Copyrights - 17 USC Section 603

01/19/04

Sec. 603. Importation prohibitions: Enforcement and disposition of
excluded articles

(a) The Secretary of the Treasury and the United States Postal
Service shall separately or jointly make regulations for the
enforcement of the provisions of this title prohibiting
importation.
(b) These regulations may require, as a condition for the
exclusion of articles under section 602 -
(1) that the person seeking exclusion obtain a court order
enjoining importation of the articles; or
(2) that the person seeking exclusion furnish proof, of a
specified nature and in accordance with prescribed procedures,
that the copyright in which such person claims an interest is
valid and that the importation would violate the prohibition in
section 602; the person seeking exclusion may also be required to
post a surety bond for any injury that may result if the
detention or exclusion of the articles proves to be unjustified.
(c) Articles imported in violation of the importation
prohibitions of this title are subject to seizure and forfeiture in
the same manner as property imported in violation of the customs
revenue laws. Forfeited articles shall be destroyed as directed by
the Secretary of the Treasury or the court, as the case may be.

HISTORICAL AND REVISION NOTES
HOUSE REPORT NO. 94-1476
The importation prohibitions of both sections 601 and 602 would
be enforced under section 603, which is similar to section 109 of
the statute now in effect [section 109 of former title 17].
Subsection (a) would authorize the Secretary of the Treasury and
the United States Postal Service to make regulations for this
purpose, and subsection (c) provides for the disposition of
excluded articles.
Subsection (b) of section 603 deals only with the prohibition
against importation of "piratical" copies or phonorecords, and is
aimed at solving problems that have arisen under the present
statute. Since the United States Customs Service is often in no
position to make determinations as to whether particular articles
are "piratical," section 603(b) would permit the Customs
regulations to require the person seeking exclusion either to
obtain a court order enjoining importation, or to furnish proof of
his claim and to post bond.

AMENDMENTS
1996 - Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 104-153 substituted a period at end
for "; however, the articles may be returned to the country of
export whenever it is shown to the satisfaction of the Secretary of
the Treasury that the importer had no reasonable grounds for
believing that his or her acts constituted a violation of law."

Last modified: April 19, 2006