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HR 72 IH

To amend title 17, United States Code, to allow the making of a copy of a computer program in connection with the maintenance or repair of a computer.

JANUARY 7, 1997

Mr. KNOLLENBERG introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

To amend title 17, United States Code, to allow the making of a copy of a computer program in connection with the maintenance or repair of a computer.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION. 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the `Computer Maintenance Competition Assurance Act of 1997'.

SEC. 2. LIMITATIONS ON EXCLUSIVE RIGHTS; COMPUTER PROGRAMS.

Section 117 of title 17, United States Code, is amended--

(1) by striking `Notwithstanding' and inserting the following:

`(a) MAKING OF ADDITIONAL COPY OR ADAPTATION BY OWNER OF COPY- Notwithstanding';

(2) by striking `Any exact' and inserting the following:

`(b) LEASE, SALE, OR OTHER TRANSFER OF ADDITIONAL COPY OR ADAPTATION- Any exact'; and

(3) by adding at the end the following:

`(c) MACHINE MAINTENANCE OR REPAIR- Notwithstanding the provisions of section 106, it is not an infringement for the owner or lessee of a machine to make or authorize the making of a copy of a computer program if such copy is made solely by virtue of the activation of a machine that lawfully contains an authorized copy of the computer program, for purposes only of maintenance or repair of that machine, if--

`(1) such new copy is used in no other manner and is destroyed immediately after the maintenance or repair is completed; and

`(2) with respect to any computer program or part thereof that is not necessary for that machine to be activated, such program or part thereof is not accessed or used other than to make such new copy by virtue of the activation of the machine.

`(d) DEFINITIONS- For purposes of this section--

`(1) the `maintenance' of a machine means servicing the machine in order to make it work in accordance with its original specifications and any changes to those specifications authorized for that machine; and

`(2) the `repair' of a machine means restoring it to the state of working in accordance with its original specifications and any changes to those specifications authorized for that machine.'.

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