Page:H.R. Rep. No. 94-1476 (1976) Page 183.djvu

This page has been validated.

183

(without summaries or other commentary), and shall not be regarded as an official determination of the appropriateness or completeness of the categories contained therein or the items contained within those categories.

The functions of the Archive in serving as a central distribution point for research uses of broadcast news products are also provided for in this section. The Librarian is authorized to reproduce transmission programs consisting of regularly scheduled newscasts or on-the-spot coverage of news events; to compile by subject matter, without abridgement or any other editing, portions of these reproductions; and to reproduce these compilations and distribute any such reproductions by loan to a person engaged in research, and for deposit in a library or archive meeting the requirements of section 108(a) of Title 17. The distribution of such reproductions shall be for use only in research and not for further reproduction or performance. By regularly scheduled newscasts and on-the-spot coverage of news events, the committee intends to conform to the substantial precedents of the Federal Communications Commission in developing these terms.

The committee recognizes the difficulty of properly responding to requests for research materials under this section. The Librarian is authorized to establish standards and conditions for this process through regulation. The committee believes that these standards should indicate that no compilation undertaken by the Librarian shall be deemed for any purposes or proceeding to be an official determination of the subject matter covered by such a compilation. Further, the committee urges the Librarian to make compilations available to individual researchers under section 113(b)(3)(A) only if the researcher indicates the particular segments of news broadcasts he or she wishes to receive in compiled form, on the basis of the index prepared by the Librarian, which index would be supplied to the researcher requesting material from the Archive. Finally, the committee believes such regulations should indicate that any compilations should be in chronological order and should include enough material broadcast directly before and after the segment requested to ensure the researcher that the entire segment was included.

The proper functioning of the Archive will also depend on its ability to ensure the copyright integrity of materials it distributes for research purposes. The committee believes the Librarian, through regulation, should establish procedures which will facilitate proper use of any materials loaned for research or deposited for archival purposes in other libraries. These conditions should include provisions to implement the section’s prohibition on performance or reproduction.

Authorization and severability clause

Sec. 114 is a general authorization provision, except that “no more than $500,000 shall be appropriated annually for the operations of the Copyright Royalty Commission.” Sec. 115 is the familiar clause preserving the constitutionality of the remainder of the statute if any part of it is held unconstitutional.

Oversight

Oversight of the Copyright Office and the Copyright Royalty Commission is the responsibility of the Committee on the Judiciary of the