Unclaimed Royalties Study, 8655-8656 [2021-02460]

Download as PDF Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 24 / Monday, February 8, 2021 / Notices later than thirty (30) days after the publication date of this revised notice. Comments may be submitted either by email or by mail: To submit comments: Send them to: By email .................... pubcommentees.enrd@ usdoj.gov. Assistant Attorney General, U.S. DOJ—ENRD, P.O. Box 7611, Washington, DC 20044– 7611. By mail ...................... During the public comment period, the proposed consent decree may be examined and downloaded at this Justice Department website: https:// www.justice.gov/enrd/consent-decrees. We will also provide a paper copy of the proposed consent decree upon written request and payment of reproduction costs. Please mail your request and payment to: Consent Decree Library, U.S. DOJ—ENRD, P.O. Box 7611, Washington, DC 20044–7611. Please enclose a check or money order for $17 (68 pages at 25 cents per page reproduction cost) payable to the United States Treasury. For a paper copy without the appendices and signature pages, the cost is $8.5. U.S. Copyright Office BILLING CODE 4410–15–P [Docket No. 2019–6] Unclaimed Royalties Study DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE Notice of Lodging Proposed Consent Decree jbell on DSKJLSW7X2PROD with NOTICES [FR Doc. 2021–02479 Filed 2–5–21; 8:45 am] LIBRARY OF CONGRESS [FR Doc. 2021–02486 Filed 2–5–21; 8:45 am] In accordance with Departmental Policy, 28 CFR 50.7, notice is hereby given that a proposed Consent Decree in United States v. Brenda Massey, was lodged with the United States District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi, Southern Division, on February 2, 2021, Case No. 1:21cv17– HSO–JCG. This proposed Consent Decree concerns a complaint filed by the United States against Defendant Brenda Massey, pursuant to Sections 309, 402, and 404 of the Clean Water Act (‘‘CWA’’), 33 U.S.C. 1319, 1342, and 1344, for discharging pollutants into waters of the United States in George County, Mississippi without a permit, in violation of CWA Section 301(a), 33 U.S.C. 1311(a). The proposed Consent Decree resolves injunctive claims for relief by requiring the Defendant to 20:48 Feb 05, 2021 Cherie Rogers, Assistant Section Chief, Environmental Defense Section, Environment and Natural Resources Division. BILLING CODE 4410–15–P Patricia McKenna, Assistant Section Chief, Environmental Enforcement Section, Environment and Natural Resources Division. VerDate Sep<11>2014 perform environmental restoration and provide for mitigation of temporal losses through a monetary payment to an approved mitigation bank. The Department of Justice will accept written comments relating to this proposed Consent Decree for thirty (30) days from the date of publication of this Notice. Please address comments to Michael Augustini, United States Department of Justice, Environment and Natural Resources Division, Environmental Defense Section, Post Office Box 7611, Washington, DC 20044–7611, pubcomment_eds.enrd@ usdoj.gov, and refer to United States v. Brenda Massey, DJ #90–5–1–1–21358. The proposed Consent Decree may be examined at the Clerk’s Office, United States District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi, Southern Division, Dan M. Russell, Jr., United States Courthouse, 2012 15th Street, Suite 403, Gulfport, MS 39501. In addition, the proposed Consent Decree may be examined electronically at https://www.justice.gov/enrd/consentdecrees. Jkt 253001 U.S. Copyright Office, Library of Congress. ACTION: Notice of public roundtables. AGENCY: 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. DATES: The public roundtables will be held on March 25, 2021. Requests to participate must be received no later than 11:59 p.m. Eastern time on SUMMARY: PO 00000 Frm 00078 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 8655 February 26, 2021. Once the roundtable agenda is finalized, the Office will notify all participants and post the times and dates of the roundtables at https:// copyright.gov/policy/unclaimedroyalties/. ADDRESSES: The Office will conduct the roundtables remotely using the Zoom videoconferencing platform. Requests to participate should be submitted through the request form available at https:// www.copyright.gov/policy/unclaimedroyalties/roundtable-request.html. Additional information will be made available at https://www.copyright.gov/ policy/unclaimed-royalties/roundtable. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jason E. Sloan, Assistant General Counsel, by email at jslo@copyright.gov; or Cassandra G. Sciortino, AttorneyAdvisor, by email at csciortino@ copyright.gov. Each can be contacted by telephone by calling (202) 707–8350. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The U.S. Copyright Office (‘‘Office’’) is undertaking a policy study as directed by the Music Modernization Act to evaluate best practices that the newly established mechanical licensing collective (‘‘MLC’’) may implement to reduce the incidence of unclaimed royalties. The Office initiated the study on December 6, 2019, with an all-day educational symposium to facilitate discussion on these issues by a broad range of industry participants and members of the public.1 The Office also commissioned a report on matching and royalty distribution practices of various collective management organizations (‘‘CMOs’’) around the world. A transcript of the symposium as well as the report of global collective rights management practices are provided on the Office’s website for public consideration.2 On June 2, 2020, the Office issued a notice of inquiry (‘‘NOI’’) which solicited public comment on several topics concerning best practices 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, including by commenting 1 84 FR 58176 (Oct. 30, 2019); U.S. Copyright Office, Unclaimed Royalties Study Kickoff Symposium, https://www.copyright.gov/policy/ unclaimed-royalties/symposium/. 