Disruption of Copyright Office Electronic Systems, 22886-22888 [2017-10218]
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Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 96 / Friday, May 19, 2017 / Rules and Regulations
Copies of Statements of Account. In
light of the changes to section 201.17(d),
which clarify that instructions for
submitting forms will be provided by
the Office on its Web site or the form
itself, the Office is removing section
201.17(l), which currently proscribes
the number of physical copies that must
be filed by licensees.
Corrections, Supplemental Payments,
and Refunds. As raised in the NPRM,
and following the same rationale
allowing for the electronic signature and
submission of SOAs, the Office is
updating its rule to allow for electronic
signatures and submission in
connection with corrections,
supplemental payments, and refunds. In
addition, as proposed in the NPRM, the
Office is now codifying its practice of
accepting a signed and certified
amended SOA in lieu of a sworn
affidavit or statement under 28 U.S.C.
1746 currently required by the
regulation. In practice, the Office
receives few sworn affidavits or
statements that are not part of an
amended SOA, and so to facilitate
efficiency and clarity, the final rule
removes references to separate affidavits
or statements and simply requires
remitters to submit an amended SOA.
Batch Submissions. The proposed
rule also included language permitting
the submission of multiple SOAs by the
same cable operator in one group or
‘‘batch’’ filing. NCTA’s comment raised
a concern that this change would be
‘‘unnecessarily burdensome’’ by
imposing overly rigid requirements for
the review, signature, and submission of
SOAs upon remitters. NCTA Comments
at 4. In light of the Office’s redirected
efforts described above and NCTA’s
comment, the final rule does not
include this originally-proposed
amendment.
List of Subjects in 37 CFR Part 201
Copyright.
Regulations
For the reasons set forth in the
preamble, the Copyright Office amends
37 CFR part 201 as follows:
PART 201—GENERAL PROVISIONS
1. The authority citation for part 201
continues to read as follows:
■
nlaroche on DSK30NT082PROD with RULES
Authority: 17 U.S.C. 702.
2. Amend § 201.17 by:
a. Revising the first sentence of
paragraph (c)(2);
■
■
Intention to the Copyright Office, https://
www.copyright.gov/licensing/115/noiinstructions.html (‘‘The NOI must be emailed as an
Excel file, and must not be converted to PDF or any
other file format.’’).
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14:45 May 18, 2017
Jkt 241001
b. Revising paragraph (d);
c. Revising paragraphs (e)(14)
introductory text and (e)(14)(iii)(A);
■ d. Removing paragraph (l);
■ e. Redesignating paragraphs (m) and
(n) as paragraphs (l) and (m),
respectively; and
■ f. Revising newly redesignated
paragraph (l)(4)(iii)(B).
The revisions read as follows:
■
■
§ 201.17 Statements of account covering
compulsory licenses for secondary
transmissions by cable systems.
*
*
*
*
*
(c) * * *
(2) Upon receiving a Statement of
Account and royalty fee, the Copyright
Office will make an official record of the
actual date when such Statement and
fee were received in the Copyright
Office. * * *
*
*
*
*
*
(d) Statement of Account forms and
submission. Cable systems should
submit each Statement of Account using
an appropriate form provided by the
Copyright Office on its Web site and
following the instructions for
completion and submission provided on
the Office’s Web site or the form itself.
(e) * * *
(14) A legally binding signature,
including an electronic signature as
defined in 15 U.S.C. 7006, of:
(iii) * * *
(A) The printed name of the person
signing the Statement of Account;
*
*
*
*
*
(l) * * *
(4) * * *
(iii) * * *
(B) In the case of a request filed under
paragraph (m)(2)(ii) of this section,
where the royalty fee was miscalculated
and the amount deposited in the
Copyright Office was either too high or
too low, the request must be
accompanied by an amended Statement
of Account. The amended Statement
shall include an explanation of why the
royalty fee was improperly calculated
and a detailed analysis of the proper
royalty calculations.
