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.
October 17: 180-day arbitration period begins for Phase II distribution of 1997 cable royalty funds for syndicated programming category (65 FR 60690)
October 20: Deadline for comments on Copyright Office Website. Please respond to Copyweb@loc.gov
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