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HR 238 114th Congress House Commerce Art, artists, authorship Intellectual property Intergovernmental relations Marriage and family status State and local government operations

Copyright and Marriage Equality Act

Introduced: January 9, 2015 See on congress.gov
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This bill died when the 114th Congress ended
It never became law before the 114th Congress (2015–2016) 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
Feb 2, 2015
Referred to the Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property, and the Internet.
Jan 9, 2015
Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.
Jan 9, 2015
Introduced in House
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 Plain-English summary Congressional Research Service

Copyright and Marriage Equality Act

Amends federal copyright law to revise the definition of "widow" or "widower" for purposes of provisions concerning the transfer of a copyright to an author's spouse or other next of kin following the author's death. Declares that an individual is the widow or widower of an author if the courts of the state in which the individual and the author were married (or, if the individual and the author were not married in any state but were validly married in another jurisdiction, the courts of any state) would find that the individual and the author were validly married at the time of the author's death. (Currently, only the author's surviving spouse under the law of the author's domicile at the time of death is considered a widow.)

What's happening now February 2, 2015

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

 Related & companion bills 1
  • S 23 Identical bill Copyright and Marriage Equality Act
 Bill text 1 version

Source documents hosted by congress.gov.

 Committees of jurisdiction 2
 Cosponsors 15
All 15 Democratic 15
D
Lieu, Ted
California · Jul 21, 2015
 D
Norton, Eleanor Holmes
District of Columbia · Jul 21, 2015
 D
Peters, Scott H.
California · Apr 23, 2015
 D
Norcross, Donald
New Jersey · Feb 27, 2015
 D
McCollum, Betty
Minnesota · Feb 12, 2015
 D
Pocan, Mark
Wisconsin · Jan 22, 2015
 D
Chu, Judy
California · Jan 12, 2015
 D
Schakowsky, Janice D.
Illinois · Jan 12, 2015
 D
Brownley, Julia
California · Jan 9, 2015
 D
DelBene, Suzan K.
Washington · Jan 9, 2015
 D
Himes, James A.
Connecticut · Jan 9, 2015
 D
Meng, Grace
New York · Jan 9, 2015
 D
Titus, Dina
Nevada · Jan 9, 2015
 D
Vargas, Juan
California · Jan 9, 2015
 D
Wilson, Frederica S.
Florida · Jan 9, 2015
Cite this page click to expand
APA
U.S. Congress. (2026). H.R. 238: Copyright and Marriage Equality Act. 114th Congress. Open America. https://openamerica.io/bill/114-HR-238/
MLA
"H.R. 238: Copyright and Marriage Equality Act." 114th Congress, 2026, Open America, https://openamerica.io/bill/114-HR-238/.
Bluebook (legal)
H.R. 238, 114th Cong. (2026), https://openamerica.io/bill/114-HR-238/.
Markdown link
[H.R. 238: Copyright and Marriage Equality Act](https://openamerica.io/bill/114-HR-238/)
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