Sunshine Act Meetings: June 2014, 31995 [2014-12864]
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Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 106 / Tuesday, June 3, 2014 / Notices
good faith objections to the auditor’s
report pursuant to paragraph (h)(2) of
this section and the net aggregate
underpayment made by the statutory
licensee on the basis of that explanation
is not more than [ten] percent and not
less than [five] percent, the costs of the
auditor shall be split evenly between the
statutory licensee and the participating
copyright owners.’’ Id.
The Office is inclined to keep the
provision providing for cost shifting
where the auditor concludes there was
a net aggregate underpayment of more
than ten percent. But after further
analysis, we question whether the
provision providing for cost splitting
should be included in the final rule.
Under the proposed rule, the
determination of whether there has been
a net aggregate underpayment would be
based on the auditor’s final report, i.e.,
after the auditor has evaluated the
licensee’s ‘‘written explanation of its
good faith objections’’ to the initial
report. If the auditor considered and
rejected those objections, it is unclear
why they should gain renewed
significance for the purpose of
allocating costs. Would it make more
sense to adopt a simple rule that the
copyright owners would pay the audit
costs if the final report concludes that
the underpayment is ten percent or less,
and the licensee would pay the cost if
the final report concludes that the
underpayment is more than ten percent
(with the qualification that the licensee
would never be required to pay costs
that exceed the amount of the
underpayment identified in the final
report)?
Second, the proposed rule states that
‘‘if a court, in a final judgment (i.e., after
all appeals have been exhausted)
concludes that the statutory licensee’s
net aggregate underpayment, if any, was
[ten] percent or less, the participating
copyright owner(s) shall reimburse the
licensee, within [sixty] days of the final
judgment, for any costs of the auditor
that the licensee has paid.’’ 78 FR at
27152. In the Second NRPM the Office
assumed that if the licensee disagrees
with the auditor’s conclusions, the
licensee might seek a declaratory
judgment of non-infringement and an
order directing the copyright owners to
reimburse the licensee for the cost of the
audit. See 78 FR at 27149. Do the parties
in fact expect to be engaged in this sort
of litigation as an outgrowth of the audit
process? Do stakeholders anticipate that
a royalty underpayment or overpayment
would be addressed in a federal
infringement (or non-infringement)
action? Have the stakeholders given any
thought to whether or how the statute of
limitations might affect such claims?
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Should the appropriate remedy in any
such proceeding, including
reimbursement of audit costs, be left to
the court?
In any event, if it is necessary to
include a provision requiring the
copyright owners to reimburse the
licensee, we are interested in the
stakeholders’ views on alternate ways in
which this might be accomplished,
given the concerns expressed by some
commenters about the potential
difficulty of recovering costs from
multiple copyright owners in the event
an auditor’s findings are overturned. See
AT&T Second Comment at 2; ACA
Second Comment at 3–4. If the licensee
disagrees with the auditor’s
conclusions, should the licensee place
the cost of the audit procedure into
escrow pending the resolution of any
litigation between the licensee and the
copyright owners? Should the licensee
be required to release those funds to the
copyright owners if the parties fail to
take legal action within a specified
period of time? If so, what would be a
reasonable amount of time for the funds
to remain in escrow?
III. Requests To Participate in the
Public Roundtable
The Office invites copyright owners,
cable operators, satellite carriers,
accounting professionals, and other
interested parties to participate in the
public roundtable to address these
issues. The Office is particularly
interested in hearing from accounting
professionals with experience and
expertise regarding auditing procedures
and statistical sampling techniques. The
Office encourages parties that share
interests and views to designate
common spokespeople to discuss the
topics listed in this notice. The Office
also encourages copyright owners and
licensees to confer with each other prior
to the meeting to identify common
ground or areas of disagreement
concerning these issues.