*
*
*
*
*
Dated: May 12, 2017.
Karyn Temple Claggett,
Acting Register of Copyrights and Director
of the U.S. Copyright Office.
Approved by:
Carla D. Hayden,
Librarian of Congress.
[FR Doc. 2017–10219 Filed 5–18–17; 8:45 am]
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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS
Copyright Office
37 CFR Part 201
[Docket No. 2017–4]
Disruption of Copyright Office
Electronic Systems
U.S. Copyright Office, Library
of Congress.
ACTION: Final rule.
AGENCY:
The U.S. Copyright Office is
amending its regulations governing
delays in the receipt of material caused
by the disruption of postal or other
transportation or communication
services. The amendments, for the first
time, specifically address the effect of a
disruption or suspension of any
Copyright Office electronic system on
the Office’s receipt of applications, fees,
deposits, or other materials, and the
assignment of a constructive date of
receipt to such materials. The
amendments also make various
revisions to the existing portions of the
rule for usability and readability. In
addition, the amendments specify how
the Office will assign effective dates of
receipt when, in the absence of a
declaration of a general disruption, the
Office does not receive, loses, or
misplaces materials that were physically
delivered or attempted to be physically
delivered to the Office.
DATES: Effective June 19, 2017.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Anna Chauvet, Assistant General
Counsel, by email at achau@loc.gov, or
by telephone at 202–707–8350.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section
709 of the Copyright Act (title 17,
United States Code) addresses the
situation where the ‘‘general disruption
or suspension of postal or other
transportation or communications
services’’ prevents the timely receipt by
the U.S. Copyright Office (‘‘Office’’) of
‘‘a deposit, application, fee, or any other
material.’’ In such situations, and ‘‘on
the basis of such evidence as the
Register may by regulation require,’’ the
Register of Copyrights may deem the
receipt of such material to be timely, so
long as it is actually received ‘‘within
one month after the date on which the
Register determines that the disruption
or suspension of such services has
terminated.’’ 17 U.S.C. 709. In addition,
section 702 of the Copyright Act
authorizes the Register to ‘‘establish
regulations not inconsistent with law for
the administration of the functions and
duties made the responsibility of the
Register under this title.’’ 17 U.S.C. 702.
SUMMARY:
E:\FR\FM\19MYR1.SGM
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Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 96 / Friday, May 19, 2017 / Rules and Regulations
The Office’s regulations implementing
section 709 can be found in 37 CFR
201.8. When the Office first
promulgated these regulations, many of
the Office’s current electronic systems
did not exist, and the regulations were
not amended to specifically address
outages of such systems. In 2015, the
Office’s online system used to register
copyright claims was disrupted for over
a week due to an equipment failure,
highlighting the need for the Office to
update its regulations to address the
effect of a disruption or suspension of
any Copyright Office electronic system
on the Office’s receipt of applications,
fees, deposits, or any other materials.
On March 2, 2017, the Office
published a Notice of Proposed
Rulemaking (‘‘NPRM’’) setting forth
proposed regulatory amendments
designed to close this gap in the Office’s
regulations. 82 FR 12326. The proposed
amendments addressed the effect of a
disruption or suspension of any
Copyright Office electronic system on
the Office’s receipt of applications, fees,
deposits, or other materials, and the
assignment of a constructive date of
receipt to such materials. 82 FR 12326.
The Office received six comments in
response to the NPRM. None of the
commenters opposed or proposed
amendments to the proposed rule.
As explained in the NPRM, assigning
a date of receipt based on the date
materials would have been received but
for the disruption of a Copyright Office
electronic system is important in a
number of contexts. For example,
thousands of copyright claims are filed
each year using the Office’s electronic
filing system, and the effective date of
registration of a copyright is the date the
application, fees, and deposit are
received by the Office. 17 U.S.C. 410(d).
