Library of Congress – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The U.S. Copyright Office is amending its regulations to establish a new expedited registration option under the Copyright Alternative in Small-Claims Enforcement Act of 2020 and to provide a technical update to the Office's Freedom of Information Act regulations. To qualify for this expedited registration option, the work(s) being registered must be the subject of a claim or counterclaim before the Copyright Claims Board.

The Copyright Royalty Judges publish for comment proposed regulations that set rates and terms for the use of certain copyrighted works by public broadcasting entities for the period beginning January 1, 2023, and ending December 31, 2027.

The Copyright Royalty Judges publish for comment proposed regulations that set rates and terms applicable during the period beginning January 1, 2023, and ending December 31, 2027, for the section 115 statutory license for making and distributing phonorecords of nondramatic musical works.

The Copyright Royalty Judges solicit comments on a motion of Allocation Phase claimants for partial distribution of 2019 satellite royalty funds.

The Copyright Royalty Judges are amending regulations to clarify that their hearings may be conducted in person at the Library of Congress or an alternative location, or virtually, at the Judges' discretion.

The U.S. Copyright Office is issuing a notification of inquiry regarding its implementation of the Copyright Alternative in Small- Claims Enforcement (``CASE'') Act. The CASE Act establishes the Copyright Claims Board (``CCB''), an alternative forum in which parties may voluntarily seek to resolve certain copyright infringement and other claims. The Office must establish regulations to govern the CCB and its procedures, including rules addressing service of notice and other documents, waiver of personal service, notifications that parties are opting out of participating in the forum, discovery, a mechanism for certain claims to be resolved by a single CCB Officer, review of CCB determinations by the Register of Copyrights, publication of records, certifications, and fees. The statute also allows the Office to adopt several optional regulations, including regulations addressing claimants' permissible number of cases, eligible classes of works, the conduct of proceedings, and default determinations. The statute vests the Office with general authority to adopt regulations to carry out its provisions. To assist in promulgating these regulations, the Office seeks public comment regarding the subjects of inquiry discussed in this notification.

The U.S. Copyright Office is creating a new group registration option for musical works, sound recordings, and certain other works contained on an album. This option will permit the registration of a group of musical works or a group of sound recordings distributed together, regardless of whether such distribution occurs via physical or digital media. The final rule generally adopts the provisions set forth in the May 2019 notice of proposed rulemaking in this proceeding, with certain updates to reflect the planned implementation of new online applications for this option.

The Copyright Royalty Judges are amending regulations governing the electronic filing of documents through the Copyright Royalty Board's electronic filing system (eCRB) to permit attorney designees with approved eCRB user accounts to file on behalf of attorneys.

The U.S. Copyright Office is issuing an interim rule regarding the protection of confidential information by the mechanical licensing collective and the digital licensee coordinator under title I of the Orrin G. Hatch-Bob Goodlatte Music Modernization Act. After soliciting public comments through a notification of inquiry and a notice of proposed rulemaking, the Office is now issuing interim regulations identifying appropriate procedures to ensure that confidential, private, proprietary, or privileged information contained in the records of the mechanical licensing collective and the digital licensee coordinator is not improperly disclosed or used.

The U.S. Copyright Office will be holding public roundtables as part of its study to evaluate best practices that the newly established mechanical licensing collective may implement to identify and locate musical work copyright owners and unclaimed accrued royalties held by the collective, encourage musical work copyright owners to claim their royalties, and reduce the incidence of unclaimed royalties. Music industry participants and others interested in participating in the roundtables are invited to submit requests to participate pursuant to the instructions set forth below.

The Library of Congress is convening a public committee to enhance communication and provide a public forum for the technology- related aspects of the U.S. Copyright Office's modernization initiative. At this time, the Library is announcing that it will accept applications from qualified members of the public to serve on this committee. The scope of contributions made by the committee are limited to the specific topics set forth in this notice. Membership will be on a volunteer basis, with the expectation of in-person or virtual participation at two open forums a year at the member's own expense.

The Copyright Royalty Judges are amending regulations to revise the allocation of the initial administrative assessment To fund the mechanical licensing collective.

Pursuant to title I of the Orrin G. Hatch-Bob Goodlatte Music Modernization Act, and following extensive solicitation of public comments, the U.S. Copyright Office is issuing a final rule addressing digital music providers' obligations to transfer and report accrued royalties for the use of unmatched musical works (or shares thereof) to the mechanical licensing collective for purposes of eligibility for the Act's limitation on liability for prior unlicensed uses.

