republic-os/legal/us/code/title-17/chapter-10/section-1004.md

type, title, description, jurisdiction, corpus, kind, title_number, title_name, chapter_number, chapter_name, section, citation, status, release_point, release_date, source, source_url, source_identifier, source_file, source_hash, raw_snapshot_hash, text_hash, retrieved_at, confidence, tags

type	title	description	jurisdiction	corpus	kind	title_number	title_name	chapter_number	chapter_name	section	citation	status	release_point	release_date	source	source_url	source_identifier	source_file	source_hash	raw_snapshot_hash	text_hash	retrieved_at	confidence	tags
LegalText	17 U.S.C. § 1004	Royalty payments	us	united_states_code	code_section	17	COPYRIGHTS	10	DIGITAL AUDIO RECORDING DEVICES AND MEDIA	1004	17 U.S.C. § 1004	current	119-100	2026-06-26	official	https://uscode.house.gov/download/releasepoints/us/pl/119/100/xml_usc17@119-100.zip	/us/usc/t17/s1004	data/legal/raw/us/code/title-17/usc17.xml	c4083e22fb99f40b5f5631e1938ee2da098878020fe7f2fa7bc302ba8b123596	53c244d73050c7c92329dce6d1ccd78b9e2fece359d919b044b600b95258446c	2b6bdb5f7b59b83fa0c8a6f83baefb8ba58b7f7328b02c295ed4d6590e369f14	2026-07-04	official	legal us-code

17 U.S.C. § 1004 - Royalty payments

Text

(a) Digital Audio Recording Devices.— (1) Amount of payment.— The royalty payment due under section 1003 for each digital audio recording device imported into and distributed in the United States, or manufactured and distributed in the United States, shall be 2 percent of the transfer price. Only the first person to manufacture and distribute or import and distribute such device shall be required to pay the royalty with respect to such device.

(2) Calculation for devices distributed with other devices.— With respect to a digital audio recording device first distributed in combination with one or more devices, either as a physically integrated unit or as separate components, the royalty payment shall be calculated as follows:

(A) If the digital audio recording device and such other devices are part of a physically integrated unit, the royalty payment shall be based on the transfer price of the unit, but shall be reduced by any royalty payment made on any digital audio recording device included within the unit that was not first distributed in combination with the unit.

(B) If the digital audio recording device is not part of a physically integrated unit and substantially similar devices have been distributed separately at any time during the preceding 4 calendar quarters, the royalty payment shall be based on the average transfer price of such devices during those 4 quarters.

(C) If the digital audio recording device is not part of a physically integrated unit and substantially similar devices have not been distributed separately at any time during the preceding 4 calendar quarters, the royalty payment shall be based on a constructed price reflecting the proportional value of such device to the combination as a whole.

(3) Limits on royalties.— Notwithstanding paragraph (1) or (2), the amount of the royalty payment for each digital audio recording device shall not be less than $1 nor more than the royalty maximum. The royalty maximum shall be $8 per device, except that in the case of a physically integrated unit containing more than 1 digital audio recording device, the royalty maximum for such unit shall be $12. During the 6th year after the effective date of this chapter, and not more than once each year thereafter, any interested copyright party may petition the Copyright Royalty Judges to increase the royalty maximum and, if more than 20 percent of the royalty payments are at the relevant royalty maximum, the Copyright Royalty Judges shall prospectively increase such royalty maximum with the goal of having no more than 10 percent of such payments at the new royalty maximum; however the amount of any such increase as a percentage of the royalty maximum shall in no event exceed the percentage increase in the Consumer Price Index during the period under review.

(b) Digital Audio Recording Media.— The royalty payment due under section 1003 for each digital audio recording medium imported into and distributed in the United States, or manufactured and distributed in the United States, shall be 3 percent of the transfer price. Only the first person to manufacture and distribute or import and distribute such medium shall be required to pay the royalty with respect to such medium.

(Added Pub. L. 102–563, § 2, Oct. 28, 1992, 106 Stat. 4241; amended Pub. L. 103–198, § 6(b)(1), Dec. 17, 1993, 107 Stat. 2312; Pub. L. 108–419, § 5(i)(1), Nov. 30, 2004, 118 Stat. 2368.)

Notes

Editorial Notes

References in TextThe effective date of this chapter, referred to in subsec. (a)(3), is Oct. 28, 1992. See Effective Date note set out under section 1001 of this title.

Amendments2004—Subsec. (a)(3). Pub. L. 108–419 substituted “Copyright Royalty Judges” for “Librarian of Congress” in two places. 1993—Subsec. (a)(3). Pub. L. 103–198 substituted “Librarian of Congress” for “Copyright Royalty Tribunal” after “may petition the” and for “Tribunal” before “shall prospectively”.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date of 2004 AmendmentAmendment by Pub. L. 108–419 effective 6 months after Nov. 30, 2004, subject to transition provisions, see section 6 of Pub. L. 108–419, set out as an Effective Date; Transition Provisions note under section 801 of this title.