U.S. Copyright Office
NewsNet

October 13, 2000
Issue 105
For additional information, visit the Copyright Office homepage at
www.copyright.gov.

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News

Copyright Office

Work Made For Hire and Copyright Corrections Act of 2000 (Senate -- October 12, 2000) (H.R. 5107)

On October 12 the Senate passed H.R. 5107, legislation to amend the statutory definition of a "work made for hire," repealing the amendment to that definition that was made by the Intellectual Property and Communications Omnibus Reform Act of 1999 (IPCORA). IPCORA had inserted the words "as a sound recording" into the second paragraph of the definition of "work made for hire" found in section 101 of the Copyright Act.

The new amendment makes clear that neither the enactment of the work made for hire amendment in IPCORA nor the new amendment's deletion of the language added by IPCORA is to be considered in any way or otherwise given any effect by a court or the Copyright Office when interpreting paragraph (2) of the work-made-for-hire definition.

The purpose of the legislation is to restore status quo as it existed prior to Nov. 29, 1999, (the date IPCORA was enacted), without expressing or implying any view as to the proper interpretation of the work-made-for-hire definition. H.R. 5107 also makes noncontroversial corrections to the Copyright Act, removing expired sections and clarifying miscellaneous provisions governing fees and record keeping procedures.

This legislation is now before the President for his signature.


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