28 U.S.C. § 4001 — Assumption of contractual obligations re-

Page 671 TITLE 28—JUDICIARY AND JUDICIAL PROCEDURE § 4001 CHAPTER 180—ASSUMPTION OF CERTAIN CONTRACTUAL OBLIGATIONS Sec. 4001. Assumption of contractual obligations re- lated to transfers of rights in motion pic- tures. § 4001. Assumption of contractual obligations re- lated to transfers of rights in motion pictures (a) ASSUMPTION OF OBLIGATIONS.—(1) In the case of a transfer of copyright ownership under United States law in a motion picture (as the terms ‘‘transfer of copyright ownership’’ and ‘‘motion picture’’ are defined in section 101 of title 17) that is produced subject to 1 or more collective bargaining agreements negotiated under the laws of the United States, if the trans- fer is executed on or after the effective date of this chapter and is not limited to public per- formance rights, the transfer instrument shall be deemed to incorporate the assumption agree- ments applicable to the copyright ownership being transferred that are required by the appli- cable collective bargaining agreement, and the transferee shall be subject to the obligations under each such assumption agreement to make residual payments and provide related notices, accruing after the effective date of the transfer and applicable to the exploitation of the rights transferred, and any remedies under each such assumption agreement for breach of those obli- gations, as those obligations and remedies are set forth in the applicable collective bargaining agreement, if— (A) the transferee knows or has reason to know at the time of the transfer that such col- lective bargaining agreement was or will be applicable to the motion picture; or (B) in the event of a court order confirming an arbitration award against the transferor under the collective bargaining agreement, the transferor does not have the financial abil- ity to satisfy the award within 90 days after the order is issued. (2) For purposes of paragraph (1)(A), ‘‘knows or has reason to know’’ means any of the following: (A) Actual knowledge that the collective bargaining agreement was or will be applica- ble to the motion picture. (B)(i) Constructive knowledge that the col- lective bargaining agreement was or will be applicable to the motion picture, arising from recordation of a document pertaining to copy- right in the motion picture under section 205 of title 17 or from publication, at a site avail- able to the public on-line that is operated by the relevant union, of information that identi- fies the motion picture as subject to a collec- tive bargaining agreement with that union, if the site permits commercially reasonable verification of the date on which the informa- tion was available for access. (ii) Clause (i) applies only if the transfer re- ferred to in subsection (a)(1) occurs— (I) after the motion picture is completed, or (II) before the motion picture is completed and— (aa) within 18 months before the filing of an application for copyright registration for the motion picture under section 408 of title 17, or (bb) if no such application is filed, within 18 months before the first publication of the motion picture in the United States. (C) Awareness of other facts and cir- cumstances pertaining to a particular transfer from which it is apparent that the collective bargaining agreement was or will be applica- ble to the motion picture. (b) SCOPE OF EXCLUSION OF TRANSFERS OF PUB- LIC PERFORMANCE RIGHTS.—For purposes of this section, the exclusion under subsection (a) of transfers of copyright ownership in a motion picture that are limited to public performance rights includes transfers to a terrestrial broad- cast station, cable system, or programmer to the extent that the station, system, or pro- grammer is functioning as an exhibitor of the motion picture, either by exhibiting the motion picture on its own network, system, service, or station, or by initiating the transmission of an exhibition that is carried on another network, system, service, or station. When a terrestrial broadcast station, cable system, or programmer, or other transferee, is also functioning other- wise as a distributor or as a producer of the mo- tion picture, the public performance exclusion does not affect any obligations imposed on the transferee to the extent that it is engaging in such functions. (c) EXCLUSION FOR GRANTS OF SECURITY INTER- ESTS.—Subsection (a) shall not apply to— (1) a transfer of copyright ownership con- sisting solely of a mortgage, hypothecation, or other security interest; or (2) a subsequent transfer of the copyright ownership secured by the security interest de- scribed in paragraph (1) by or under the au- thority of the secured party, including a trans- fer through the exercise of the secured party’s rights or remedies as a secured party, or by a subsequent transferee. The exclusion under this subsection shall not af- fect any rights or remedies under law or con- tract. (d) DEFERRAL PENDING RESOLUTION OF BONA FIDE DISPUTE.—A transferee on which obliga- tions are imposed under subsection (a) by virtue of paragraph (1) of that subsection may elect to defer performance of such obligations that are subject to a bona fide dispute between a union and a prior transferor until that dispute is re- solved, except that such deferral shall not stay accrual of any union claims due under an appli- cable collective bargaining agreement. (e) SCOPE OF OBLIGATIONS DETERMINED BY PRI- VATE AGREEMENT.—Nothing in this section shall expand or diminish the rights, obligations, or remedies of any person under the collective bar- gaining agreements or assumption agreements referred to in this section. (f) FAILURE TO NOTIFY.