Copyright Law of the United States of America

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Section 1009. Civil remedies

(a) Civil Actions. Any interested copyright party injured by a violation
of section 1002 or 1003 may bring a civil action in an appropriate
United States district court against any person for such violation.

(b) Other Civil Actions. Any person injured by a violation of this
chapter may bring a civil action in an appropriate United States
district court for actual damages incurred as a result of such
violation.

(c) Powers of the Court. In an action brought under subsection (a), the
court-

(1) may grant temporary and permanent injunctions on such terms as it
deems reasonable to prevent or restrain such violation;

(2) in the case of a violation of section 1002, or in the case of an
injury resulting from a failure to make royalty payments required by
section 1003, shall award damages under subsection (d);

(3) in its discretion may allow the recovery of costs by or against any
party other than the United States or an officer thereof; and

(4) in its discretion may award a reasonable attorney's fee to the
prevailing party.

(d) Award of Damages.

(1) Damages for section 1002 or 1003 violations.

(A) Actual damages.

(i) In an action brought under subsection (a), if the court finds that a
violation of section 1002 or 1003 has occurred, the court shall award to
the complaining party its actual damages if the complaining party elects
such damages at any time before final judgment is entered.

(ii) In the case of section 1003, actual damages shall constitute the
royalty payments that should have been paid under section 1004 and
deposited under section 1005. In such a case, the court, in its
discretion, may award an additional amount of not to exceed 50 percent
of the actual damages.

(B) Statutory damages for section 1002 violations.

(i) Device. A complaining party may recover an award of statutory
damages for each violation of section 1002(a) or (c) in the sum of not
more than $2,500 per device involved in such violation or per device on
which a service prohibited by section 1002(c) has been performed, as the
court considers just.

(ii) Digital musical recording. A complaining party may recover an award
of statutory damages for each violation of section 1002(d) in the sum of
not more than $25 per digital musical recording involved in such
violation, as the court considers just.

(iii) Transmission. A complaining party may recover an award of damages
for each transmission or communication that violates section 1002(e) in
the sum of not more than $10,000, as the court considers just.

(2) Repeated violations. In any case in which the court finds that a
person has violated section 1002 or 1003 within 3 years after a final
judgment against that person for another such violation was entered, the
court may increase the award of damages to not more than double the
amounts that would otherwise be awarded under paragraph (1), as the
court considers just.

(3) Innocent violations of section 1002. The court in its discretion may
reduce the total award of damages against a person violating section
1002 to a sum of not less than $250 in any case in which the court finds
that the violator was not aware and had no reason to believe that its
acts constituted a violation of section 1002.

(e) Payment of Damages. Any award of damages under subsection (d) shall
be deposited with the Register pursuant to section 1005 for distribution
to interested copyright parties as though such funds were royalty
payments made pursuant to section 1003.

(f) Impounding of Articles. At any time while an action under subsection
(a) is pending, the court may order the impounding, on such terms as it
deems reasonable, of any digital audio recording device, digital musical
recording, or device specified in section 1002(c) that is in the custody
or control of the alleged violator and that the court has reasonable
cause to believe does not comply with, or was involved in a violation
of, section 1002.

(g) Remedial Modification and Destruction of Articles. In an action
brought under subsection (a), the court may, as part of a final judgment
or decree finding a violation of section 1002, order the remedial
modification or the destruction of any digital audio recording device,
digital musical recording, or device specified in section 1002(c) that-

(1) does not comply with, or was involved in a violation of, section
1002, and

(2) is in the custody or control of the violator or has been impounded
under subsection (f).

Section 1010. Arbitration of certain disputes [6]

(a) Scope of Arbitration. Before the date of first distribution in the
United States of a digital audio recording device or a digital audio
interface device, any party manufacturing, importing, or distributing
such device, and any interested copyright party may mutually agree to
binding arbitration for the purpose of determining whether such device
is subject to section 1002, or the basis on which royalty payments for
such device are to be made under section 1003.

