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Piracy and Counterfeiting Amendments Act of 1982

Public Law 97-180 · S. 691 · 97th Congress · began in the Senate

Signed by Ronald Reagan (R) on May 24, 1982 · Crime and Law Enforcement

Sponsor: Sen. Strom Thurmond (R-SC)

Cosponsors: None

Passage votes

  • HouseVoice vote
  • SenateVoice vote
Data notes

The final version of the law, as each chamber passed it. A chamber that passed it by voice vote or unanimous consent has no count. “Method not stated” means the record does not say how the chamber voted. Where the record has a member-by-member vote, the “Who voted for it” section shows who voted yea.

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Summary

The Congressional Research Service’s plain-language summary of what the law does.

Piracy and Counterfeiting Amendments Act of 1981 - Amends the Federal criminal code to revise and increase the penalties for the offense of trafficking in counterfeit labels.

Includes within such offense trafficking in copies of motion pictures and audiovisual works. Eliminates the current scienter (knowledge) requirement of "fraudulent intent." Increases the maximum penalty from one year imprisonment and/or a $10,000 fine to five years' imprisonment and/or a $250,000 fine. Separates from the elements of such offense its jurisdictional bases, which are defined to include: (1) special jurisdiction of the United States (territorial, aircraft, or maritime); (2) use of a facility of interstate or foreign commerce; or (3) counterfeiting copyrighted material.

Establishes new criminal penalties for the criminal infringement of a copyright involving the reproduction or distribution of phonorecords, motion pictures, or audiovisual works. Correlates the level of such penalties to the number of items reproduced or distributed during any 180-day period.

Committees

The committees the bill was sent to, and what each did with it.

  • Judiciary Committee · House · discharged from, referred toSubcommittee: Courts, Intellectual Property, Artificial Intelligence, and the Internet Subcommittee
  • Judiciary Committee · Senate · markup by, referred to, reported bySubcommittee: Terrorism, Technology, and Government Information Subcommittee
Data notes

A committee links to its page only where it exists in the current Congress; older and renamed committees are named without a link.

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Timeline

From introduction to signing, newest first: the committees, the floor and the president. 17 actions.

  1. May 24, 1982Became lawBecame law · Became Public Law No: 97-180.
  2. Became lawBecame law · Signed by President.
  3. May 12, 1982PresidentPresident · Presented to President.
  4. May 10, 1982FloorFloor · Passed House by Voice Vote.
  5. FloorFloor · Called up by House by Unanimous Consent.
  6. CommitteeCommittee · Discharged from House Judiciary Committee
  7. Jan 4, 1982CommitteeCommittee · Referred to Courts, Intellectual Property, Artificial Intelligence, and the Internet Subcommittee of the House Judiciary Committee
  8. Dec 3, 1981CommitteeCommittee · Referred to House Judiciary Committee
  9. Dec 1, 1981FloorFloor · Passed Senate with amendments by Voice Vote.
  10. Nov 18, 1981CommitteeCommittee · Reported by Senate Judiciary Committee
  11. Nov 10, 1981CommitteeCommittee · Markup by Senate Judiciary Committee
  12. Oct 29, 1981CommitteeCommittee · Markup by Terrorism, Technology, and Government Information Subcommittee of the Senate Judiciary Committee
  13. CommitteeCommittee · Reported by Terrorism, Technology, and Government Information Subcommittee of the Senate Judiciary Committee
  14. Jun 19, 1981CommitteeCommittee · Hearings by Terrorism, Technology, and Government Information Subcommittee of the Senate Judiciary Committee
  15. Mar 19, 1981CommitteeCommittee · Referred to Terrorism, Technology, and Government Information Subcommittee of the Senate Judiciary Committee
  16. Mar 12, 1981CommitteeCommittee · Referred to Senate Judiciary Committee
  17. IntroducedIntroduced · Introduced in the Senate
Data notes

Shows the introduction, each committee and subcommittee step the source dates (referral, hearings, markup, report, discharge), and the floor, conference, presidential and became-law steps. Calendar placements, messages between the chambers, amendments and committee report numbers are not shown for laws before the 108th Congress. Two entries the source lists twice are shown once.

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Official record

The bill’s full text and every action, including introduction and committee steps, are on Congress.gov. Data through Oct 7, 2026.