That date can affect the copyright
owner’s rights and remedies, such as
eligibility for statutory damages and
attorney’s fees. See 17 U.S.C. 412
(statutory damages and attorney’s fees
available only for works with effective
date of registration prior to
commencement of infringement or, for
published works, within three months
of first publication of the work). In
addition, certain filings may be
submitted to the Office only in
electronic form. See 37 CFR 201.38
(online service providers must designate
an agent to receive notifications of
claimed copyright infringement through
the Copyright Office’s Web site).
The Office’s amendments accordingly
make several updates to 37 CFR 201.8
to account for electronic outages.
Among other things, the amendments
allow the Register to assign, as the date
of receipt, the date on which she
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determines the material would have
been received but for the disruption or
suspension of the electronic system.
Ordinarily, when a person submits
materials through an Office electronic
system, those materials are received in
the Office on the date the submission
was made. In cases where a person
attempts to submit materials, but is
unable to do so because of a disruption
or suspension of a Copyright Office
electronic system, the amendments will
allow the Register to use the date that
the attempt was made as the date of
receipt. In cases where it is unclear
when the attempt was made, the
amendments provide the Register with
discretion to determine the effective
date of receipt on a case-by-case basis.
In addition, the amendments make
several other changes to update the rule
to account for more recent practices,
and improve the usability and
readability of the regulation. For
instance, the amendments
comprehensively update paragraph (c)
of § 201.8, which specifies the deadline
for requesting an adjustment of the date
of receipt in cases where a person
attempted to submit material to the
Office but was unable to do so due to
the declared suspension or disruption of
postal or other transportation or
communications services. Under the
previous rule, an applicant could only
submit such a request after the issuance
of a certificate of registration or
recordation. That is because, in the past,
most materials were submitted to the
Office on paper. Permitting the
submission of requests prior to the
issuance of the certificate would have
imposed unacceptable burdens on the
Office, primarily due to difficulties in
locating the pending paper applications
or submissions to which the requests
pertained. Now that the Office has
implemented electronic systems, it is
easier to make date adjustments, such as
correcting the effective date of
registration or date of recordation, while
the application or submission is still
pending. Accordingly, the Office’s
amendments allow persons seeking to
adjust the date of receipt of any material
that could not be submitted
electronically due to a disruption or
suspension of a Copyright Office
electronic system, to submit a request
on the date the Register publishes the
announcement declaring that the
disruption or suspension has terminated
under § 201.8(a), up to one year after the
date on which the disruption or
suspension has terminated under
§ 201.8(a).
Finally, the amendments add
§ 201.8(b)(2) and (c)(2), which address a
related issue. On occasion, a person may
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22887
deliver or attempt to deliver material to
the Office, but the Office may have no
record of having received such material
or may have lost or misplaced that
material after it was received. Although
such situations are rare, they do occur
occasionally as mail delivered to the
Office must go through extensive
security screening.1 If the person
provides satisfactory evidence that he or
she physically delivered or attempted to
physically deliver that material to the
Office, the amendment allows the
Register to assign, as the date of receipt,
the date on which the material would
have been received. Such a request must
be made no later than one year after the
person physically delivered or
attempted to physically deliver the
application, fee, deposit, or other
material to the Office.
As a technical matter, these
provisions do not implement section
709, which pertains to a general
disruption of postal or other services;
rather, the Office is implementing these
provisions as an exercise of its general
regulatory authority under section 702
of the Copyright Act.
List of Subjects in 37 CFR Part 201
Copyright.
Final Regulations
For the reasons set forth in the
preamble, the Copyright Office amends
37 CFR part 201 as follows:
PART 201—GENERAL PROVISIONS
1. The authority citation for part 201
continues to read as follows:
■
Authority: 17 U.S.C. 702.
2. Section 201.8 is amended by
revising paragraphs (a) through (f)
introductory text, (f)(4), by adding
paragraph (f)(5), and by removing
paragraph (g). The revisions and
addition read as follows:
■
§ 201.8 Disruption of postal or other
transportation or communication services.