2 Susan Butler, Collective Right Management Practices Around the World: A Survey of CMO Practices to Reduce the Occurrence of Unclaimed Royalties in Musical Works (2020), https:// www.copyright.gov/policy/unclaimed-royalties/ cmo-full-report.pdf. The transcript of the symposium is available at https:// www.copyright.gov/policy/unclaimed-royalties/ transcript.pdf. E:\FR\FM\08FEN1.SGM 08FEN1 8656 Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 24 / Monday, February 8, 2021 / Notices jbell on DSKJLSW7X2PROD with NOTICES upon the prior symposium and comparative report.3 The Office received two rounds of public comments in August 2020. Information about the study, including the NOI, public comments, symposium materials, and comparative report may be accessed on the Office’s website at https:// www.copyright.gov/policy/unclaimedroyalties/. The Office will now hold roundtable discussions to allow interested members of the public to discuss and provide additional information on the topics of the study. The Office also will provide sign-up information for members of the public who wish to observe, but not participate in, one or more of the roundtable sessions. The sessions will be video recorded and transcribed, and copies of the recording and transcript will be made available on the Office’s website. A. Submitting Requests To Participate A request to participate should be submitted to the Office using the form on the Office’s website indicated in the ADDRESSES section above by February 26, 2021. Shortly thereafter, the Office will notify participants of their selection and session assignments. In order to accommodate the expected level of interest, the Office plans to assign no more than one representative per organization to each session. If multiple persons from the same organization wish to participate on different issues, each should submit a separate request. Depending upon the number and nature of the requests, the Office may not be able to accommodate all requests to participate. The public roundtables will offer an opportunity for interested parties to comment on the information submitted to the Office to date and offer additional views concerning the best practices the MLC may implement to reduce the incidence of unclaimed royalties. While the Office will tailor sessions based on expressions of interest, it expects that sessions will address various issues related to data matching and identification of musical work copyright owners; user experience and accessibility of the public database and claiming portal; education and outreach to promote awareness and encourage royalty claiming; and holding and distribution of accrued royalties. Although the primary focus of the statutorily-mandated study must remain on best practices the Office may recommend for the MLC to consider in order to reduce the overall incidence of unclaimed accrued royalties, the Office 3 85 FR 33735 (June 2, 2020). VerDate Sep<11>2014 20:48 Feb 05, 2021 Jkt 253001 will also entertain discussion of how other actors in the music ecosystem may support the successful administration of the section 115 blanket license. All requests to participate must clearly identify: • The name of the person desiring to participate; • The organization or organizations represented, if any; • Contact information; and • A two- to three-sentence summary of the substantive issues the participant expects to discuss. Following receipt of the requests to participate, the Office will prepare an agenda listing the participants, dates, and times for each session. These will be circulated to participants and posted at https://www.copyright.gov/policy/ unclaimed-royalties/roundtable on or about March 18, 2021. B. Format of Public Roundtables Each roundtable session will cover a topic relevant to the study, as discussed above. Depending on the level of interest, the Office may hold multiple sessions on the same topic to accommodate a greater number of participants and provide additional time for discussion. Following a discussion of the various agenda topics by roundtable participants, members of the public will be provided a limited opportunity to offer additional comments for the record, but parties who wish to provide detailed information to the Office are encouraged to submit a request to participate. Dated: February 2, 2021. Regan A. Smith, General Counsel and Associate Register of Copyrights. [FR Doc. 2021–02460 Filed 2–5–21; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 1410–30–P NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION Astronomy and Astrophysics Advisory Committee; Notice of Meeting In accordance with the Federal Advisory Committee Act (Pub. L. 92– 463, as amended), the National Science Foundation (NSF) announces the following meeting: Name and Committee Code: Astronomy and Astrophysics Advisory Committee (#13883)—(Zoom Meeting). Date and Time: June 2, 2021; 12 p.m.– 4 p.m. Place: National Science Foundation, 2415 Eisenhower Avenue, Alexandria, VA 22314 (Zoom). Type of Meeting: Open. Attendance information for the meeting will be forthcoming on the PO 00000 Frm 00079 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 website: https://www.nsf.gov/mps/ast/ aaac.jsp. Contact Person: Dr. Martin Still, Program Director, Division of Astronomical Sciences, Suite W 9188, National Science Foundation, 2415 Eisenhower Avenue, Alexandria, VA 22314; Telephone: 703–292–4290. Purpose of Meeting: To provide advice and recommendations to the National Science Foundation (NSF), the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) on issues within the field of astronomy and astrophysics that are of mutual interest and concern to the agencies. Agenda: To hear presentations of current programming by representatives from NSF, NASA, DOE and other agencies relevant to astronomy and astrophysics; to discuss current and potential areas of cooperation between the agencies; to formulate recommendations for continued and new areas of cooperation and mechanisms for achieving them. Discuss the Committee’s draft annual report due 15 March 2021. Dated: February 2, 2021. Crystal Robinson, Committee Management Officer. [FR Doc. 2021–02463 Filed 2–5–21; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 7555–01–P NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION Proposal Review; Notice of Meetings In accordance with the Federal Advisory Committee Act (Pub. L. 92– 463, as amended), the National Science Foundation (NSF) announces its intent to hold proposal review meetings throughout the year. The purpose of these meetings is to provide advice and recommendations concerning proposals submitted to the NSF for financial support. The agenda for each of these meetings is to review and evaluate proposals as part of the selection process for awards. The review and evaluation may also include assessment of the progress of awarded proposals. These meetings will primarily take place at NSF’s headquarters, 2415 Eisenhower Avenue, Alexandria, VA 22314. These meetings will be closed to the public. The proposals being reviewed include information of a proprietary or confidential nature, including technical information; financial data, such as salaries; and personal information concerning individuals associated with the proposals. These matters are exempt under 5 U.S.C. 552b(c), (4) and (6) of the Government in the Sunshine Act. NSF E:\FR\FM\08FEN1.SGM 08FEN1

