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HR 2601 108th Congress House

Public Domain Enhancement Act

Official title: To amend title 17, United States Code, to allow abandoned copyrighted works to enter the public domain after 50 years.

Introduced: October 5, 2004 Introduced by: Lofgren, Zoe Democratic · California See on congress.gov
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This bill died when the 108th Congress ended
It never became law before the 108th Congress (2003–2004) adjourned, and bills don't carry over to the next Congress. It would have to be reintroduced. You can still save it for reference, but it won't receive updates.
 Everywhere this bill has been 3 steps
Introduced
In committee
Reported out
Passed House
Passed Senate
To President
Became law
Sep 4, 2003
Referred to the Subcommittee on Courts, the Internet, and Intellectual Property.
Jun 25, 2003
Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.
Jun 25, 2003
Introduced in House
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 Latest action September 4, 2003

Referred to the Subcommittee on Courts, the Internet, and Intellectual Property.

 Plain-English summary Congressional Research Service

Public Domain Enhancement Act - Amends Federal copyright law to require the Register of Copyrights to charge a fee of $1 for maintaining in force the copyright in any published U.S. work. Requires the fee to be due 50 years after the date of first publication or on December 31, 2004, whichever occurs later, and every ten years thereafter until the end of the copyright term. Terminates the copyright unless payment of the applicable maintenance fee is received in the Copyright Office on or before its due date or within a grace period of six months thereafter.

Deems any ancillary or promotional work used in connection with the maintained work, such as an advertisement for a motion picture, also to be maintained in force.

Requires the: (1) maintenance fee to be accompanied by a form prescribed by the Register of Copyrights; and (2) the Register to establish procedures to minimize the burden of submitting the form, including procedures to allow the electronic submission of the form to the Office, and to make the information contained in such forms easily accessible to the public.

 Bill text 1 version

Source documents hosted by congress.gov.

 Committees of jurisdiction 2
 Cosponsors 1
All 1 Democratic 1
D
Van Hollen, Chris
Maryland · Oct 5, 2004
Cite this page click to expand
APA
U.S. Congress. (2026). H.R. 2601: Public Domain Enhancement Act. 108th Congress. Open America. https://openamerica.io/bill/108-HR-2601/
MLA
"H.R. 2601: Public Domain Enhancement Act." 108th Congress, 2026, Open America, https://openamerica.io/bill/108-HR-2601/.
Bluebook (legal)
H.R. 2601, 108th Cong. (2026), https://openamerica.io/bill/108-HR-2601/.
Markdown link
[H.R. 2601: Public Domain Enhancement Act](https://openamerica.io/bill/108-HR-2601/)
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