(b) Initiation of Arbitration Proceedings. Parties agreeing to such
arbitration shall file a petition with the Librarian of Congress
requesting the commencement of an arbitration proceeding. The petition
may include the names and qualifications of potential arbitrators.
Within 2 weeks after receiving such a petition, the Librarian of
Congress shall cause notice to be published in the Federal Register of
the initiation of an arbitration proceeding. Such notice shall include
the names and qualifications of 3 arbitrators chosen by the Librarian of
Congress from a list of available arbitrators obtained from the American
Arbitration Association or such similar organization as the Librarian of
Congress shall select, and from potential arbitrators listed in the
parties' petition. The arbitrators selected under this subsection shall
constitute an Arbitration Panel.

(c) Stay of Judicial Proceedings. Any civil action brought under section
1009 against a party to arbitration under this section shall, on
application of one of the parties to the arbitration, be stayed until
completion of the arbitration proceeding.

(d) Arbitration Proceeding. The Arbitration Panel shall conduct an
arbitration proceeding with respect to the matter concerned, in
accordance with such procedures as it may adopt. The Panel shall act on
the basis of a fully documented written record. Any party to the
arbitration may submit relevant information and proposals to the Panel.
The parties to the proceeding shall bear the entire cost thereof in such
manner and proportion as the Panel shall direct.

(e) Report to the Librarian of Congress. Not later than 60 days after
publication of the notice under subsection (b) of the initiation of an
arbitration proceeding, the Arbitration Panel shall report to the
Librarian of Congress its determination concerning whether the device
concerned is subject to section 1002, or the basis on which royalty
payments for the device are to be made under section 1003. Such report
shall be accompanied by the written record, and shall set forth the
facts that the Panel found relevant to its determination.

(f) Action by the Librarian of Congress. Within 60 days after receiving
the report of the Arbitration Panel under subsection (e), the Librarian
of Congress shall adopt or reject the determination of the Panel. The
Librarian of Congress shall adopt the determination of the Panel unless
the Librarian of Congress finds that the determination is clearly
erroneous. If the Librarian of Congress rejects the determination of the
Panel, the Librarian of Congress shall, before the end of that 60-day
period, and after full examination of the record created in the
arbitration proceeding, issue an order setting forth the Librarian's
decision and the reasons therefor. The Librarian of Congress shall cause
to be published in the Federal Register the determination of the Panel
and the decision of the Librarian of Congress under this subsection with
respect to the determination (including any order issued under the
preceding sentence).

(g) Judicial Review. Any decision of the Librarian of Congress under
subsection (f) with respect to a determination of the Arbitration Panel
may be appealed, by a party to the arbitration, to the United States
Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, within 30 days
after the publication of the decision in the Federal Register. The
pendency of an appeal under this subsection shall not stay the decision
of the Librarian of Congress. The court shall have jurisdiction to
modify or vacate a decision of the Librarian of Congress only if it
finds, on the basis of the record before the Librarian of Congress, that
the Arbitration Panel or the Librarian of Congress acted in an arbitrary
manner. If the court modifies the decision of the Librarian of Congress,
the court shall have jurisdiction to enter its own decision in
accordance with its final judgment. The court may further vacate the
decision of the Librarian of Congress and remand the case for
arbitration proceedings as provided in this section.

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Chapter 10 Endnotes

1 The Audio Home Recording Act of 1992 added chapter 10, entitled
"Digital Audio Recording Devices and Media," to title 17. Pub. L. No.
102-563, 106 Stat. 4237.

2 The Copyright Royalty Tribunal Reform Act of 1993 amended section
1004(a)(3) by substituting "Librarian of Congress" in lieu of "Copyright
Royalty Tribunal," where appropriate. Pub. L. No. 103-198, 107 Stat.
2304, 2312.

3 The Copyright Royalty Tribunal Reform Act of 1993 amended section
1005 by striking the last sentence which began "The Register shall
submit to the Copyright Royalty Tribunal." Pub. L. No. 103-198, 107
Stat. 2304, 2312.

