BILL NUMBER: AB 2594	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Jones

                        FEBRUARY 19, 2010

   An act to add Section 990 to the Civil Code, relating to
copyrights.



	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 2594, as introduced, Jones. Works of authorship: residual
benefits.
    Existing federal law, through copyright, provides authors of
original works of authorship, as defined, with certain rights and
protections. Existing federal law generally gives the owner of the
copyright the right to reproduce the work in copies or phonorecords
and the right to distribute copies or phonorecords of the work to the
public. Existing federal law limits the liability of an Internet
service provider for copyright infringement for transmitting material
under specified conditions. Existing law also provides for the
forfeiture and destruction of articles upon which sounds or images
can be stored, and electronic and other devices used in reproducing
those articles, in connection with a violation of provisions
prohibiting misappropriation of recorded music, sounds of a live
performance, or an audiovisual work, as specified.
   This bill would authorize a person who is entitled to residual
benefits from the proceeds generated by an original work of
authorship, who has suffered economic harm as a result of the
unauthorized distribution of that original work of authorship by a
user of a network controlled or operated by an Internet service
provider, and who provides written notification to the Internet
service provider, as specified, to request a superior court to issue
a subpoena to the Internet service provider, if within the
jurisdiction of that court, for identification of the user of the
Internet service provider's network who is responsible for the
unauthorized distribution of the original work of authorship. The
bill also would require an Internet service provider, upon the
written request of the person entitled to residual benefits, to
prevent the further use of its network for unauthorized distribution
of the original work of authorship.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no.
State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  Section 990 is added to the Civil Code, to read:
   990.  (a) This section applies to a person who meets all of the
following criteria:
   (1) Is entitled to residual benefits from the proceeds generated
by an original work of authorship.
   (2) Has suffered economic harm as a result of the unauthorized
distribution of that original work of authorship by a user of a
network controlled or operated by an Internet service provider.
   (3) Provides written notification, in accordance with subdivision
(b), to the Internet service provider whose network is being used for
unauthorized distribution of the original work of authorship.
   (b) The written notification required pursuant to paragraph (3) of
subdivision (a) shall include all of the following elements:
   (1) Identification of the original work of authorship claimed to
have been infringed, or, if multiple original works of authorship at
a single online site are covered by a single notification, a
representative list of those original works of authorship at that
Internet site.
   (2) Identification of the material that is claimed to be
infringing or to be the subject of infringing activity and that is to
be removed or access to which is to be disabled, and information
reasonably sufficient to permit the Internet service provider to
locate the material.
   (3) Information reasonably sufficient to permit the Internet
service provider to contact the person described in subdivision (a),
including an address, telephone number, and, if available, an e-mail
address at which the person described in subdivision (a) may be
contacted.
   (4) A statement that the person described in subdivision (a) has a
good faith belief that use of the material is not authorized by that
person, his or her agent, or the law.
   (c) A person described in subdivision (a) may request a superior
court to issue a subpoena to an Internet service provider that is
within the jurisdiction of that court, for identification of the user
of the Internet service provider's network who is responsible for
the unauthorized distribution of the original work of authorship, in
accordance with all of the following:
   (1) The request may be made by filing with the court all of the
following:
   (A) A copy of the notification described in subdivision (b).
   (B) A proposed subpoena.
   (C) A sworn declaration to the effect that the purpose for which
the subpoena is sought is to obtain the identity of an alleged
infringer and that the information will only be used for the purpose
of protecting contractual rights to residual benefits.
   (2) The subpoena shall authorize and order the Internet service
provider receiving the notification and the subpoena to expeditiously
disclose to the person described in subdivision (a), or his or her
agent, information sufficient to identify the alleged infringer of
the material described in the notification to the extent that the
information is available to the Internet service provider.
   (3) If the notification filed satisfies the requirements of
subdivision (b), the proposed subpoena is in proper form, and the
accompanying declaration is properly executed, the court shall
expeditiously issue and sign the proposed subpoena and return it to
the person described in subdivision (a), or his or her agent, for
delivery to the Internet service provider.
   (4) Upon receipt of the issued subpoena, either accompanying or
subsequent to the receipt of a notification described in subdivision
(b), the service provider shall expeditiously disclose to the person
described in subdivision (a), or his or her agent, the information
required by the subpoena, notwithstanding any other law and
regardless of whether the Internet service provider responds to the
notification.
   (5) Unless otherwise provided by this section or by applicable
rules of the court, the procedure for issuance and delivery of the
subpoena, and the remedies for noncompliance with the subpoena, shall
be governed to the greatest extent practicable by state law
governing the issuance, service, and enforcement of a subpoena duces
tecum.
   (d) Upon the written request of a person described in subdivision
(a), an Internet service provider shall prevent the further use of
its network for unauthorized distribution of the original work of
authorship.
   (e) The following definitions apply for purposes of this section:
   (1) "Internet service provider" means a provider of online
services or network access, or the operator of facilities therefor,
and includes an entity offering the transmission, routing, or
providing of connections for digital online communications, between
or among points specified by a user, of material of the user's
choosing, without modification to the content of the material as sent
or received.
   (2) "Original work of authorship" has the same meaning as provided
in Section 102 of Title 17 of the United States Code, as it read on
January 1, 2010.
   (3) "Residual benefits" means proceeds payable to the author of an
original work of authorship pursuant to a contract with the owner of
the copyright to that original work of authorship.