—If the transferor under subsection (a) fails to notify the trans- feree under subsection (a) of applicable collec- tive bargaining obligations before the execution of the transfer instrument, and subsection (a) is made applicable to the transferee solely by vir- tue of subsection (a)(1)(B), the transferor shall be liable to the transferee for any damages suf- Page 672 TITLE 28—JUDICIARY AND JUDICIAL PROCEDURE § 4101 1 So in original. Does not conform to section catchline. fered by the transferee as a result of the failure to notify. (g) DETERMINATION OF DISPUTES AND CLAIMS.— Any dispute concerning the application of sub- sections (a) through (f) shall be determined by an action in United States district court, and the court in its discretion may allow the recov- ery of full costs by or against any party and may also award a reasonable attorney’s fee to the prevailing party as part of the costs. (h) STUDY.—The Comptroller General, in con- sultation with the Register of Copyrights, shall conduct a study of the conditions in the motion picture industry that gave rise to this section, and the impact of this section on the motion picture industry. The Comptroller General shall report the findings of the study to the Congress within 2 years after the effective date of this chapter. (Added Pub. L. 105–304, title IV, § 406(a), Oct. 28, 1998, 112 Stat. 2903.) Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries REFERENCES IN TEXT The effective date of this chapter, referred to in sub- secs. (a) and (h), is Oct. 28, 1998. See Effective Date of 1998 Amendment note set out under section 108 of Title 17, Copyrights. CHAPTER 181—FOREIGN JUDGMENTS Sec. 4101. Definitions. 4102. Recognition of foreign defamation judgments. 4103. Removal. 4104. Declaratory judgments. 4105. Attorney’s fees.1 § 4101. Definitions In this chapter: (1) DEFAMATION.—The term ‘‘defamation’’ means any action or other proceeding for defa- mation, libel, slander, or similar claim alleg- ing that forms of speech are false, have caused damage to reputation or emotional distress, have presented any person in a false light, or have resulted in criticism, dishonor, or con- demnation of any person. (2) DOMESTIC COURT.—The term ‘‘domestic court’’ means a Federal court or a court of any State. (3) FOREIGN COURT.—The term ‘‘foreign court’’ means a court, administrative body, or other tribunal of a foreign country. (4) FOREIGN JUDGMENT.—The term ‘‘foreign judgment’’ means a final judgment rendered by a foreign court. (5) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means each of the several States, the District of Columbia, and any commonwealth, territory, or posses- sion of the United States. (6) UNITED STATES PERSON.—The term ‘‘United States person’’ means— (A) a United States citizen; (B) an alien lawfully admitted for perma- nent residence to the United States; (C) an alien lawfully residing in the United States at the time that the speech that is the subject of the foreign defamation action was researched, prepared, or disseminated; or (D) a business entity incorporated in, or with its primary location or place of oper- ation in, the United States. (Added Pub. L. 111–223, § 3(a), Aug. 10, 2010, 124 Stat. 2381.) Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries FINDINGS Pub. L. 111–223, § 2, Aug. 10, 2010, 124 Stat. 2380, pro- vided that: ‘‘Congress finds the following: ‘‘(1) The freedom of speech and the press is en- shrined in the first amendment to the Constitution, and is necessary to promote the vigorous dialogue necessary to shape public policy in a representative democracy. ‘‘(2) Some persons are obstructing the free expres- sion rights of United States authors and publishers, and in turn chilling the first amendment to the Con- stitution of the United States interest of the citi- zenry in receiving information on matters of impor- tance, by seeking out foreign jurisdictions that do not provide the full extent of free-speech protections to authors and publishers that are available in the United States, and suing a United States author or publisher in that foreign jurisdiction. ‘‘(3) These foreign defamation lawsuits not only suppress the free speech rights of the defendants to the suit, but inhibit other written speech that might otherwise have been written or published but for the fear of a foreign lawsuit. ‘‘(4) The threat of the libel laws of some foreign countries is so dramatic that the United Nations Human Rights Committee examined the issue and in- dicated that in some instances the law of libel has served to discourage critical media reporting on mat- ters of serious public interest, adversely affecting the ability of scholars and journalists to publish their work. The advent of the internet and the inter- national distribution of foreign media also create the danger that one country’s unduly restrictive libel law will affect freedom of expression worldwide on mat- ters of valid public interest. ‘‘(5) Governments and courts of foreign countries scattered around the world have failed to curtail this practice of permitting libel lawsuits against United States persons within their courts, and foreign libel judgments inconsistent with United States first amendment protections are increasingly common.’’ § 4102. Recognition of foreign defamation judg- ments (a) FIRST AMENDMENT CONSIDERATIONS.— (1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other provision of Federal or State law, a domestic court shall not recognize or enforce a foreign judgment for defamation unless the domestic court determines that— (A) the defamation law applied in the for- eign court’s adjudication provided at least as much protection for freedom of speech and press in that case as would be provided by the first amendment to the Constitution of the United States and by the constitution and law of the State in which the domestic court is located; or (B) even if the defamation law applied in the foreign court’s adjudication did not pro- vide as much protection for freedom of speech and press as the first amendment to the Constitution of the United States and the constitution and law of the State, the party opposing recognition or enforcement