[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2349 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
108th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 2349
To modify the application of the antitrust laws to permit collective
development and implementation of a standard contract form for
playwrights for the licensing of their plays.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
April 26, 2004
Mr. Hatch (for himself and Mr. Kennedy) introduced the following bill;
which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To modify the application of the antitrust laws to permit collective
development and implementation of a standard contract form for
playwrights for the licensing of their plays.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Playwrights Licensing Antitrust
Initiative Act of 2004''.
SEC. 2. NONAPPLICATION OF ANTITRUST LAWS.
(a) In General.--Subject to subsection (c), the antitrust laws
shall not apply to any joint discussion, consideration, review, action,
or agreement for the express purpose of, and limited to, the
development of a standard form contract containing minimum terms of
artistic protection and levels of compensation for playwrights by means
of--
(1) meetings, discussions, and negotiations between or
among playwrights or their representatives and producers or
their representatives; or
(2) joint or collective voluntary actions for the limited
purposes of developing a standard form contract by playwrights
or their representatives.
(b) Adoption and Implementation.--Subject to subsection (c), the
antitrust laws shall not apply to any joint discussion, consideration,
review, or action for the express purpose of, and limited to, reaching
a collective agreement among playwrights adopting a standard form
contract developed pursuant to subsection (a) as the participating
playwrights sole and exclusive means by which participating playwrights
shall license their plays to producers.
(c) Amendment of Contract.--A standard form of contract developed
and implemented under subsections (a) and (b) shall be subject to
amendment by individual playwrights and producers consistent with the
terms of the standard form contract.
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) Antitrust laws.--The term ``antitrust laws'' has the
meaning given it in section (a) of the first section of the
Clayton Act (15 U.S.C. 12) except that such term includes
section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 45) to
the extent that such section applies to unfair methods of
competition.
(2) Playwright.--The term ``playwright'' means the author,
composer, or lyricist of a dramatic or musical work intended to
be performed on the speaking stage and shall include, where
appropriate, the adapter of a work from another medium.
(3) Producer.--The term ``producer''--
(A) means any person who obtains the rights to
present live stage productions of a play; and
(B) includes any person who presents a play as
first class performances in major cities, as well as
those who present plays in regional and not-for-profit
theaters.
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