Page:H.R. Rep. No. 94-1476 (1976) Page 049.djvu

49 1971, and, following hearings in June 1971, a companion bill (H.R. 6927) passed the House with amendments on October 4, 1971 and was enacted as Public Law 92-140.

On March 26, 1973 S. 1361, for the general revision of the copyright law, was introduced in the 93rd Congress. Other than for technical amendments, this bill was identical to S. 644 of the 92d Congress. Additional copyright revision hearings were held in the Senate on July 31 and August 1, 1973.

The Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on April 19, 1974 reported S. 1361 with an amendment in the nature of a substitute. After adopting several amendments to the subcommittee bill, the Senate Judiciary Committee reported the legislation on July 8, 1974. On July 9 the measure was removed from the Senate calendar and referred to the Committee on Commerce. The Commerce Committee reported S. 1361 with additional amendments on July 29. After adopting several amendments the Senate on September 9 passed S. 1361 by a vote of 70 to 1.

Since it was doubtful that adequate time remained in the 93d Congress for consideration in the House of Representatives of S. 1361, on September 9, Senator McClellan introduced and obtained immediate consideration of S. 3976. That bill, passed on September 9, extended the renewal term of expiring copyrights, established on a permanent basis a limited copyright in sound recordings, and created in the Library of Congress a National Commission on New Technological Uses of Copyrighted Works. The House of Representatives passed the measure with amendments on December 19, 1974, and the Senate concurred in the House amendments on the same date. The President approved the bill on December 31, 1974, and it became Public Law 93-573.

At the beginning of the 94th Congress the revision bill, substantially identical to  1361 as passed by the Senate in 1974, was introduced in both Houses: Senator McClellan introduced S. 22 on January 15, 1975, and Chairman Robert W. Kastenmeier of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Courts, Civil Liberties, and the Administration of Justice, introduced H.R. 2223 on January 28, 1975. S. 22 was reported, with additional views by the Senate Judiciary Committee on November 20 (legislative day, November 18), 1975, and passed the Senate unanimously, on February 19, 1976, by a vote of 97–0.

During 1975 the House Judiciary Subcommittee conducted extensive hearings on H.R. 2223, at which nearly 100 witnesses were heard. The Register of Copyrights also prepared a “Second Supplementary Report on General Revision of the U.S. Copyright Law,” which discussed policy and technical issues of the revision legislation. Following some 22 days of public mark-up sessions in 1976 the House Subcommittee favorably reported S. 22, by a unanimous vote, on August 3, 1976 with an amendment in the nature of a substitute. The Committee on the Judiciary now reports that bill, as amended, without change.

Title II of S. 22, as passed by the Senate, represents a piece of legislation separate from the bill for general legislation. This measure was originally introduced by Chairman Edwin Willis of the House Judiciary Subcommittee in 1957, and received active