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S 23 114th Congress Senate

Copyright and Marriage Equality Act

Official title: A bill to amend title 17, United States Code, with respect to the definition of "widow" and "widower", and for other purposes.

Introduced: January 7, 2015 See on congress.gov
Commerce Art, artists, authorshipIntellectual propertyIntergovernmental relationsMarriage and family statusState and local government operations
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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 2 steps
Introduced
In committee
Reported out
Passed House
Passed Senate
To President
Became law
Jan 6, 2015
Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary. (Sponsor introductory remarks on measure: CR S12-13; text of measure as introduced: CR S13)
Jan 6, 2015
Introduced in Senate
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 Latest action January 6, 2015

Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary. (Sponsor introductory remarks on measure: CR S12-13; text of measure as introduced: CR S13)

 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.)

 Related & companion bills 1
  • HR 238 Identical bill Copyright and Marriage Equality Act
 Bill text 1 version

Source documents hosted by congress.gov.

 Committees of jurisdiction 1
 Cosponsors 6
All 6 Democratic 6
D
Shaheen, Jeanne
New Hampshire · Mar 12, 2015
 D
Baldwin, Tammy
Wisconsin · Jan 9, 2015
 D
Durbin, Richard J.
Illinois · Jan 7, 2015
 D
Coons, Christopher A.
Delaware · Jan 6, 2015
 D
Markey, Edward J.
Massachusetts · Jan 6, 2015
 D
Whitehouse, Sheldon
Rhode Island · Jan 6, 2015
Cite this page click to expand
APA
U.S. Congress. (2026). S. 23: Copyright and Marriage Equality Act. 114th Congress. Open America. https://openamerica.io/bill/114-S-23/
MLA
"S. 23: Copyright and Marriage Equality Act." 114th Congress, 2026, Open America, https://openamerica.io/bill/114-S-23/.
Bluebook (legal)
S. 23, 114th Cong. (2026), https://openamerica.io/bill/114-S-23/.
Markdown link
[S. 23: Copyright and Marriage Equality Act](https://openamerica.io/bill/114-S-23/)
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