Verification of Statements of Account Submitted by Cable Operators and Satellite Carriers, 78257-78258 [2013-30776]
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Federal Register / Vol. 78, No. 248 / Thursday, December 26, 2013 / Rules and Regulations
sroberts on DSK5SPTVN1PROD with RULES
is corrected to read ‘‘It is anticipated
that future HHS guidance will specify
that when determining eligibility for the
hardship exemption for individuals who
lack affordable coverage based on
projected income described in 45 CFR
155.605(g)(2), the Exchange will
calculate advance payments of the
premium tax credit using the rules
specified in the regulations under
section 36B, providing that individuals
who have minimum essential coverage
are excluded from the computation of
the applicable benchmark plan. This
treatment will ensure that Exchanges
can reuse existing advance payment
functionality instead of having to
develop additional functionality for the
sole purpose of supporting this
exemption.’’.
21. On page 53654, second column,
third line from the bottom of the first
full paragraph, the language ‘‘through
Indian Health Service in’’ is corrected to
read ‘‘through the Indian Health Service
in’’.
22. On page 53654, second column, in
the preamble, under the paragraph
heading ‘‘H. Short Coverage Gap’’,
fourteenth line of the first paragraph,
the language ‘‘February) in conjunction
with the one’’ is corrected to read
‘‘February) in conjunction with the
one-’’.
23. On page 53655, first column,
seventh line from the top of the page,
the language ‘‘section 5000A for the
short coverage gap’’ is corrected to read
‘‘section 5000A for purposes of the short
coverage gap’’.
24. On page 53655, second column, in
the preamble, seventh and eighth lines
of the second full paragraph, the
language ‘‘exemptions on a Federal
income tax return.’’ is corrected to read
‘‘exemption on Federal income tax
returns.’’.
25. On page 53655, third column, in
the preamble, under the paragraph
heading ‘‘Special Analyses’’, tenth line
of the first paragraph, the language ‘‘to
these regulations, and, because the’’ is
corrected to read ‘‘to these regulations
and, because the’’.
Martin V. Franks,
Chief, Publications and Regulations Branch,
Legal Processing Division, Associate Chief
Counsel (Procedure and Administration).
[FR Doc. 2013–30740 Filed 12–24–13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4830–01–P
VerDate Mar<15>2010
16:15 Dec 24, 2013
Jkt 232001
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS
Copyright Office
37 CFR Part 201
[Docket No. 2012–5]
Verification of Statements of Account
Submitted by Cable Operators and
Satellite Carriers
U.S. Copyright Office, Library
of Congress.
ACTION: Interim rule.
AGENCY:
The U.S. Copyright Office is
adopting an interim regulation that
implements certain aspects of the
Satellite Television Extension and
Localism Act of 2010 (‘‘STELA’’). Cable
operators and satellite carriers must file
statements of account (‘‘SOAs’’) and
deposit royalty fees with the Office in
order to use the statutory licenses that
allow for the retransmission of over-theair broadcast signals. The Office
published two notices of proposed
rulemaking concerning a new process to
allow copyright owners to audit the
SOAs and associated royalty payments.
The Office received extensive comments
on its proposed audit procedures and is
carefully reviewing these comments to
address them as appropriate in a final
rule. In the meantime, the Office is
issuing an interim rule to establish the
procedure for filing a notice of intent to
audit one or more SOAs.
DATES: Effective Date: December 26,
2013.
SUMMARY:
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Jacqueline C. Charlesworth, General
Counsel, or Erik Bertin, Attorney
Advisor, U.S. Copyright Office, P.O. Box
70400, Washington, DC 20024–0400.
Telephone: (202) 707–8380. Telefax:
(202) 707–8366.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: STELA
amended the Copyright Act by directing
the Register of Copyrights to issue
regulations to allow copyright owners to
audit the SOAs and royalty fees that
cable operators and satellite carriers file
with the Office. See 17 U.S.C. 111(d)(6),
119(b)(2). On June 14, 2012, the Office
published a notice of proposed
rulemaking that set forth an initial
proposal for this procedure. See 77 FR
35643. The Office received extensive
comments from groups representing
copyright owners, cable operators, and
individual companies that use the
statutory licenses. The parties offered
conflicting points of view on nearly
every aspect of the proposal, including
the procedures for selecting an auditor,
for protecting the confidentiality of the
licensee’s records, for correcting the
PO 00000
Frm 00093
Fmt 4700
Sfmt 4700
78257
errors and underpayments identified in
the auditor’s report, and for allocating
the cost of the audit procedure between
the copyright owners and the licensee.
