77R12439 JD-F                           
         By Ehrhardt                                           H.B. No. 2936
         Substitute the following for H.B. No. 2936:
         By McCall                                         C.S.H.B. No. 2936
                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-1                                   AN ACT
 1-2     relating to the protection and use of certain intellectual property
 1-3     by an appraisal district.
 1-4           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
 1-5           SECTION 1.  Subchapter A, Chapter 6, Tax Code, is amended by
 1-6     adding Section 6.15 to read as follows:
 1-7           Sec. 6.15.  PROTECTION AND USE OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY AND
 1-8     PUBLICATIONS. (a)  An appraisal district may:
 1-9                 (1)  apply for, register, secure, hold, and protect
1-10     under the laws of the United States, any state, or any nation a
1-11     patent, copyright, trademark, or other evidence of protection or
1-12     exclusivity issued in or for an idea, publication, or other
1-13     original innovation fixed in a tangible medium, including:
1-14                       (A)  a logo;
1-15                       (B)  a service mark;
1-16                       (C)  automated systems software;
1-17                       (D)  an audio or visual work; or
1-18                       (E)  geographic information systems; and
1-19                 (2)  enter into a nonexclusive license agreement with a
1-20     third party for the receipt of a fee, royalty, or other thing of
1-21     monetary or nonmonetary value.
1-22           (b)  The board of directors of the appraisal district shall
1-23     establish the amount of the fee, royalty, or other thing of value
1-24     the district will receive under a license agreement entered into
 2-1     under Subsection (a).  The amount of the fee, royalty, or other
 2-2     thing of value must be based on:
 2-3                 (1)  market conditions;
 2-4                 (2)  the nature or volume of the film, tape, or other
 2-5     medium on which the intellectual property or publication is
 2-6     recorded, including the reasonable cost for processing or
 2-7     programming a computer to produce or duplicate the media, and any
 2-8     required clerical or supervisory assistance;
 2-9                 (3)  any labor costs for the district personnel
2-10     providing the service that were actually incurred by the district
2-11     in the development of the intellectual property or publication; and
2-12                 (4)  the recovery of the district's costs incurred in
2-13     the creation, development, printing, production, and publication of
2-14     the intellectual property or publication.
2-15           (c)  Money received by an appraisal district under this
2-16     section shall be deposited to the credit of the district's general
2-17     fund.
2-18           SECTION 2.  This Act takes effect January 1, 2002.