4 The Copyright Royalty Tribunal Reform Act of 1993 amended section
1006(c) by substituting "Librarian of Congress" in lieu of "Copyright
Royalty Tribunal," where appropriate. Pub. L. No. 103-198, 107 Stat.
2304, 2312. In 1997, section 1006(b)(1) was amended to insert
"Federation of Television" in lieu of "Federation Television" wherever
it appeared. Pub. L. No. 105-80, 111 Stat. 1529, 1535.

5 The Copyright Royalty Tribunal Reform Act of 1993 amended section
1007 by substituting "Librarian of Congress" in lieu of "Copyright
Royalty Tribunal" or "Tribunal," where appropriate, by amending the
first sentence in subsection (c) and by inserting "the reasonable
administrative costs incurred by the Librarian" in the last sentence of
subsection (c), in lieu of "its reasonable administrative costs." Pub.
L. No. 103-198, 107 Stat. 2304, 2312.

In 1997, section 1007 was amended, in subsection (a)(1), by inserting
"calendar year 1992" in lieu of "the calendar year in which this chapter
takes effect" and, in subsection (b), by inserting "1992" in lieu of
"the year in which this section takes effect," and also in subsection
(b), by inserting "After" in lieu of "Within 30 days after." Pub. L. No.
105-80, 111 Stat. 1529, 1534 and 1535.

6 The Copyright Royalty Tribunal Reform Act of 1993 amended section
1010 by substituting "Librarian of Congress" in lieu of "Copyright
Royalty Tribunal" or "Tribunal," where appropriate, and by inserting
"Librarian's" in lieu of "its." Pub. L. No. 103-198, 107 Stat. 2304,
2312. That Act, which established copyright arbitration royalty panels,
states that "[a]ll royalty rates and all determinations with respect to
the proportionate division of compulsory license fees among copyright
claimants, whether made by the Copyright Royalty Tribunal, or by
voluntary agreement, before the effective date set forth in subsection
(a) [December 17, 1993] shall remain in effect until modified by
voluntary agreement or pursuant to the amendments made by this Act."
Pub. L. No. 103-198, 107 Stat. 2304, 2313.

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Chapter 11 [1]

Sound Recordings and Music Videos

+ 1101. Unauthorized fixation and trafficking in sound recordings and
music videos

Section 1101. Unauthorized fixation and trafficking in sound recordings and
music videos

(a) Unauthorized Acts. Anyone who, without the consent of the performer
or performers involved-

(1) fixes the sounds or sounds and images of a live musical performance
in a copy or phonorecord, or reproduces copies or phonorecords of such a
performance from an unauthorized fixation,

(2) transmits or otherwise communicates to the public the sounds or
sounds and images of a live musical performance, or

(3) distributes or offers to distribute, sells or offers to sell, rents
or offers to rent, or traffics in any copy or phonorecord fixed as
described in paragraph (1), regardless of whether the fixations occurred
in the United States,

shall be subject to the remedies provided in sections 502 through 505,
to the same extent as an infringer of copyright.

(b) Definition. As used in this section, the term "traffic in" means
transport, transfer, or otherwise dispose of, to another, as
consideration for anything of value, or make or obtain control of with
intent to transport, transfer, or dispose of.

(c) Applicability. This section shall apply to any act or acts that
occur on or after the date of the enactment of the Uruguay Round
Agreements Act.

(d) State Law Not Preempted. Nothing in this section may be construed to
annul or limit any rights or remedies under the common law or statutes
of any State.

------------------
Chapter 11 Endnote

1 In 1994, the Uruguay Round Agreements Act added chapter 11, entitled
"Sound Recordings and Music Videos," to title 17. Pub. L. No. 103-465,
108 Stat. 4809, 4974.

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Chapter 12 [1] Copyright Protection and Management Systems

+ 1201. Circumvention of copyright protection systems
+ 1202. Integrity of copyright management information
+ 1203. Civil remedies
+ 1204. Criminal offenses and penalties
+ 1205. Savings clause

Section 1201. Circumvention of copyright protection systems [2]

(a) Violations Regarding Circumvention of Technological Measures. (1)(A)
No person shall circumvent a technological measure that effectively
controls access to a work protected under this title. The prohibition
contained in the preceding sentence shall take effect at the end of the
2-year period beginning on the date of the enactment of this chapter.