The Office carefully studied these
comments and revised its proposal
based on the suggestions that it
received. The revised proposal was
published for comment on May 9, 2013.
See 78 FR 27137. The Office received
comments from a wide range of
stakeholders, and once again, the parties
raised a number of complex issues, such
as the records retention requirement and
the procedure for expanding or
suspending the scope of the audit.
The Office is carefully reviewing
these comments and intends to issue a
final rule that strikes an appropriate
balance between the interests of the
copyright owners and the cable and
satellite licensees in the audit process.
In the meantime, the Office is issuing an
interim rule that addresses a procedural
issue—the provision of notice of an
intent to audit—that was not contested
by the parties.
The Office’s initial proposal
explained that a copyright owner may
initiate an audit by filing a notice with
the Office. It explained that the notice
should identify the SOAs to be included
in the audit and the licensee that filed
those SOAs. In addition, the notice
should provide contact information for
the copyright owner, along with a brief
statement establishing that the copyright
owner owns at least one work that was
included in a secondary transmission
made by that licensee during the
accounting period or periods subject to
audit. The proposed regulation further
provided that a notice of intent to audit
a particular SOA should be submitted
within three years after the last day of
the year in which that SOA was filed.
It also explained that the copyright
owner should provide a copy of the
notice to the licensee on the same date
that the notice is filed with the Office.
It stated that the Office would publish
this notice in the Federal Register.
Within 30 days thereafter, any other
copyright owner that wished to
participate in the audit would be
required to notify both the copyright
owner that filed the notice and the
licensee to be subject to the audit.
Copyright owners that failed to comply
with this requirement would not be
permitted to participate in the audit
process and would not be permitted to
audit the same SOAs in a subsequent
proceeding.
All of the parties agreed with this
proposal. A group representing the
copyright owners offered a minor
suggestion for clarifying one aspect of
this procedure, namely, that a group
E:\FR\FM\26DER1.SGM
26DER1
78258
Federal Register / Vol. 78, No. 248 / Thursday, December 26, 2013 / Rules and Regulations
representing multiple copyright owners
should be able to file an audit notice on
behalf of its members. None of the other
parties objected to this, and, as
discussed in the prior Federal Register
notice, the Office included this
suggestion in its revised proposal. See
78 FR at 27139.
The Office finds there is good cause
for adopting this procedural rule
concerning notification of an intent to
audit as an interim rule and for making
the rule effective immediately. The
other issues presented in this
proceeding are numerous and complex.
The Office issued an initial notice of
proposed rulemaking that was based in
part on a proposal that the Office
received from a group of copyright
owners. See 77 FR at 35644. In response
to its initial proposal, the Office
received detailed comments from more
than a dozen stakeholders. It also
received a counterproposal for revising
nearly every aspect of the proposed
regulation. The Office addressed many
of these issues in a second notice of
proposed rulemaking, which was
published earlier this year. See 78 FR
27137. In response to this latest notice,
the Office received another round of
comments from nearly all of the parties
in this proceeding. All of these parties
raised issues of first impression that
were not addressed in the initial phase
of this proceeding. The Office is
studying these new issues and intends
to issue a final rule early next year. In
the meantime, the interim rule will
allow copyright owners to identify any
SOAs from accounting periods
beginning January 1, 2010 and later that
they intend to audit. At the same time,
it will provide licensees with advance
notice of the SOAs that will be subject
to audit when the final rule goes into
effect.
List of Subjects in 37 CFR Part 201
Copyright, General Provisions.
Interim Regulation
In consideration of the foregoing, the
U.S. Copyright Office amends part 201
of 37 CFR, as follows:
PART 201—GENERAL PROVISIONS
1. The authority citation for part 201
continues to read as follows:
sroberts on DSK5SPTVN1PROD with RULES
■
Authority: 17 U.S.C. 702.
Section 201.10 also issued under 17 U.S.C.
304.
2. Add new § 201.16 to read as
follows:
■
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16:15 Dec 24, 2013
Jkt 232001
§ 201.16 Verification of a Statement of
Account and royalty fee payments for
secondary transmissions made by cable
systems and satellite carriers.
(a) General. This section prescribes
procedures pertaining to the verification
of a Statement of Account and royalty
fees filed with the Copyright Office
pursuant to sections 111(d)(1) and
119(b)(1) of title 17 of the United States
Code.
