CLASSICS Act
Latest action · Jul 19, 2017 Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.
Progress
Where this bill reached, and when. A stage with no date was not reached; one that failed a vote and later carried shows the date it carried.
- IntroducedJul 19, 2017
- Passed HouseNot reached
- Passed SenateNot reached
- To the PresidentNot reached
- Became lawNot reached
Summary
Compensating Legacy Artists for their Songs, Service, and Important Contributions to Society Act or the CLASSICS Act
This bill provides federal copyright protection for sound recordings fixed before February 15, 1972, specifically the right to make digital transmissions. Currently, pre-1972 recordings are only covered by state law.
Pre-1972 recordings will fall within the existing compulsory license system for digital transmissions, which currently only cover post-1972 recordings.
The bill preempts claims under state and common law for digital transmission of pre-1972 recordings.
Cosponsors 44
Members who signed on, in the order they did. Signatures ran from Jul 19, 2017 to Mar 19, 2018; 5 are original cosponsors, there from the day it was introduced.
| Seat | Cosponsor | Signed on | |
|---|---|---|---|
| D-NY | Jerrold Nadler | Original | Jul 19, 2017 |
| D-MI | John Conyers, Jr. | Original | Jul 19, 2017 |
| R-TN | Marsha Blackburn | Original | Jul 19, 2017 |
| D-FL | Theodore E. Deutch | Original | Jul 19, 2017 |
| R-FL | Thomas J. Rooney | Original | Jul 19, 2017 |
| R-NC | George Holding | Jul 25, 2017 | |
| R-AZ | Andy Biggs | Oct 25, 2017 | |
| R-AZ | Trent Franks | Oct 25, 2017 | |
| D-MD | Jamie Raskin | Dec 21, 2017 | |
| D-TN | Steve Cohen | Jan 20, 2018 | |
| D-CA | Ted Lieu | Jan 20, 2018 | |
| D-RI | David N. Cicilline | Jan 30, 2018 | |
| D-CA | Karen Bass | Jan 30, 2018 | |
| R-TX | Lamar Smith | Jan 30, 2018 | |
| D-FL | Val Butler Demings | Jan 30, 2018 | |
| D-IL | Bradley Scott Schneider | Feb 2, 2018 | |
| R-GA | Doug Collins | Feb 2, 2018 | |
| D-TN | Jim Cooper | Feb 2, 2018 | |
| R-FL | John H. Rutherford | Feb 2, 2018 | |
| R-PA | Tom Marino | Feb 2, 2018 | |
| D-CA | Adam B. Schiff | Feb 5, 2018 | |
| D-FL | Debbie Wasserman Schultz | Feb 5, 2018 | |
| D-NY | Hakeem S. Jeffries | Feb 5, 2018 | |
| R-TX | John Ratcliffe | Feb 5, 2018 | |
| D-NY | Yvette D. Clarke | Feb 7, 2018 | |
| D-LA | Cedric L. Richmond | Feb 8, 2018 | |
| D-CA | Eric Swalwell | Feb 8, 2018 | |
| D-NY | Gregory W. Meeks | Feb 8, 2018 | |
| R-AL | Martha Roby | Feb 8, 2018 | |
| R-TX | Blake Farenthold | Feb 13, 2018 | |
| D-WA | Derek Kilmer | Feb 13, 2018 | |
| R-TX | Ted Poe | Feb 13, 2018 | |
| D-NY | Louise McIntosh Slaughter | Feb 14, 2018 | |
| R-FL | Matt Gaetz | Feb 14, 2018 | |
| R-LA | Mike Johnson | Feb 14, 2018 | |
| R-WI | F. James Sensenbrenner, Jr. | Feb 20, 2018 | |
| D-CA | Judy Chu | Feb 20, 2018 | |
| D-WA | Pramila Jayapal | Feb 20, 2018 | |
| R-MI | David A. Trott | Feb 27, 2018 | |
| R-FL | Dennis A. Ross | Feb 27, 2018 | |
| D-FL | Lois Frankel | Feb 27, 2018 | |
| D-FL | Darren Soto | Mar 19, 2018 | |
| R-CO | Ken Buck | Mar 19, 2018 | |
| D-CA | Lucille Roybal-Allard | Mar 19, 2018 |
Committees 1
Where it was sent and what each committee and subcommittee did with it, in order.
| Chamber | Committee | What it did |
|---|---|---|
| House | Judiciary Committee | Referred Jul 19, 2017 |
Actions 2
Everything that happened, newest first.
- Jul 19, 2017Introduced in House
- Jul 19, 2017Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.
Research
What has been written about this bill: committee reports, cost estimates, the sponsor’s authority statement, printed hearings and the Congressional Research Service’s work.
Constitutional authority
The sponsor’s statement, as printed in the Congressional Record, vol. 163, no. 122, July 19, 2017, page H6042.
Printed hearings 1
Hearings whose printed record names this bill, newest first: hearings on it, and wider hearings where it came up.
| Number | Hearing | Committee | Held |
|---|---|---|---|
| Serial No. 115-50 | MUSIC POLICY ISSUES: A PERSPECTIVE FROM THOSE WHO MAKE IT46 pages | Judiciary Committee | Jan 26, 2018 |
Related bills 3
Companion bills and other measures the record links to this one.
| Bill | Title | Relationship | Latest action |
|---|---|---|---|
| S 2393 | CLASSICS Act | Identical bill | May 15, 2018 |
| S 2823 | Music Modernization Act | Related bill | Sep 17, 2018 |
| HR 5447 | Music Modernization Act | Related bill | Apr 26, 2018 |
Titles 3
Every title it has carried, official and short, at each stage.
- Official Title as Introduced
- To amend title 17, United States Code, to provide Federal protection to the digital audio transmission of a sound recording fixed before February 15, 1972, and for other purposes.
- Short Titles as Introduced
- CLASSICS Act
- Compensating Legacy Artists for their Songs, Service, and Important Contributions to Society Act
Subjects
Assigned by the Library of Congress. Policy area: Commerce.
Text 1
Each version as it was printed, newest first.
- Jul 19, 2017Introduced in House
Everything here is as published by Congress: the summary is the Congressional Research Service's, the action wording is the clerks', and the subjects are the Library of Congress's. How far it got is read from the actions themselves, taking the most recent one of each kind, so a bill that failed a vote and later passed is shown as having passed. Records come from this bill on Congress.gov and govinfo.gov; cost estimates are the Congressional Budget Office's, and the hearings are the printed hearings GovInfo publishes, which can appear months after the hearing.
