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132 STAT. 3728

This title may be cited as the “Classics Protection and Access Act”.

(a) —Title 17, United States Code, is amended—
 * (1) in section 301, by striking subsection (c) and inserting the following:

“(c) Notwithstanding the provisions of section 303, and in accordance with chapter 14, no sound recording fixed before February 15, 1972, shall be subject to copyright under this title. With respect to sound recordings fixed before February 15, 1972, the preemptive provisions of subsection (a) shall apply to activities that are commenced on and after the date of enactment of the Classics Protection and Access Act. Nothing in this subsection may be construed to affirm or negate the preemption of rights and remedies pertaining to any cause of action arising from the nonsubscription broadcast transmission of sound recordings under the common law or statutes of any State for activities that do not qualify as covered activities under chapter 14 undertaken during the period between the date of enactment of the Classics Protection and Access Act and the date on which the term of prohibition on unauthorized acts under section 1401(a)(2) expires for such sound recordings. Any potential preemption of rights and remedies related to such activities undertaken during that period shall apply in all respects as it did the day before the date of enactment of the Classics Protection and Access Act.”; and
 * (2) by adding at the end the following:

“§ 1401. Unauthorized use of pre-1972 sound recordings

“(a) —
 * “(1) —Anyone who, on or before the last day of the applicable transition period under paragraph (2), and without the consent of the rights owner, engages in covered activity with respect to a sound recording fixed before February 15, 1972, shall be subject to the remedies provided in sections 502 through 505 and 1203 to the same extent as an infringer of copyright or a person that engages in unauthorized activity under chapter 12.
 * “(2) —
 * “(A) —The prohibition under paragraph (1)—
 * “(i) subject to clause (ii), shall apply to a sound recording described in that paragraph—
 * “(I) through December 31 of the year that is 95 years after the year of first publication; and