(B) The prohibition contained in subparagraph (A) shall not apply to
persons who are users of a copyrighted work which is in a particular
class of works, if such persons are, or are likely to be in the
succeeding 3-year period, adversely affected by virtue of such
prohibition in their ability to make noninfringing uses of that
particular class of works under this title, as determined under
subparagraph (C).

(C) During the 2-year period described in subparagraph (A), and during
each succeeding 3-year period, the Librarian of Congress, upon the
recommendation of the Register of Copyrights, who shall consult with the
Assistant Secretary for Communications and Information of the Department
of Commerce and report and comment on his or her views in making such
recommendation, shall make the determination in a rulemaking proceeding
for purposes of subparagraph (B) of whether persons who are users of a
copyrighted work are, or are likely to be in the succeeding 3-year
period, adversely affected by the prohibition under subparagraph (A) in
their ability to make noninfringing uses under this title of a
particular class of copyrighted works. In conducting such rule-making,
the Librarian shall examine-

(i) the availability for use of copyrighted works;

(ii) the availability for use of works for nonprofit archival,
preservation, and educational purposes;

(iii) the impact that the prohibition on the circumvention of
technological measures applied to copyrighted works has on criticism,
comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, or research;

(iv) the effect of circumvention of technological measures on the market
for or value of copyrighted works; and

(v) such other factors as the Librarian considers appropriate.

(D) The Librarian shall publish any class of copyrighted works for which
the Librarian has determined, pursuant to the rulemaking conducted under
subparagraph (C), that noninfringing uses by persons who are users of a
copyrighted work are, or are likely to be, adversely affected, and the
prohibition contained in subparagraph (A) shall not apply to such users
with respect to such class of works for the ensuing 3-year period.

(E) Neither the exception under subparagraph (B) from the applicability
of the prohibition contained in subparagraph (A), nor any determination
made in a rulemaking conducted under subparagraph (C), may be used as a
defense in any action to enforce any provision of this title other than
this paragraph.

(2) No person shall manufacture, import, offer to the public, provide,
or otherwise traffic in any technology, product, service, device,
component, or part thereof, that-

(A) is primarily designed or produced for the purpose of circumventing a
technological measure that effectively controls access to a work
protected under this title;

(B) has only limited commercially significant purpose or use other than
to circumvent a technological measure that effectively controls access
to a work protected under this title; or

(C) is marketed by that person or another acting in concert with that
person with that person's knowledge for use in circumventing a
technological measure that effectively controls access to a work
protected under this title.

(3) As used in this subsection-

(A) to "circumvent a technological measure" means to descramble a
scrambled work, to decrypt an encrypted work, or otherwise to avoid,
bypass, remove, deactivate, or impair a technological measure, without
the authority of the copyright owner; and

(B) a technological measure "effectively controls access to a work" if
the measure, in the ordinary course of its operation, requires the
application of information, or a process or a treatment, with the
authority of the copyright owner, to gain access to the work.

(b) Additional Violations. (1) No person shall manufacture, import,
offer to the public, provide, or otherwise traffic in any technology,
product, service, device, component, or part thereof, that-

(A) is primarily designed or produced for the purpose of circumventing
protection afforded by a technological measure that effectively protects
a right of a copyright owner under this title in a work or a portion
thereof;

(B) has only limited commercially significant purpose or use other than
to circumvent protection afforded by a technological measure that
effectively protects a right of a copyright owner under this title in a
work or a portion thereof; or

(C) is marketed by that person or another acting in concert with that
person with that person's knowledge for use in circumventing protection
afforded by a technological measure that effectively protects a right of
a copyright owner under this title in a work or a portion thereof.

(2) As used in this subsection-

(A) to "circumvent protection afforded by a technological measure" means
avoiding, bypassing, removing, deactivating, or otherwise impairing a
technological measure; and

(B) a technological measure "effectively protects a right of a copyright
owner under this title" if the measure, in the ordinary course of its
operation, prevents, restricts, or otherwise limits the exercise of a
right of a copyright owner under this title.