(a) Declaration of disruption. For
purposes of 17 U.S.C. 709, when the
Register has determined that there is or
has been a general disruption or
suspension of postal or other
transportation or communications
services, including a disruption or
1 As the NPRM thus made clear, sections
201.8(b)(2) and (c)(2) are meant to address
situations where the Office does not receive, loses,
or misplaces materials that were physically
delivered or attempted to be physically delivered to
the Office. The rule is not intended to address
short-term or routine outages of electronic systems
that may occur in the absence of a declaration of
a general disruption under section 201.8(a). The
language of the final rule clarifies this point for the
avoidance of any doubt.
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22888
Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 96 / Friday, May 19, 2017 / Rules and Regulations
suspension of a Copyright Office
electronic system, that has delayed the
receipt by the Copyright Office of
applications, fees, deposits, or any other
materials, the Register shall publish an
announcement of that determination,
stating the date on which the disruption
or suspension commenced. The
announcement may, if appropriate, limit
the means of delivery that are subject to
relief pursuant to section 709. Following
the cessation of the disruption or
suspension of services, the Register
shall publish an announcement stating
the date on which the disruption or
suspension has terminated, and may
provide specific instructions on how to
make a request under paragraph (b)(1) of
this section.
(b) Request for earlier filing date due
to disruption—(1) When the Register has
declared a disruption. When the
Register has made a declaration of
disruption under paragraph (a) of this
section, any person who, in compliance
with any instructions provided by the
Register, provides satisfactory evidence
as described in paragraph (e) of this
section that he or she attempted to
deliver an application, fee, deposit, or
other material to the Copyright Office,
but that receipt by the Copyright Office
was delayed due to a general disruption
or suspension of postal or other
transportation or communications
services announced under paragraph (a),
shall be assigned, as the date of receipt
of the application, fee, deposit, or other
material, the date on which the Register
determines the material would have
been received but for the disruption or
suspension of services, so long as the
application, fee, deposit, or other
material was actually received in the
Copyright Office within one month after
the date the Register identifies pursuant
to paragraph (a) of this section that
disruption or suspension of services has
terminated. Such requests should be
mailed to the address specified in
§ 201.1(c)(1), or through any other
delivery method the Register specifies
in a published announcement under
paragraph (a) of this section.
(2) With respect to disruption
affecting specific submission. In the
absence of a declaration of disruption
under paragraph (a) of this section, any
person who provides satisfactory
evidence as described in paragraph (e)
of this section that he or she physically
delivered or attempted to physically
deliver an application, fee, deposit, or
other material to the Copyright Office,
but that the Office did not receive that
material or that it was lost or misplaced
by the Office after its delivery to the
Office, shall be assigned, as the date of
receipt, the date that the Register
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Jkt 241001
determines that the material was
received or would have been received.
Such requests may be mailed to the
address specified in § 201.1(c)(1), or
through any other delivery method
specified by the Copyright Office.
(c) Timing. (1) A request under
paragraph (b)(1) of this section shall be
made no earlier than the date on which
the Register publishes the
announcement under paragraph (a) of
this section declaring that the
disruption or suspension has
terminated, and no later than one year
after the publication of that
announcement.
(2) A request under paragraph (b)(2) of
this section shall be made no later than
one year after the person physically
delivered or attempted to physically
deliver the application, fee, deposit, or
other material to the Copyright Office.
(d) Return of certificate. In cases
where a certificate of registration or a
certificate of recordation has already
been issued, the original certificate must
be returned to the Copyright Office
along with the request under paragraph
(b) of this section.