The Copyright Royalty Judges announce receipt from SoundExchange, Inc., (SoundExchange) of a notice of intent to audit the 2017, 2018, and 2019 statements of account submitted by Rockbot, Inc.'s Business Establishment Service concerning royalty payments they made pursuant to statutory license.

The U.S. Copyright Office is initiating a study to evaluate the impact on the satellite television market of the Satellite Television Community Protection and Promotion Act of 2019's adoption of new statutory requirements for certain uses of the section 119 compulsory license for distant-into-local satellite transmission, and sunsetting of other uses from the license. The Office seeks public comment on this topic to assist in preparing a report to Congress.

The Copyright Royalty Judges announce commencement of a proceeding to determine reasonable rates and terms for making and distributing phonorecords for the period beginning January 1, 2023, and ending December 31, 2027. The Copyright Royalty Judges also announce the date by which a party wishing to participate in the rate determination proceeding must file its Petition to Participate and the accompanying $150 filing fee.

The Copyright Royalty Judges announce a cost of living adjustment (COLA) of 1.2% in the royalty rates satellite carriers pay for a compulsory license under the Copyright Act. The COLA is based on the change in the Consumer Price Index from October 2019 to October 2020.

The Copyright Office is amending its regulations to make electronic-only books published in the United States subject to the Copyright Act's mandatory deposit provisions if they are affirmatively demanded by the Office. The final rule largely adopts the language set forth in the Office's June 2020 notice of proposed rulemaking, with one additional clarification regarding the rule's applicability to print- on-demand books.

This supplemental notice of proposed rulemaking (``SNPRM'') updates the Copyright Office's July 17, 2020 proposed rule concerning the Music Modernization Act transition period transfer and reporting of royalties to the mechanical licensing collective. Specifically, this SNPRM provides an alternate approach to requirements concerning the content of cumulative statements of account to be submitted by digital music providers to the mechanical licensing collective at the conclusion of the statutory transition period and proposes estimate and adjustment provisions with respect to payment of accrued royalties to the mechanical licensing collective in connection with this reporting.

The U.S. Copyright Office is extending the deadline for the submission of reply comments and empirical research studies in response to the June 3 and June 24, 2020, notices regarding its state sovereign immunity policy study.

The U.S. Copyright Office is issuing a notice of proposed rulemaking regarding the Musical Works Modernization Act, title I of the Orrin G. Hatch-Bob Goodlatte Music Modernization Act. Title I establishes a blanket compulsory license, which digital music providers may obtain to make and deliver digital phonorecords of musical works. The law establishes a new blanket license to become available on the January 1, 2021 license availability date that will be administered by a mechanical licensing collective, which will make available a public musical works database as part of its statutory duties. Having solicited public comments through previous notifications of inquiry, through this notice the Office is proposing regulations concerning the new blanket licensing regime, including prescribing categories of information to be included in the public musical works database, as well as rules related to the usability, interoperability, and usage restrictions of the database. The Office is also proposing regulations in connection with its general regulatory authority related to ensuring appropriate transparency of the mechanical licensing collective itself.

The Library of Congress is adopting amendments to allow for international service for loans of library materials for blind and other print disabled persons, as authorized by Title XIV of the Library of Congress Technical Corrections Act of 2019.

The U.S. Copyright Office is extending the deadline for the submission of written comments in response to its June 3, 2020, notice of proposed rulemaking and notification of inquiry regarding recordation of notices of termination.

The U.S. Copyright Office is extending the deadline for the submission of written comments in response to its June 3, 2020, notice of inquiry regarding its state sovereign immunity policy study. In addition, the Office is providing for a second round of written comments.

The United States Copyright Office is initiating the eighth triennial rulemaking proceeding under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (``DMCA''), to consider possible temporary exemptions to the DMCA's prohibition against circumvention of technological measures that control access to copyrighted works. In this proceeding, the Copyright Office is again providing a streamlined procedure for the renewal of exemptions that were granted during the seventh triennial rulemaking. If renewed, those current exemptions would remain in force for an additional three-year period (October 2021-October 2024). Members of the public seeking the renewal of current exemptions should submit petitions as described below; parties opposing such renewal will then have the opportunity to file comments in response. The Office is also accepting petitions for new exemptions to engage in activities not currently permitted by existing exemptions, which may include proposals that expand upon a current exemption. Those petitions, and any renewal petitions that are meaningfully opposed, will be considered pursuant to a more comprehensive rulemaking process similar to that of the seventh rulemaking, including three rounds of written comment, followed by public hearings, which may be conducted virtually.