(b) Definitions. As used in this
section:
(1) The term cable system has the
meaning set forth in § 201.17(b)(2).
(2) Copyright owner means any person
or entity that owns the copyright in a
work embodied in a secondary
transmission made by a statutory
licensee that filed a Statement of
Account with the Copyright Office for
an accounting period beginning on or
after January 1, 2010, or a designated
agent or representative of such person or
entity.
(3) The term satellite carrier has the
meaning set forth in 17 U.S.C. 119(d)(6).
(4) The term secondary transmission
has the meaning set forth in 17 U.S.C.
111(f)(2).
(5) Statement of Account or Statement
means a semiannual Statement of
Account filed with the Copyright Office
under 17 U.S.C. 111(d)(1) or 119(b)(1) or
an amended Statement of Account filed
with the Office pursuant to § 201.11(h)
or § 201.17(m) of this chapter.
(6) Statutory licensee or licensee
means a cable system or satellite carrier
that filed a Statement of Account with
the Office under 17 U.S.C. 111(d)(1) or
119(b)(1).
(c) Notice of intent to audit. (1) Any
copyright owner that intends to audit a
Statement of Account for an accounting
period beginning on or after January 1,
2010 must notify the Register of
Copyrights no later than three years
after the last day of the year in which
the Statement was filed with the Office.
The notice of intent to audit may be
filed by an individual copyright owner
or a designated agent that represents a
group or multiple groups of copyright
owners. The notice shall identify the
statutory licensee that filed the
Statement(s) with the Copyright Office,
the Statement(s) and accounting
period(s) that will be subject to the
audit, and the party that filed the notice,
including its name, address, telephone
number, facsimile number, and email
address. In addition, the notice shall
include a statement that the party owns,
or represents one or more copyright
owners that own, a work that was
embodied in a secondary transmission
made by the statutory licensee during
one or more of the accounting period(s)
PO 00000
Frm 00094
Fmt 4700
Sfmt 4700
specified in the Statement(s) of Account
that will be subject to the audit. A copy
of the notice of intent to audit shall be
provided to the statutory licensee on the
same day that the notice is filed with
the Copyright Office. Within 30 days
after the notice has been received in the
Office, the Office will publish a notice
in the Federal Register announcing the
receipt of the notice of intent to audit.
(2) Within 30 days after a notice of
intent to audit a Statement of Account
is published in the Federal Register
pursuant to paragraph (c)(1) of this
section, any other copyright owner that
owns a work that was embodied in a
secondary transmission made by that
statutory licensee during an accounting
period covered by the Statement(s) of
Account referenced in the Federal
Register notice and that wishes to
participate in the audit of such
Statement(s) must provide written
notice of such participation to the
statutory licensee and to the party that
filed the notice of intent to audit. A
notice given pursuant to this paragraph
may be provided by an individual
copyright owner or a designated agent
that represents a group or multiple
groups of copyright owners, and shall
include all of the information specified
in paragraph (c)(1) of this section.
(3) Once a notice of intent to audit a
Statement of Account has been received
by the Office, a notice of intent to audit
that same Statement will not be
accepted for publication in the Federal
Register.
Dated: December 13, 2013.
Maria A. Pallante,
Register of Copyrights.
James H. Billington,
The Librarian of Congress.
[FR Doc. 2013–30776 Filed 12–24–13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 1410–30–P
DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS
AFFAIRS
38 CFR Part 17
RIN 2900–AO25
Duty Periods for Establishing
Eligibility for Health Care
ACTION:
Final rule.
The Department of Veterans
Affairs (VA) is amending its medical
regulations concerning eligibility for
health care to re-establish the
definitions of ‘‘active military, naval, or
air service,’’ ‘‘active duty,’’ and ‘‘active
duty for training.’’ These definitions
were deleted in 1996; however, we
believe that all duty periods should be
SUMMARY:
E:\FR\FM\26DER1.SGM
26DER1
]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 248 (Thursday, December 26, 2013)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 78257-78258]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-30776]
=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS
Copyright Office
37 CFR Part 201
[Docket No. 2012-5]
Verification of Statements of Account Submitted by Cable
Operators and Satellite Carriers
AGENCY: U.S. Copyright Office, Library of Congress.