(e) Satisfactory evidence. In all cases
the Register shall have discretion in
determining whether materials
submitted with a request under
paragraph (b) of this section constitute
satisfactory evidence. For purposes of
paragraph (b) of this section, satisfactory
evidence may include:
(1) A receipt from the United States
Postal Service indicating the date on
which the United States Postal Service
received material for delivery to the
Copyright Office by means of first class
mail, Priority Mail, or Express Mail;
(2) A receipt from a delivery service
such as, or comparable to, United Parcel
Service, Federal Express, or Airborne
Express, indicating the date on which
the delivery service received material
for delivery to the Copyright Office; and
(i) The date on which delivery was to
be made to the Copyright Office, or
(ii) The period of time (e.g., overnight,
or two days) from receipt by the
delivery service to the date on which
delivery was to be made to the
Copyright Office;
(3) A statement under penalty of
perjury, pursuant to 28 U.S.C. 1746,
from a person with actual knowledge of
the facts relating to the attempt to
deliver the material to the Copyright
Office, setting forth with particularity
facts which satisfy the Register that in
the absence of the general disruption or
suspension of postal or other
transportation or communications
services, including a disruption or
suspension of a Copyright Office
electronic system, or but for the
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misdelivery, misplacement, or loss of
materials sent to the Copyright Office,
the material would have been received
by the Copyright Office by a particular
date; or
(4) Other documentary evidence
which the Register deems equivalent to
the evidence set forth in paragraphs
(e)(1) and (2) of this section.
(f) Presumption of receipt. For
purposes of paragraph (b) of this
section, the Register shall presume that
but for the general disruption or
suspension of postal or other
transportation or communications
services, including a disruption or
suspension of a Copyright Office
electronic system, or but for the
misdelivery, misplacement, or loss of
materials sent to the Copyright Office:
*
*
*
*
*
(4) Materials deposited with a
delivery service such as, or comparable
to, United Parcel Service, Federal
Express, or Airborne Express, would
have been received in the Copyright
Office on the date indicated on the
receipt from the delivery service;
(5) Materials submitted or attempted
to be submitted through a Copyright
Office electronic system would have
been received in the Copyright Office on
the date the attempt was made. If it is
unclear when an attempt was made, the
Register will determine the effective
date of receipt on a case-by-case basis.
Dated: May 11, 2017.
Karyn Temple Claggett,
Acting Register of Copyrights and Director
of the U.S. Copyright Office.
Approved by:
Carla D. Hayden,
Librarian of Congress.
[FR Doc. 2017–10218 Filed 5–18–17; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 1410–30–P
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
AGENCY
40 CFR Part 81
[EPA–HQ–OAR–2012–0918; FRL–9962–89–
OAR]
RIN 2060–AT44
Air Quality Designations for the 2012
Primary Annual Fine Particle (PM2.5)
National Ambient Air Quality Standard
(NAAQS) for Areas in Tennessee
Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Final rule.
AGENCY:
The Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) is establishing air quality
designations in the United States (U.S.)
SUMMARY:
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]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 96 (Friday, May 19, 2017)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 22886-22888]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-10218]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS
Copyright Office
37 CFR Part 201
[Docket No. 2017-4]
Disruption of Copyright Office Electronic Systems
AGENCY: U.S. Copyright Office, Library of Congress.
ACTION: Final rule.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The U.S. Copyright Office is amending its regulations
governing delays in the receipt of material caused by the disruption of
postal or other transportation or communication services. The
amendments, for the first time, specifically address the effect of a
disruption or suspension of any Copyright Office electronic system on
the Office's receipt of applications, fees, deposits, or other
materials, and the assignment of a constructive date of receipt to such
materials. The amendments also make various revisions to the existing
portions of the rule for usability and readability. In addition, the
amendments specify how the Office will assign effective dates of
receipt when, in the absence of a declaration of a general disruption,
the Office does not receive, loses, or misplaces materials that were
physically delivered or attempted to be physically delivered to the
Office.
DATES: Effective June 19, 2017.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Anna Chauvet, Assistant General
Counsel, by email at achau@loc.gov, or by telephone at 202-707-8350.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section 709 of the Copyright Act (title 17,
United States Code) addresses the situation where the ``general
disruption or suspension of postal or other transportation or
communications services'' prevents the timely receipt by the U.S.
