§ 179m. Duties of Librarian of Congress
(a)
Powers
(1)
In general
The Librarian shall, after consultation with the Board established pursuant to section
179n of this title—
(A)
continue the implementation of the comprehensive national film preservation program for motion pictures established under the National Film Preservation Act of 1992, in conjunction with other film archivists, educators and historians, copyright owners, film industry representatives, and others involved in activities related to film preservation, taking into account the objectives of the national film preservation study and the comprehensive national plan conducted under the National Film Preservation Act of 1992. This program shall—
(B)
establish criteria and procedures under which films may be included in the National Film Registry, except that no film shall be eligible for inclusion in the National Film Registry until 10 years after such film’s first publication;
(b)
Use of seal
The seal provided under subsection (a)(3) of this section may only be used on film or other approved copies of the Registry version of a film. Such seal may be used only after the Librarian has given approval to those persons seeking to apply the seal in accordance with the guidelines under subsection (a)(3) of this section. In the case of copyrighted, mass distributed, broadcast, or published works, only the copyright owner or an authorized licensee of the copyright owner may place or authorize the placement of the seal on any film or other approved copy of a Registry version of a film selected for inclusion in the National Film Registry, and the Librarian may place the seal on any film or other approved copy of the Registry version of any film that is maintained in the National Film Registry Collection in the Library of Congress. Anyone authorized to place the seal on any film or other approved copy of any Registry version of a film may accompany such seal with the following language: “This film was selected for inclusion in the National Film Registry by the National Film Preservation Board of the Library of Congress because of its cultural, historical, or aesthetic significance.”. The Librarian may authorize the use of the seal by the Library or by others for other limited purposes in order to promote in the National Film Registry when exhibiting, showing, or otherwise disseminating films in the Registry.
(c)
Coordination of program with other collection, preservation, and accessibility activities
In carrying out the comprehensive national film preservation program for motion pictures established under the National Film Preservation Act of 1992, the Librarian, in consultation with the Board established pursuant to section
179n of this title, shall—
(1)
carry out activities to make films included in the National Film registry more broadly accessible for research and educational purposes, and to generate public awareness and support of the Registry and the comprehensive national film preservation program;
(2)
review the comprehensive national film preservation plan, and amend it to the extent necessary to ensure that it addresses technological advances in the preservation and storage of, and access to film collections in multiple formats; and
(3)
wherever possible, undertake expanded initiatives to ensure the preservation of the moving image heritage of the United States, including film, videotape, television, and born digital moving image formats, by supporting the work of the National Audio-Visual Conservation Center of the Library of Congress, and other appropriate nonprofit archival and preservation organizations.