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A bill to amend title 17 of the United States Code with respect to the fees of the Copyright Office, and for other purposes.

Public Law 97-366 · H.R. 4441 · 97th Congress · began in the House

Signed by Ronald Reagan (R) on Oct 25, 1982 · Commerce

Sponsor: Rep. Peter Rodino (D-NJ-10)

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.

Amends the copyright law to require that registration fees be paid to the Copyright Office when the registration application is filed. Limits refunds of such fees to mistakes or excess payments.

Exempts nonprofit veterans' organizations and nonprofit fraternal organizations from the requirement that nondramatic literary or musical performance royalties be paid to copyright holders when the performances are for charitable fund raising purposes.

Upgrades the position of Commissioner of Patents and Trademarks to that of Assistant Secretary of Commerce.

Committees

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

  • Judiciary Committee · House · markup by, referred to, reported bySubcommittee: Courts, Intellectual Property, Artificial Intelligence, and the Internet Subcommittee
  • Judiciary Committee · Senate · markup by, referred to, reported by
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. 25 actions.

  1. Oct 25, 1982Became lawBecame law · Became Public Law No: 97-366.
  2. Became lawBecame law · Signed by President.
  3. Oct 13, 1982PresidentPresident · Presented to President.
  4. Oct 1, 1982Resolving differencesResolving differences · House Agreed to Conference Report by Voice Vote.
  5. Resolving differencesResolving differences · Conference report agreed to in House: House Agreed to Conference Report by Voice Vote.
  6. Resolving differencesResolving differences · Senate agreed to conference report by Voice Vote.
  7. Resolving differencesResolving differences · Conference report agreed to in Senate: Senate agreed to conference report by Voice Vote.
  8. Resolving differencesResolving differences · Conference Report 97-930 Filed in House.
  9. Resolving differencesResolving differences · Conference report filed: Conference Report 97-930 Filed in House.
  10. Sep 20, 1982Resolving differencesResolving differences · Senate agreed to request for conference. Appointed conferees. Thurmond; Mathias; Laxalt; DeConcini; Zorinsky.
  11. FloorFloor · Senate insists on its amendments by Unanimous Consent.
  12. Jul 23, 1982Resolving differencesResolving differences · House Requested a Conference and Speaker Appointed Conferees: Kastenmeier, Brooks, Schroeder, Frank, Railsback, Butler, Sawyer.
  13. Resolving differencesResolving differences · House Disagreed to Senate Amendments by Unanimous Consent.
  14. Jun 30, 1982FloorFloor · Passed Senate with an amendment by Voice Vote.
  15. Jun 23, 1982CommitteeCommittee · Reported by Senate Judiciary Committee
  16. CommitteeCommittee · Markup by Senate Judiciary Committee
  17. May 12, 1982CommitteeCommittee · Referred to Senate Judiciary Committee
  18. May 10, 1982FloorFloor · Passed House (Amended) by Voice Vote.
  19. Apr 29, 1982CommitteeCommittee · Reported by House Judiciary Committee
  20. Mar 3, 1982CommitteeCommittee · Markup by House Judiciary Committee
  21. Oct 15, 1981CommitteeCommittee · Reported by Courts, Intellectual Property, Artificial Intelligence, and the Internet Subcommittee of the House Judiciary Committee
  22. CommitteeCommittee · Markup by Courts, Intellectual Property, Artificial Intelligence, and the Internet Subcommittee of the House Judiciary Committee
  23. Sep 11, 1981CommitteeCommittee · Referred to Courts, Intellectual Property, Artificial Intelligence, and the Internet Subcommittee of the House Judiciary Committee
  24. Sep 9, 1981CommitteeCommittee · Referred to House Judiciary Committee
  25. IntroducedIntroduced · Introduced in the House
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.