUTORY DAMAGES- The injured party may elect, at any
time before final judgment is rendered, to recover, instead
of actual damages and profits, an award of statutory damages
for each violation of this section in a sum of not less than
$2,500 or more than $25,000, as the court considers
appropriate.
`(5) SUBSEQUENT VIOLATION- The court may increase an award
of damages under this subsection by 3 times the amount that
would otherwise be awarded, as the court considers
appropriate, if the court finds that a person has
subsequently violated this section within 3 years after a
final judgment was entered against that person for a
violation of this section.
`(6) LIMITATION ON ACTIONS- A civil action may not be
commenced under this section unless it is commenced within 3
years after the date on which the claimant discovers the
violation.
`(g) OTHER RIGHTS NOT AFFECTED- Nothing in this section
shall enlarge, diminish, or otherwise affect liability under
section 1201 or 1202 of title 17.'.
(b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENT- The item relating to
section 2318 in the table of sections at the beginning of
chapter 113 of title 18, United States Code, is amended by
inserting `or illicit authentication features' after
`counterfeit labels'.
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