§ 121. — Limitations on exclusive rights: reproduction for blind or other people with disabilities.
[Laws in effect as of January 24, 2002]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
January 24, 2002 and December 19, 2002]
[CITE: 17USC121]
TITLE 17--COPYRIGHTS
CHAPTER 1--SUBJECT MATTER AND SCOPE OF COPYRIGHT
Sec. 121. Limitations on exclusive rights: Reproduction for
blind or other people with disabilities
(a) Notwithstanding the provisions of section 106, it is not an
infringement of copyright for an authorized entity to reproduce or to
distribute copies or phonorecords of a previously published, nondramatic
literary work if such copies or phonorecords are reproduced or
distributed in specialized formats exclusively for use by blind or other
persons with disabilities.
(b)(1) Copies or phonorecords to which this section applies shall--
(A) not be reproduced or distributed in a format other than a
specialized format exclusively for use by blind or other persons
with disabilities;
(B) bear a notice that any further reproduction or distribution
in a format other than a specialized format is an infringement; and
(C) include a copyright notice identifying the copyright owner
and the date of the original publication.
(2) The provisions of this subsection shall not apply to
standardized, secure, or norm-referenced tests and related testing
material, or to computer programs, except the portions thereof that are
in conventional human language (including descriptions of pictorial
works) and displayed to users in the ordinary course of using the
computer programs.
(c) For purposes of this section, the term--
(1) ``authorized entity'' means a nonprofit organization or a
governmental agency that has a primary mission to provide
specialized services relating to training, education, or adaptive
reading or information access needs of blind or other persons with
disabilities;
(2) ``blind or other persons with disabilities'' means
individuals who are eligible or who may qualify in accordance with
the Act entitled ``An Act to provide books for the adult blind'',
approved March 3, 1931 (2 U.S.C. 135a; 46 Stat. 1487) to receive
books and other publications produced in specialized formats; and
(3) ``specialized formats'' means braille, audio, or digital
text which is exclusively for use by blind or other persons with
disabilities.
(Added Pub. L. 104-197, title III, Sec. 316(a), Sept. 16, 1996, 110
Stat. 2416; amended Pub. L. 106-379, Sec. 3(b), Oct. 27, 2000, 114 Stat.
1445; Pub. L. 107-273, div. C, title III, Sec. 13210(3)(A), Nov. 2,
2002, 116 Stat. 1909.)
References in Text
The Act approved March 3, 1931, referred to in subsec. (c)(2), is
act Mar. 3, 1931, ch. 400, 46 Stat. 1487, as amended, which is
classified generally to sections 135a and 135b of Title 2, The Congress.
For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see Tables.
Amendments
2002--Pub. L. 107-273 substituted ``Reproduction'' for
``reproduction'' in section catchline.
2000--Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 106-379 substituted ``section 106'' for
``sections 106 and 710''.
Section Referred to in Other Sections
This section is referred to in sections 106, 501, 511 of this title;
title 18 section 2319.
