Australie

États-Unis d'Amérique

Droit d'auteur et droits connexes

[Follow-up question] We note the US response that this decision does not affect obligations to other WTO Members under Article 14 of TRIPS. The US stated that it has pending congressional legislation. Could they provide some detail of the substance of the provisions of that legislation in their written response or, alternatively, an appropriate reference to that (draft) legislation.

The bill in the House of Representatives clarifying the issues raised in La Cienega Music v. ZZ Top is H.R. 1861. This bill has many parts to it, and the section relevant to this issue is one small part. It would amend Section 303 of the Copyright Act by adding the following language: "The distribution before 1 January 1978, of a phonorecord shall not for any purpose constitute a publication of the musical work embodied therein." H.R. 1861 was passed in the House on 4 June 1996, and is currently awaiting action in the Senate. We do not know at this time whether the bill will be passed in the Senate without change.