US Code

Public Law 119-73 (01/23/2026)

2 U.S.C. § 179m

Duties of Librarian of Congress

(a)

Powers

(1)

In general

section 179n of this titleThe Librarian shall, after consultation with the Board established pursuant to —
(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—
(i)
coordinate activities to assure that efforts of archivists and copyright owners, and others in the public and private sector, are effective and complementary;
(ii)
generate public awareness of and support for these activities;
(iii)
increase accessibility of films for educational purposes; and
(iv)
undertake studies and investigations of film preservation activities as needed, including the efficacy of new technologies, and recommend solutions to improve these practices;
(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;
(C)
establish procedures under which the general public may make recommendations to the Board regarding the inclusion of films in the National Film Registry; and
(D)
determine which films satisfy the criteria established under subparagraph (B) and qualify for inclusion in the National Film Registry, except that the Librarian shall not select more than 25 films each year for inclusion in the Registry.
(2)

Publication of films in Registry

The Librarian shall publish in the Federal Register the name of each film that is selected for inclusion in the National Film Registry.

(3)

Seal

The Librarian shall provide a seal to indicate that a film has been included in the National Film Registry and is the Registry version of that film. The Librarian shall establish guidelines for approval of the use of the seal in accordance with subsection (b).

(b)

Use of seal

The seal provided under subsection (a)(3) 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). 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

section 179n of this titleIn 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 , 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.

Pub. L. 104–285, title I, § 103110 Stat. 3377Pub. L. 109–9, title III, § 302(a)119 Stat. 224Pub. L. 110–336, § 3(a)(2)122 Stat. 3727(, , ; , , ; , , .)

Editorial Notes

References in Text

Pub. L. 102–307106 Stat. 267Pub. L. 104–285, title I, § 114110 Stat. 3382The National Film Preservation Act of 1992, referred to in subsecs. (a)(1)(A) and (c), is title II of , , , which was classified principally to sections 179 to 179k of this title and was repealed by , , .

Amendments

Pub. L. 110–3362008—Subsec. (b). inserted at end “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.”

Pub. L. 109–9, § 302(a)(1)2005—Subsec. (b). , substituted “film or other approved copies” for “film copies” and “copyrighted, mass distributed, broadcast, or published” for “copyrighted” and substituted “film or other approved copy” for “film copy” wherever appearing.

Pub. L. 109–9, § 302(a)(2)Subsec. (c). , added subsec. (c).