PlainBillCongress, translated.Legislation. Context. Public interest.Referred to the Subcommittee on Courts, the Internet, and Intellectual Property.
Congressional Research Service
Version 00 · Introduced in House · May 17, 2005
Public Domain Enhancement Act - Requires 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, 2006, 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; 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, and to make the information contained in such forms easily accessible to the public.
People & committees
Rep. Lofgren, Zoe [D-CA-16] · D–CA
Legislative record
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Referred to the Subcommittee on Courts, the Internet, and Intellectual Property.
Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Primary sources
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Source last updated: Aug 15, 2025. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
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