(c) Other Rights, Etc., Not Affected. (1) Nothing in this section shall
affect rights, remedies, limitations, or defenses to copyright
infringement, including fair use, under this title.

(2) Nothing in this section shall enlarge or diminish vicarious or
contributory liability for copyright infringement in connection with any
technology, product, service, device, component, or part thereof.

(3) Nothing in this section shall require that the design of, or design
and selection of parts and components for, a consumer electronics,
telecommunications, or computing product provide for a response to any
particular technological measure, so long as such part or component, or
the product in which such part or component is integrated, does not
otherwise fall within the prohibitions of subsection (a)(2) or (b)(1).

(4) Nothing in this section shall enlarge or diminish any rights of free
speech or the press for activities using consumer electronics,
telecommunications, or computing products.

(d) Exemption for Nonprofit Libraries, Archives, and Educational
Institutions.

(1) A nonprofit library, archives, or educational institution which
gains access to a commercially exploited copyrighted work solely in
order to make a good faith determination of whether to acquire a copy of
that work for the sole purpose of engaging in conduct permitted under
this title shall not be in violation of subsection (a)(1)(A). A copy of
a work to which access has been gained under this paragraph-

(A) may not be retained longer than necessary to make such good faith
determination; and

(B) may not be used for any other purpose.

(2) The exemption made available under paragraph (1) shall only apply
with respect to a work when an identical copy of that work is not
reasonably available in another form.

(3) A nonprofit library, archives, or educational institution that
willfully for the purpose of commercial advantage or financial gain
violates paragraph (1)-

(A) shall, for the first offense, be subject to the civil remedies under
section 1203; and

(B) shall, for repeated or subsequent offenses, in addition to the civil
remedies under section 1203, forfeit the exemption provided under
paragraph (1).

(4) This subsection may not be used as a defense to a claim under
subsection (a)(2) or (b), nor may this subsection permit a nonprofit
library, archives, or educational institution to manufacture, import,
offer to the public, provide, or otherwise traffic in any technology,
product, service, component, or part thereof, which circumvents a
technological measure.

(5) In order for a library or archives to qualify for the exemption
under this subsection, the collections of that library or archives shall
be-

(A) open to the public; or

(B) available not only to researchers affiliated with the library or
archives or with the institution of which it is a part, but also to
other persons doing research in a specialized field.

(e) Law Enforcement, Intelligence, and Other Government Activities. This
section does not prohibit any lawfully authorized investigative,
protective, information security, or intelligence activity of an
officer, agent, or employee of the United States, a State, or a
political subdivision of a State, or a person acting pursuant to a
contract with the United States, a State, or a political subdivision of
a State. For purposes of this subsection, the term "information
security" means activities carried out in order to identify and address
the vulnerabilities of a government computer, computer system, or
computer network.

(f) Reverse Engineering. (1) Notwithstanding the provisions of
subsection (a)(1)(A), a person who has lawfully obtained the right to
use a copy of a computer program may circumvent a technological measure
that effectively controls access to a particular portion of that program
for the sole purpose of identifying and analyzing those elements of the
program that are necessary to achieve interoperability of an
independently created computer program with other programs, and that
have not previously been readily available to the person engaging in the
circumvention, to the extent any such acts of identification and
analysis do not constitute infringement under this title.

(2) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsections (a)(2) and (b), a
person may develop and employ technological means to circumvent a
technological measure, or to circumvent protection afforded by a
technological measure, in order to enable the identification and
analysis under paragraph (1), or for the purpose of enabling
interoperability of an independently created computer program with other
programs, if such means are necessary to achieve such interoperability,
to the extent that doing so does not constitute infringement under this
title.

(3) The information acquired through the acts permitted under paragraph
(1), and the means permitted under paragraph (2), may be made available
to others if the person referred to in paragraph (1) or (2), as the case
may be, provides such information or means solely for the purpose of
enabling interoperability of an independently created computer program
with other programs, and to the extent that doing so does not constitute
infringement under this title or violate applicable law other than this
section.

(4) For purposes of this subsection, the term "interoperability" means
the ability of computer programs to exchange information, and of such
programs mutually to use the information which has been exchanged.

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