ACTION: Interim rule.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The U.S. Copyright Office is adopting an interim regulation
that implements certain aspects of the Satellite Television Extension
and Localism Act of 2010 (``STELA''). Cable operators and satellite
carriers must file statements of account (``SOAs'') and deposit royalty
fees with the Office in order to use the statutory licenses that allow
for the retransmission of over-the-air broadcast signals. The Office
published two notices of proposed rulemaking concerning a new process
to allow copyright owners to audit the SOAs and associated royalty
payments. The Office received extensive comments on its proposed audit
procedures and is carefully reviewing these comments to address them as
appropriate in a final rule. In the meantime, the Office is issuing an
interim rule to establish the procedure for filing a notice of intent
to audit one or more SOAs.
DATES: Effective Date: December 26, 2013.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jacqueline C. Charlesworth, General
Counsel, or Erik Bertin, Attorney Advisor, U.S. Copyright Office, P.O.
Box 70400, Washington, DC 20024-0400. Telephone: (202) 707-8380.
Telefax: (202) 707-8366.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: STELA amended the Copyright Act by directing
the Register of Copyrights to issue regulations to allow copyright
owners to audit the SOAs and royalty fees that cable operators and
satellite carriers file with the Office. See 17 U.S.C. 111(d)(6),
119(b)(2). On June 14, 2012, the Office published a notice of proposed
rulemaking that set forth an initial proposal for this procedure. See
77 FR 35643. The Office received extensive comments from groups
representing copyright owners, cable operators, and individual
companies that use the statutory licenses. The parties offered
conflicting points of view on nearly every aspect of the proposal,
including the procedures for selecting an auditor, for protecting the
confidentiality of the licensee's records, for correcting the errors
and underpayments identified in the auditor's report, and for
allocating the cost of the audit procedure between the copyright owners
and the licensee.
The Office carefully studied these comments and revised its
proposal based on the suggestions that it received. The revised
proposal was published for comment on May 9, 2013. See 78 FR 27137. The
Office received comments from a wide range of stakeholders, and once
again, the parties raised a number of complex issues, such as the
records retention requirement and the procedure for expanding or
suspending the scope of the audit.
The Office is carefully reviewing these comments and intends to
issue a final rule that strikes an appropriate balance between the
interests of the copyright owners and the cable and satellite licensees
in the audit process. In the meantime, the Office is issuing an interim
rule that addresses a procedural issue--the provision of notice of an
intent to audit--that was not contested by the parties.
The Office's initial proposal explained that a copyright owner may
initiate an audit by filing a notice with the Office. It explained that
the notice should identify the SOAs to be included in the audit and the
licensee that filed those SOAs. In addition, the notice should provide
contact information for the copyright owner, along with a brief
statement establishing that the copyright owner owns at least one work
that was included in a secondary transmission made by that licensee
during the accounting period or periods subject to audit. The proposed
regulation further provided that a notice of intent to audit a
particular SOA should be submitted within three years after the last
day of the year in which that SOA was filed. It also explained that the
copyright owner should provide a copy of the notice to the licensee on
the same date that the notice is filed with the Office. It stated that
the Office would publish this notice in the Federal Register. Within 30
days thereafter, any other copyright owner that wished to participate
in the audit would be required to notify both the copyright owner that
filed the notice and the licensee to be subject to the audit. Copyright
owners that failed to comply with this requirement would not be
permitted to participate in the audit process and would not be
permitted to audit the same SOAs in a subsequent proceeding.
All of the parties agreed with this proposal. A group representing
the copyright owners offered a minor suggestion for clarifying one
aspect of this procedure, namely, that a group
[[Page 78258]]
representing multiple copyright owners should be able to file an audit
notice on behalf of its members. None of the other parties objected to
this, and, as discussed in the prior Federal Register notice, the
Office included this suggestion in its revised proposal. See 78 FR at
27139.
The Office finds there is good cause for adopting this procedural
rule concerning notification of an intent to audit as an interim rule
and for making the rule effective immediately. The other issues
presented in this proceeding are numerous and complex. The Office
issued an initial notice of proposed rulemaking that was based in part
on a proposal that the Office received from a group of copyright
owners. See 77 FR at 35644. In response to its initial proposal, the
Office received detailed comments from more than a dozen stakeholders.