Copyright Office (``Office'') of ``a deposit, application, fee, or any
other material.'' In such situations, and ``on the basis of such
evidence as the Register may by regulation require,'' the Register of
Copyrights may deem the receipt of such material to be timely, so long
as it is actually received ``within one month after the date on which
the Register determines that the disruption or suspension of such
services has terminated.'' 17 U.S.C. 709. In addition, section 702 of
the Copyright Act authorizes the Register to ``establish regulations
not inconsistent with law for the administration of the functions and
duties made the responsibility of the Register under this title.'' 17
U.S.C. 702.
[[Page 22887]]
The Office's regulations implementing section 709 can be found in
37 CFR 201.8. When the Office first promulgated these regulations, many
of the Office's current electronic systems did not exist, and the
regulations were not amended to specifically address outages of such
systems. In 2015, the Office's online system used to register copyright
claims was disrupted for over a week due to an equipment failure,
highlighting the need for the Office to update its regulations to
address the effect of a disruption or suspension of any Copyright
Office electronic system on the Office's receipt of applications, fees,
deposits, or any other materials.
On March 2, 2017, the Office published a Notice of Proposed
Rulemaking (``NPRM'') setting forth proposed regulatory amendments
designed to close this gap in the Office's regulations. 82 FR 12326.
The proposed amendments addressed the effect of a disruption or
suspension of any Copyright Office electronic system on the Office's
receipt of applications, fees, deposits, or other materials, and the
assignment of a constructive date of receipt to such materials. 82 FR
12326. The Office received six comments in response to the NPRM. None
of the commenters opposed or proposed amendments to the proposed rule.
As explained in the NPRM, assigning a date of receipt based on the
date materials would have been received but for the disruption of a
Copyright Office electronic system is important in a number of
contexts. For example, thousands of copyright claims are filed each
year using the Office's electronic filing system, and the effective
date of registration of a copyright is the date the application, fees,
and deposit are received by the Office. 17 U.S.C. 410(d). That date can
affect the copyright owner's rights and remedies, such as eligibility
for statutory damages and attorney's fees. See 17 U.S.C. 412 (statutory
damages and attorney's fees available only for works with effective
date of registration prior to commencement of infringement or, for
published works, within three months of first publication of the work).
In addition, certain filings may be submitted to the Office only in
electronic form. See 37 CFR 201.38 (online service providers must
designate an agent to receive notifications of claimed copyright
infringement through the Copyright Office's Web site).
The Office's amendments accordingly make several updates to 37 CFR
201.8 to account for electronic outages. Among other things, the
amendments allow the Register to assign, as the date of receipt, the
date on which she determines the material would have been received but
for the disruption or suspension of the electronic system. Ordinarily,
when a person submits materials through an Office electronic system,
those materials are received in the Office on the date the submission
was made. In cases where a person attempts to submit materials, but is
unable to do so because of a disruption or suspension of a Copyright
Office electronic system, the amendments will allow the Register to use
the date that the attempt was made as the date of receipt. In cases
where it is unclear when the attempt was made, the amendments provide
the Register with discretion to determine the effective date of receipt
on a case-by-case basis.
In addition, the amendments make several other changes to update
the rule to account for more recent practices, and improve the
usability and readability of the regulation. For instance, the
amendments comprehensively update paragraph (c) of Sec. 201.8, which
specifies the deadline for requesting an adjustment of the date of
receipt in cases where a person attempted to submit material to the
Office but was unable to do so due to the declared suspension or
disruption of postal or other transportation or communications
services. Under the previous rule, an applicant could only submit such
a request after the issuance of a certificate of registration or
recordation. That is because, in the past, most materials were
submitted to the Office on paper. Permitting the submission of requests
prior to the issuance of the certificate would have imposed
unacceptable burdens on the Office, primarily due to difficulties in
locating the pending paper applications or submissions to which the
requests pertained. Now that the Office has implemented electronic
systems, it is easier to make date adjustments, such as correcting the
effective date of registration or date of recordation, while the
application or submission is still pending. Accordingly, the Office's
amendments allow persons seeking to adjust the date of receipt of any
material that could not be submitted electronically due to a disruption
or suspension of a Copyright Office electronic system, to submit a
request on the date the Register publishes the announcement declaring
that the disruption or suspension has terminated under Sec. 201.8(a),
up to one year after the date on which the disruption or suspension has
terminated under Sec. 201.8(a).
