H.R. 4678

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4678 Introduced in House (IH)]

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119th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 4678

To amend the Federal Rules of Evidence to limit the admissibility of 
evidence of a defendant's creative or artistic expression against such 
defendant, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

July 23, 2025

Mr. Johnson of Georgia (for himself, Ms. Kamlager-Dove, Mr. Carson, Mr. 
Casten, Ms. Chu, Ms. Crockett, Mr. Frost, Mr. Goldman of New York, Ms. 
Jayapal, Mrs. McIver, Mr. McGovern, Ms. Ocasio-Cortez, Ms. Pressley, 
Mrs. Ramirez, Ms. Sewell, Ms. Stansbury, Ms. Tlaib, Mr. Thanedar, Mr. 
Thompson of Mississippi, Ms. Williams of Georgia, and Ms. Wilson of 
Florida) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

A BILL

To amend the Federal Rules of Evidence to limit the admissibility of 
evidence of a defendant's creative or artistic expression against such 
defendant, and for other purposes.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the ``Restoring Artistic Protection Act of 
2025'' or the ``RAP Act of 2025''.

SEC. 2. LIMITATION ON ADMISSIBILITY OF DEFENDANT'S CREATIVE OR ARTISTIC 
EXPRESSION.

(a) In General.--Article IV of the Federal Rules of Evidence is 
amended by adding at the end the following:
``Rule 416. Limitation on admissibility of defendant's creative or 
artistic expression.
``(a) Creative and Artistic Expressions Inadmissible.--Except as 
provided in subsection (b), evidence of a defendant's creative or 
artistic expression, whether original or derivative, is not admissible 
against such defendant.
``(b) Exception.--A court may admit evidence described in 
subsection (a) if the Government, in a hearing conducted outside the 
hearing of the jury, proves by clear and convincing evidence--
``(1)(A) if the expression is original, that defendant 
intended a literal meaning, rather than figurative or fictional 
meaning; or
``(B) if the expression is derivative, that the defendant 
intended to adopt the literal meaning of the expression as the 
defendant's own thought or statement;
``(2)(A) in a criminal case, that the creative expression 
refers to the specific facts of the crime alleged; or
``(B) in a civil case, that the creative expression refers 
to the specific facts alleged in the complaint;
``(3) that the expression is relevant to an issue of fact 
that is disputed; and
``(4) that the expression has distinct probative value not 
provided by other admissible evidence.
``(c) Ruling on the Record.--In any hearing under subsection (b), 
the court shall make its ruling on the record, and shall include its 
findings of fact essential to its ruling.
``(d) Redaction and Limiting Instructions.--If the court admits any 
evidence described in subsection (a) pursuant to the exception under 
subsection (b), the court shall--
``(1) ensure that the expression is redacted in a manner to 
limit the evidence presented to the jury to that which is 
specifically excepted under subsection (b); and
``(2) provide appropriate limiting instructions to the 
jury.
``(e) Definition.--In this section, the term `creative or artistic 
expression' means the expression or application of creativity or 
imagination in the production or arrangement of forms, sounds, words, 
movements or symbols, including music, dance, performance art, visual 
art, poetry, literature, film, and other such objects or media.''.
(b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of contents for the Federal 
Rules of Evidence is amended by inserting after the item relating to 
rule 415 the following:

``416. Limitation on admissibility of defendant's creative or artistic 
expression.''.
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