It also received a counterproposal for revising nearly every aspect of
the proposed regulation. The Office addressed many of these issues in a
second notice of proposed rulemaking, which was published earlier this
year. See 78 FR 27137. In response to this latest notice, the Office
received another round of comments from nearly all of the parties in
this proceeding. All of these parties raised issues of first impression
that were not addressed in the initial phase of this proceeding. The
Office is studying these new issues and intends to issue a final rule
early next year. In the meantime, the interim rule will allow copyright
owners to identify any SOAs from accounting periods beginning January
1, 2010 and later that they intend to audit. At the same time, it will
provide licensees with advance notice of the SOAs that will be subject
to audit when the final rule goes into effect.
List of Subjects in 37 CFR Part 201
Copyright, General Provisions.
Interim Regulation
In consideration of the foregoing, the U.S. Copyright Office amends
part 201 of 37 CFR, as follows:
PART 201--GENERAL PROVISIONS
0
1. The authority citation for part 201 continues to read as follows:
Authority: 17 U.S.C. 702.
Section 201.10 also issued under 17 U.S.C. 304.
0
2. Add new Sec. 201.16 to read as follows:
Sec. 201.16 Verification of a Statement of Account and royalty fee
payments for secondary transmissions made by cable systems and
satellite carriers.
(a) General. This section prescribes procedures pertaining to the
verification of a Statement of Account and royalty fees filed with the
Copyright Office pursuant to sections 111(d)(1) and 119(b)(1) of title
17 of the United States Code.
(b) Definitions. As used in this section:
(1) The term cable system has the meaning set forth in Sec.
201.17(b)(2).
(2) Copyright owner means any person or entity that owns the
copyright in a work embodied in a secondary transmission made by a
statutory licensee that filed a Statement of Account with the Copyright
Office for an accounting period beginning on or after January 1, 2010,
or a designated agent or representative of such person or entity.
(3) The term satellite carrier has the meaning set forth in 17
U.S.C. 119(d)(6).
(4) The term secondary transmission has the meaning set forth in 17
U.S.C. 111(f)(2).
(5) Statement of Account or Statement means a semiannual Statement
of Account filed with the Copyright Office under 17 U.S.C. 111(d)(1) or
119(b)(1) or an amended Statement of Account filed with the Office
pursuant to Sec. 201.11(h) or Sec. 201.17(m) of this chapter.
(6) Statutory licensee or licensee means a cable system or
satellite carrier that filed a Statement of Account with the Office
under 17 U.S.C. 111(d)(1) or 119(b)(1).
(c) Notice of intent to audit. (1) Any copyright owner that intends
to audit a Statement of Account for an accounting period beginning on
or after January 1, 2010 must notify the Register of Copyrights no
later than three years after the last day of the year in which the
Statement was filed with the Office. The notice of intent to audit may
be filed by an individual copyright owner or a designated agent that
represents a group or multiple groups of copyright owners. The notice
shall identify the statutory licensee that filed the Statement(s) with
the Copyright Office, the Statement(s) and accounting period(s) that
will be subject to the audit, and the party that filed the notice,
including its name, address, telephone number, facsimile number, and
email address. In addition, the notice shall include a statement that
the party owns, or represents one or more copyright owners that own, a
work that was embodied in a secondary transmission made by the
statutory licensee during one or more of the accounting period(s)
specified in the Statement(s) of Account that will be subject to the
audit. A copy of the notice of intent to audit shall be provided to the
statutory licensee on the same day that the notice is filed with the
Copyright Office. Within 30 days after the notice has been received in
the Office, the Office will publish a notice in the Federal Register
announcing the receipt of the notice of intent to audit.
(2) Within 30 days after a notice of intent to audit a Statement of
Account is published in the Federal Register pursuant to paragraph
(c)(1) of this section, any other copyright owner that owns a work that
was embodied in a secondary transmission made by that statutory
licensee during an accounting period covered by the Statement(s) of
Account referenced in the Federal Register notice and that wishes to
participate in the audit of such Statement(s) must provide written
notice of such participation to the statutory licensee and to the party
that filed the notice of intent to audit. A notice given pursuant to
this paragraph may be provided by an individual copyright owner or a
designated agent that represents a group or multiple groups of
copyright owners, and shall include all of the information specified in
paragraph (c)(1) of this section.
(3) Once a notice of intent to audit a Statement of Account has
been received by the Office, a notice of intent to audit that same
Statement will not be accepted for publication in the Federal Register.
Dated: December 13, 2013.
Maria A. Pallante,
Register of Copyrights.
James H. Billington,
The Librarian of Congress.
[FR Doc. 2013-30776 Filed 12-24-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 1410-30-P