Finally, the amendments add Sec. 201.8(b)(2) and (c)(2), which
address a related issue. On occasion, a person may deliver or attempt
to deliver material to the Office, but the Office may have no record of
having received such material or may have lost or misplaced that
material after it was received. Although such situations are rare, they
do occur occasionally as mail delivered to the Office must go through
extensive security screening.\1\ If the person provides satisfactory
evidence that he or she physically delivered or attempted to physically
deliver that material to the Office, the amendment allows the Register
to assign, as the date of receipt, the date on which the material would
have been received. Such a request must be made no later than one year
after the person physically delivered or attempted to physically
deliver the application, fee, deposit, or other material to the Office.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ As the NPRM thus made clear, sections 201.8(b)(2) and (c)(2)
are meant to address situations where the Office does not receive,
loses, or misplaces materials that were physically delivered or
attempted to be physically delivered to the Office. The rule is not
intended to address short-term or routine outages of electronic
systems that may occur in the absence of a declaration of a general
disruption under section 201.8(a). The language of the final rule
clarifies this point for the avoidance of any doubt.
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As a technical matter, these provisions do not implement section
709, which pertains to a general disruption of postal or other
services; rather, the Office is implementing these provisions as an
exercise of its general regulatory authority under section 702 of the
Copyright Act.
List of Subjects in 37 CFR Part 201
Copyright.
Final Regulations
For the reasons set forth in the preamble, the Copyright Office
amends 37 CFR part 201 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.
0
2. Section 201.8 is amended by revising paragraphs (a) through (f)
introductory text, (f)(4), by adding paragraph (f)(5), and by removing
paragraph (g). The revisions and addition read as follows:
Sec. 201.8 Disruption of postal or other transportation or
communication services.
(a) Declaration of disruption. For purposes of 17 U.S.C. 709, when
the Register has determined that there is or has been a general
disruption or suspension of postal or other transportation or
communications services, including a disruption or
[[Page 22888]]
suspension of a Copyright Office electronic system, that has delayed
the receipt by the Copyright Office of applications, fees, deposits, or
any other materials, the Register shall publish an announcement of that
determination, stating the date on which the disruption or suspension
commenced. The announcement may, if appropriate, limit the means of
delivery that are subject to relief pursuant to section 709. Following
the cessation of the disruption or suspension of services, the Register
shall publish an announcement stating the date on which the disruption
or suspension has terminated, and may provide specific instructions on
how to make a request under paragraph (b)(1) of this section.
(b) Request for earlier filing date due to disruption--(1) When the
Register has declared a disruption. When the Register has made a
declaration of disruption under paragraph (a) of this section, any
person who, in compliance with any instructions provided by the
Register, provides satisfactory evidence as described in paragraph (e)
of this section that he or she attempted to deliver an application,
fee, deposit, or other material to the Copyright Office, but that
receipt by the Copyright Office was delayed due to a general disruption
or suspension of postal or other transportation or communications
services announced under paragraph (a), shall be assigned, as the date
of receipt of the application, fee, deposit, or other material, the
date on which the Register determines the material would have been
received but for the disruption or suspension of services, so long as
the application, fee, deposit, or other material was actually received
in the Copyright Office within one month after the date the Register
identifies pursuant to paragraph (a) of this section that disruption or
suspension of services has terminated. Such requests should be mailed
to the address specified in Sec. 201.1(c)(1), or through any other
delivery method the Register specifies in a published announcement
under paragraph (a) of this section.
