California Legislature—2015–16 Regular Session

Assembly BillNo. 1241


Introduced by Assembly Member Calderon

February 27, 2015


An act to amend Section 653w of the Penal Code, relating to crimes.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 1241, as introduced, Calderon. Crimes: audiovisual work: recording.

Existing law makes it a crime for a person to, for commercial advantage or private financial gain, knowingly advertise or offer for sale or resale, or sell or resell, or cause the rental, sale, or resale of, or rent, or manufacturer, or possess for these purposes, any recording or audiovisual work, the outside cover, box, jacket, or label of which does not clearly and conspicuously disclose the actual true name and address of the manufacturer of the recording or audiovisual work and the name of the actual author, artist, performer, producer, programmer, or group.

This bill would make technical, nonsubstantive changes to that provision.

Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no. State-mandated local program: no.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

P1    1

SECTION 1.  

Section 653w of the Penal Code is amended to
2read:

3

653w.  

(a) (1) A person is guilty of failure to disclose the origin
4of a recording or audiovisual work if, for commercial advantage
5or private financial gain, he or she knowingly advertises or offers
P2    1for sale or resale, or sells or resells, or causes the rental, sale, or
2resale of, or rents, or manufactures, or possesses for these purposes,
3any recording or audiovisual work, the outside cover, box, jacket,
4or label of which does not clearly and conspicuously disclose the
5actual true name and address of the manufacturer thereof and the
6name of the actual author, artist, performer, producer, programmer,
7or group thereon. This section does not require the original
8manufacturer or authorized licensees of software producers to
9disclose the contributing authors or programmers.

10(2) As used in this section, “recording” means any tangible
11medium upon which information or sounds are recorded or
12otherwise stored, including, but not limited to, any phonograph
13record, disc, tape, audio cassette, wire, film, memory card, flash
14drive, hard drive, data storage device, or other medium on which
15information or sounds are recorded or otherwise stored, but does
16not include sounds accompanying a motion picture or other
17audiovisual work.

18(3) As used in this section, “audiovisual works” are the physical
19embodiment of works that consist of related images that are
20intrinsically intended to be shown using machines or devices, such
21as projectors, viewers, or electronic equipment, together with
22accompanying sounds, if any, regardless of the nature of the
23material objects, such as films, tapes, discs, memory cards, flash
24drives, hard drives, data storage devices, or other devices, on which
25the works are embodied.

26(b) A person who has been convicted of a violation of
27subdivision (a) shall be punished as follows:

28(1) If the offense involves the advertisement, offer for sale or
29resale, sale, rental, manufacture, or possession for these purposes,
30of at least 100 articles of audio recordings or 100 articles of
31audiovisual works described in subdivision (a), or the commercial
32equivalent thereof, the person shall be punished by imprisonment
33in a county jail not to exceed one year, or by imprisonment
34pursuant to subdivision (h) of Section 1170 for two, three, or five
35years, or by a fine not to exceed five hundred thousand dollars
36($500,000), or by both that fine and imprisonment.

37(2) Any other violation of subdivision (a) not described in
38paragraphbegin delete (1),end deletebegin insert (1)end insert shall, upon a first offense, be punished by
39imprisonment in a county jail not to exceed one year, or by a fine
P3    1not to exceed fifty thousand dollars ($50,000), or by both that fine
2and imprisonment.

3(3) A second or subsequent conviction under subdivision (a)
4not described in paragraphbegin delete (1),end deletebegin insert (1)end insert shall be punished by
5imprisonment in a county jail not to exceed one year or pursuant
6to subdivision (h) of Section 1170, or by a fine not to exceed two
7hundred thousand dollars ($200,000), or by both that fine and
8imprisonment.



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