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1 1 (December 16, 2004)

handle is hein.crs/crsaieg0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Order Code RS21512
Updated December 16, 2004
CRS Report for Congress
Received through the CRS Web
The Copyright Royalty
and Distribution Reform Act of 2004
Robin Jeweler
Legislative Attorney
American Law Division
Summary
P.L. 108-419, the Copyright Royalty and Distribution Reform Act of 2004
(CRDRA), was signed into law by President Bush on November 30, 2004. The law
makes extensive changes to the procedural framework for adjudicating royalty rates for
compulsory licenses under the Copyright Act. Compulsory licenses facilitate many
copyright-related activities, including digital transmissions of sound recordings in
webcasting. The law repeals and reenacts chapter 8 of Title 17 of the U.S. Code, 17
U.S.C. §§ 801-805. The previous ad hoc three-member Copyright Arbitration Royalty
Panel is replaced by standing Copyright Royalty Judges appointed for six-year terms.
Background. The owner of a copyright generally has the exclusive right to control
use and distribution of the protected work. One who wishes to use the protected work
ordinarily gets permission directly from the owner (or his or her agent). The permission
may take any number of forms, a common one being a license agreement.
There are several provisions in the Copyright Act that create statutory or
compulsory licenses. In these situations, a user need not obtain permission for use from
the copyright owner; permission is compulsory. The user or licensee must abide by
statutorily imposed conditions and pay prescribed royalties. Among the statutory licenses
created in the Copyright Act are licenses to make and distribute phonorecords
(mechanical licenses);' licenses for use of certain works by noncommercial broadcasters;2
and, licenses for specified secondary transmissions by cable television and satellite
1 17 U.S.C. § 115.
2 17 U.S.C. § 118.
Congressional Research Service **o The Library of Congress

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