§ 504. — Printing and filming of United States and foreign obligations and securities.
[Laws in effect as of January 24, 2002]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
January 24, 2002 and December 19, 2002]
[CITE: 18USC504]
TITLE 18--CRIMES AND CRIMINAL PROCEDURE
PART I--CRIMES
CHAPTER 25--COUNTERFEITING AND FORGERY
Sec. 504. Printing and filming of United States and foreign
obligations and securities
Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, the following
are permitted:
(1) The printing, publishing, or importation, or the making or
importation of the necessary plates for such printing or publishing,
of illustrations of--
(A) postage stamps of the United States,
(B) revenue stamps of the United States,
(C) any other obligation or other security of the United
States, and
(D) postage stamps, revenue stamps, notes, bonds, and any
other obligation or other security of any foreign government,
bank, or corporation.
Illustrations permitted by the foregoing provisions of this section
shall be made in accordance with the following conditions--
(i) all illustrations shall be in black and white, except that
illustrations of postage stamps issued by the United States or by
any foreign government and stamps issued under the Migratory Bird
Hunting Stamp Act of 1934 may be in color;
(ii) all illustrations (including illustrations of uncanceled
postage stamps in color and illustrations of stamps issued under the
Migratory Bird Hunting Stamp Act of 1934 in color) shall be of a
size less than three-fourths or more than one and one-half, in
linear dimension, of each part of any matter so illustrated which is
covered by subparagraph (A), (B), (C), or (D) of this paragraph,
except that black and white illustrations of postage and revenue
stamps issued by the United States or by any foreign government and
colored illustrations of canceled postage stamps issued by the
United States may be in the exact linear dimension in which the
stamps were issued; and
(iii) the negatives and plates used in making the illustrations
shall be destroyed after their final use in accordance with this
section.
The Secretary of the Treasury shall prescribe regulations to permit
color illustrations of such currency of the United States as the
Secretary determines may be appropriate for such purposes.
(2) The provisions of this section shall not permit the
reproduction of illustrations of obligations or other securities, by
or through electronic methods used for the acquisition, recording,
retrieval, transmission, or reproduction of any obligation or other
security, unless such use is authorized by the Secretary of the
Treasury. The Secretary shall establish a system to ensure that the
legitimate use of such electronic methods and retention of such
reproductions by businesses, hobbyists, press or others shall not be
unduly restricted.
(3) The making or importation of motion-picture films,
microfilms, or slides, for projection upon a screen or for use in
telecasting, of postage and revenue stamps and other obligations and
securities of the United States, and postage and revenue stamps,
notes, bonds, and other obligations or securities of any foreign
government, bank, or corporation. No prints or other reproductions
shall be made from such films or slides, except for the purposes of
paragraph (1), without the permission of the Secretary of the
Treasury.
For the purposes of this section the term ``postage stamp'' includes
postage meter stamps.
(June 25, 1948, ch. 645, 62 Stat. 713; Pub. L. 85-921, Sec. 1, Sept. 2,
1958, 72 Stat. 1771; Pub. L. 90-353, Sec. 1, June 20, 1968, 82 Stat.
240; Pub. L. 91-448, Sec. 2, Oct. 14, 1970, 84 Stat. 921; Pub. L. 98-
369, div. A, title X, Sec. 1077(b)(1), (2), July 18, 1984, 98 Stat.
1054; Pub. L. 102-550, title XV, Sec. 1554, Oct. 28, 1992, 106 Stat.
4071; Pub. L. 104-294, title VI, Sec. 601(e), (f)(3), Oct. 11, 1996, 110
Stat. 3499.)
Historical and Revision Notes
Based on title 18, U.S.C., 1940 ed., Sec. 350 (Mar. 3, 1923, ch.
218, 42 Stat. 1437; Jan. 27, 1938, ch. 10, Sec. 2, 52 Stat. 6).
Minor changes in phraseology were made.
References in Text
The Migratory Bird Hunting Stamp Act, referred to in par. (1)(i),
(ii), is act Mar. 16, 1934, ch. 71, 48 Stat. 451, as amended, which is
classified generally to subchapter IV (Sec. 718 et seq.) of chapter 7 of
Title 16, Conservation. For complete classification of this Act to the
Code, see Short Title note set out under section 718 of Title 16 and
Tables.
Amendments
1996--Par. (1). Pub. L. 104-294, Sec. 601(e)(1), substituted ``The
printing'' for ``the printing'' in introductory provisions.
Par. (3). Pub. L. 104-294, Sec. 601(e)(2), (f)(3), substituted ``The
making or importation of'' for ``the making or importation, of''.
1992--Par. (1). Pub. L. 102-550, Sec. 1554(1), (2), in subpar. (D),
substituted a period for the comma at end, in provisions following
subpar. (D), struck out ``for philatelic, numismatic, educational,
historical, or newsworthy purposes in articles, books, journals,
newspapers, or albums (but not for advertising purposes, except
illustrations of stamps and paper money in philatelic or numismatic
advertising of legitimate numismatists and dealers in stamps or
publishers of or dealers in philatelic or numismatic articles, books,
journals, newspapers, or albums).'' before ``Illustrations permitted'',
and inserted at end ``The Secretary of the Treasury shall prescribe
regulations to permit color illustrations of such currency of the United
States as the Secretary determines may be appropriate for such
purposes.''
Par. (2). Pub. L. 102-550, Sec. 1554(3), added par. (2). Former par.
(2) redesignated (3).
Par. (3). Pub. L. 102-550, Sec. 1554(3), (4), redesignated par. (2)
as (3) and struck out ``but not for advertising purposes except
philatelic advertising,'' after ``or importation,''.
1984--Par. (1)(i). Pub. L. 98-369, Sec. 1077(b)(1), inserted ``and
stamps issued under the Migratory Bird Hunting Stamp Act of 1934''.
Par. (1)(ii). Pub. L. 98-369, Sec. 1077(b)(2), inserted ``and
illustrations of stamps issued under the Migratory Bird Hunting Stamp
Act of 1934 in color''.
1970--Pub. L. 91-448 inserted provision including postage meter
stamp within the meaning of postage stamp for the purposes of this
section.
1968--Par. (1). Pub. L. 90-353 inserted provisions so as to permit
colored illustrations of canceled United States postage stamps in the
exact size of genuine stamps and colored illustrations of uncanceled
United States and foreign stamps if the size of the illustrations is
less than three-fourths or more than one and one-half times the size of
the genuine stamps and permitted the use of colored illustrations of
stamps in public documents relating to stamps printed by the Government
Printing Office at the request of the Postmaster General.
1958--Pub. L. 85-921 permitted black and white illustrations of
revenue stamps of the United States for philatelic and numismatic
purposes, black and white illustrations of United States and foreign
paper money and other obligations and securities for educational,
historical, and newsworthy purposes, and permitted motion picture films,
microfilms, and slides of United States and foreign postage and revenue
stamps, paper money, and other obligations and securities, except films
in connection with advertising.
Effective Date of 1984 Amendment
Amendment by Pub. L. 98-369 effective July 18, 1984, see section
1077(c) of Pub. L. 98-369, set out as a note under section 718e of Title
16, Conservation.
Section Referred to in Other Sections
This section is referred to in section 474 of this title; title 16
section 718e.