Persons wishing to participate in the
discussion should submit a request
electronically no later than June 26,
2014 using the form posted on the
Office’s Web site at https://
www.copyright.gov/docs/soaaudit/
public-roundtable/. If electronic
submission is not feasible, please
contact the Office at (202) 707–8350 for
special instructions. Seating in the room
where the roundtable will be held is
limited and will be offered first to
persons who submitted a timely request
to participate. To the extent available,
observer seats will be offered on a firstcome, first-served basis on the day of
the meeting.
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31995
Parties do not need to submit written
comments or prepared testimony in
order to participate in the public
roundtable. However, the Office
strongly encourages participants to
familiarize themselves with the Notices
of Proposed Rulemaking and the Interim
Rule that the Office issued in this
proceeding, as well as the questions
presented in this notice and the
comments that have been submitted to
date.
Dated: May 28, 2014.
Jacqueline C. Charlesworth,
General Counsel and Associate Register of
Copyrights.
[FR Doc. 2014–12755 Filed 6–2–14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 1410–30–P
NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS
BOARD
Sunshine Act Meetings: June 2014
All meetings are held
at 2:00 p.m.: Tuesday, June 3;
Wednesday, June 4; Tuesday, June 10;
Wednesday, June 11; Thursday, June 12;
Tuesday, June 17; Wednesday, June 18;
Thursday, June 19; Tuesday, June 24;
Wednesday, June 25; Thursday, June 26.
PLACE: Board Agenda Room, No. 11820,
1099 14th St. NW., Washington, DC
20570.
STATUS: Closed.
MATTERS TO BE CONSIDERED: Pursuant to
§ 102.139(a) of the Board’s Rules and
Regulations, the Board or a panel
thereof will consider ‘‘the issuance of a
subpoena, the Board’s participation in a
civil action or proceeding or an
arbitration, or the initiation, conduct, or
disposition . . . of particular
representation or unfair labor practice
proceedings under section 8, 9, or 10 of
the [National Labor Relations] Act, or
any court proceedings collateral or
ancillary thereto.’’ See also 5 U.S.C.
552b(c)(10).
CONTACT PERSON FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Henry Breiteneicher, Associate
Executive Secretary, (202) 273–2917.
TIME AND DATES:
Dated: May 30, 2014.
William B. Cowen,
Solicitor.
[FR Doc. 2014–12864 Filed 5–30–14; 11:15 am]
BILLING CODE 7545–01–P
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE
COMMISSION
Submission for OMB Review;
Comment Request
Upon Written Request, Copies Available
From: Securities and Exchange
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[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 106 (Tuesday, June 3, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Page 31995]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-12864]
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NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
Sunshine Act Meetings: June 2014
TIME AND DATES: All meetings are held at 2:00 p.m.: Tuesday, June 3;
Wednesday, June 4; Tuesday, June 10; Wednesday, June 11; Thursday, June
12; Tuesday, June 17; Wednesday, June 18; Thursday, June 19; Tuesday,
June 24; Wednesday, June 25; Thursday, June 26.
PLACE: Board Agenda Room, No. 11820, 1099 14th St. NW., Washington, DC
20570.
STATUS: Closed.
MATTERS TO BE CONSIDERED: Pursuant to Sec. 102.139(a) of the Board's
Rules and Regulations, the Board or a panel thereof will consider ``the
issuance of a subpoena, the Board's participation in a civil action or
proceeding or an arbitration, or the initiation, conduct, or
disposition . . . of particular representation or unfair labor practice
proceedings under section 8, 9, or 10 of the [National Labor Relations]
Act, or any court proceedings collateral or ancillary thereto.'' See
also 5 U.S.C. 552b(c)(10).
CONTACT PERSON FOR MORE INFORMATION: Henry Breiteneicher, Associate
Executive Secretary, (202) 273-2917.
Dated: May 30, 2014.
William B. Cowen,
Solicitor.
[FR Doc. 2014-12864 Filed 5-30-14; 11:15 am]
BILLING CODE 7545-01-P