(2) With respect to disruption affecting specific submission. In
the absence of a declaration of disruption under paragraph (a) of this
section, any person who provides satisfactory evidence as described in
paragraph (e) of this section that he or she physically delivered or
attempted to physically deliver an application, fee, deposit, or other
material to the Copyright Office, but that the Office did not receive
that material or that it was lost or misplaced by the Office after its
delivery to the Office, shall be assigned, as the date of receipt, the
date that the Register determines that the material was received or
would have been received. Such requests may be mailed to the address
specified in Sec. 201.1(c)(1), or through any other delivery method
specified by the Copyright Office.
(c) Timing. (1) A request under paragraph (b)(1) of this section
shall be made no earlier than the date on which the Register publishes
the announcement under paragraph (a) of this section declaring that the
disruption or suspension has terminated, and no later than one year
after the publication of that announcement.
(2) A request under paragraph (b)(2) of this section shall be made
no later than one year after the person physically delivered or
attempted to physically deliver the application, fee, deposit, or other
material to the Copyright Office.
(d) Return of certificate. In cases where a certificate of
registration or a certificate of recordation has already been issued,
the original certificate must be returned to the Copyright Office along
with the request under paragraph (b) of this section.
(e) Satisfactory evidence. In all cases the Register shall have
discretion in determining whether materials submitted with a request
under paragraph (b) of this section constitute satisfactory evidence.
For purposes of paragraph (b) of this section, satisfactory evidence
may include:
(1) A receipt from the United States Postal Service indicating the
date on which the United States Postal Service received material for
delivery to the Copyright Office by means of first class mail, Priority
Mail, or Express Mail;
(2) A receipt from a delivery service such as, or comparable to,
United Parcel Service, Federal Express, or Airborne Express, indicating
the date on which the delivery service received material for delivery
to the Copyright Office; and
(i) The date on which delivery was to be made to the Copyright
Office, or
(ii) The period of time (e.g., overnight, or two days) from receipt
by the delivery service to the date on which delivery was to be made to
the Copyright Office;
(3) A statement under penalty of perjury, pursuant to 28 U.S.C.
1746, from a person with actual knowledge of the facts relating to the
attempt to deliver the material to the Copyright Office, setting forth
with particularity facts which satisfy the Register that in the absence
of the general disruption or suspension of postal or other
transportation or communications services, including a disruption or
suspension of a Copyright Office electronic system, or but for the
misdelivery, misplacement, or loss of materials sent to the Copyright
Office, the material would have been received by the Copyright Office
by a particular date; or
(4) Other documentary evidence which the Register deems equivalent
to the evidence set forth in paragraphs (e)(1) and (2) of this section.
(f) Presumption of receipt. For purposes of paragraph (b) of this
section, the Register shall presume that but for the general disruption
or suspension of postal or other transportation or communications
services, including a disruption or suspension of a Copyright Office
electronic system, or but for the misdelivery, misplacement, or loss of
materials sent to the Copyright Office:
* * * * *
(4) Materials deposited with a delivery service such as, or
comparable to, United Parcel Service, Federal Express, or Airborne
Express, would have been received in the Copyright Office on the date
indicated on the receipt from the delivery service;
(5) Materials submitted or attempted to be submitted through a
Copyright Office electronic system would have been received in the
Copyright Office on the date the attempt was made. If it is unclear
when an attempt was made, the Register will determine the effective
date of receipt on a case-by-case basis.
Dated: May 11, 2017.
Karyn Temple Claggett,
Acting Register of Copyrights and Director of the U.S. Copyright
Office.
Approved by:
Carla D. Hayden,
Librarian of Congress.
[FR Doc. 2017-10218 Filed 5-18-17; 8:45 am]
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