california legislature—2015–16 regular session

ASSEMBLY BILL

No. 1241

Introduced by Assembly Member Calderon
February 27, 2015

An act to amend Section 653w of the Penal Code, relating to crimes.
legislative counsel’s digest

AB 1241, as introduced, Calderon. Crimes: audiovisual work:
recording.
Existing law makes it a crime for a person to, for commercial
advantage or private financial gain, knowingly advertise or offer for
sale or resale, or sell or resell, or cause the rental, sale, or resale of, or
rent, or manufacturer, or possess for these purposes, any recording or
audiovisual work, the outside cover, box, jacket, or label of which does
not clearly and conspicuously disclose the actual true name and address
of the manufacturer of the recording or audiovisual work and the name
of the actual author, artist, performer, producer, programmer, or group.
This bill would make technical, nonsubstantive changes to that
provision.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no.
State-mandated local program: no.
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
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SECTION 1. Section 653w of the Penal Code is amended to
read:
653w. (a)  (1)  A person is guilty of failure to disclose the origin
of a recording or audiovisual work if, for commercial advantage
or private financial gain, he or she knowingly advertises or offers

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for sale or resale, or sells or resells, or causes the rental, sale, or
resale of, or rents, or manufactures, or possesses for these purposes,
any recording or audiovisual work, the outside cover, box, jacket,
or label of which does not clearly and conspicuously disclose the
actual true name and address of the manufacturer thereof and the
name of the actual author, artist, performer, producer, programmer,
or group thereon. This section does not require the original
manufacturer or authorized licensees of software producers to
disclose the contributing authors or programmers.
(2)  As used in this section, “recording” means any tangible
medium upon which information or sounds are recorded or
otherwise stored, including, but not limited to, any phonograph
record, disc, tape, audio cassette, wire, film, memory card, flash
drive, hard drive, data storage device, or other medium on which
information or sounds are recorded or otherwise stored, but does
not include sounds accompanying a motion picture or other
audiovisual work.
(3)  As used in this section, “audiovisual works” are the physical
embodiment of works that consist of related images that are
intrinsically intended to be shown using machines or devices, such
as projectors, viewers, or electronic equipment, together with
accompanying sounds, if any, regardless of the nature of the
material objects, such as films, tapes, discs, memory cards, flash
drives, hard drives, data storage devices, or other devices, on which
the works are embodied.
(b)  A person who has been convicted of a violation of
subdivision (a) shall be punished as follows:
(1)  If the offense involves the advertisement, offer for sale or
resale, sale, rental, manufacture, or possession for these purposes,
of at least 100 articles of audio recordings or 100 articles of
audiovisual works described in subdivision (a), or the commercial
equivalent thereof, the person shall be punished by imprisonment
in a county jail not to exceed one year, or by imprisonment
pursuant to subdivision (h) of Section 1170 for two, three, or five
years, or by a fine not to exceed five hundred thousand dollars
($500,000), or by both that fine and imprisonment.
(2)  Any other violation of subdivision (a) not described in
paragraph (1), (1) shall, upon a first offense, be punished by
imprisonment in a county jail not to exceed one year, or by a fine

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AB 1241

not to exceed fifty thousand dollars ($50,000), or by both that fine
and imprisonment.
(3)  A second or subsequent conviction under subdivision (a)
not described in paragraph (1), (1) shall be punished by
imprisonment in a county jail not to exceed one year or pursuant
to subdivision (h) of Section 1170, or by a fine not to exceed two
hundred thousand dollars ($200,000), or by both that fine and
imprisonment.

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