Agencies

Library of Congress
U.S. Copyright Office

[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 24 (Monday, February 8, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 8655-8656]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-02460]


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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS

U.S. Copyright Office

[Docket No. 2019-6]


Unclaimed Royalties Study

AGENCY: U.S. Copyright Office, Library of Congress.

ACTION: Notice of public roundtables.

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SUMMARY: 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.

DATES: The public roundtables will be held on March 25, 2021. Requests 
to participate must be received no later than 11:59 p.m. Eastern time 
on February 26, 2021. Once the roundtable agenda is finalized, the 
Office will notify all participants and post the times and dates of the 
roundtables at https://copyright.gov/policy/unclaimed-royalties/.

ADDRESSES: The Office will conduct the roundtables remotely using the 
Zoom videoconferencing platform. Requests to participate should be 
submitted through the request form available at https://www.copyright.gov/policy/unclaimed-royalties/roundtable-request.html. 
Additional information will be made available at https://www.copyright.gov/policy/unclaimed-royalties/roundtable.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jason E. Sloan, Assistant General 
Counsel, by email at [email protected]; or Cassandra G. Sciortino, 
Attorney-Advisor, by email at [email protected]. Each can be 
contacted by telephone by calling (202) 707-8350.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The U.S. Copyright Office (``Office'') is 
undertaking a policy study as directed by the Music Modernization Act 
to evaluate best practices that the newly established mechanical 
licensing collective (``MLC'') may implement to reduce the incidence of 
unclaimed royalties. The Office initiated the study on December 6, 
2019, with an all-day educational symposium to facilitate discussion on 
these issues by a broad range of industry participants and members of 
the public.\1\ The Office also commissioned a report on matching and 
royalty distribution practices of various collective management 
organizations (``CMOs'') around the world. A transcript of the 
symposium as well as the report of global collective rights management 
practices are provided on the Office's website for public 
consideration.\2\ On June 2, 2020, the Office issued a notice of 
inquiry (``NOI'') which solicited public comment on several topics 
concerning best practices 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, including by commenting

[[Page 8656]]

upon the prior symposium and comparative report.\3\ The Office received 
two rounds of public comments in August 2020. Information about the 
study, including the NOI, public comments, symposium materials, and 
comparative report may be accessed on the Office's website at https://www.copyright.gov/policy/unclaimed-royalties/.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \1\ 84 FR 58176 (Oct. 30, 2019); U.S. Copyright Office, 
Unclaimed Royalties Study Kickoff Symposium, https://www.copyright.gov/policy/unclaimed-royalties/symposium/.
    \2\ Susan Butler, Collective Right Management Practices Around 
the World: A Survey of CMO Practices to Reduce the Occurrence of 
Unclaimed Royalties in Musical Works (2020), https://www.copyright.gov/policy/unclaimed-royalties/cmo-full-report.pdf. 
The transcript of the symposium is available at https://www.copyright.gov/policy/unclaimed-royalties/transcript.pdf.
    \3\ 85 FR 33735 (June 2, 2020).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The Office will now hold roundtable discussions to allow interested 
members of the public to discuss and provide additional information on 
the topics of the study. The Office also will provide sign-up 
information for members of the public who wish to observe, but not 
participate in, one or more of the roundtable sessions. The sessions 
will be video recorded and transcribed, and copies of the recording and 
transcript will be made available on the Office's website.

A. Submitting Requests To Participate

    A request to participate should be submitted to the Office using 
the form on the Office's website indicated in the ADDRESSES section 
above by February 26, 2021. Shortly thereafter, the Office will notify 
participants of their selection and session assignments. In order to 
accommodate the expected level of interest, the Office plans to assign 
no more than one representative per organization to each session. If 
multiple persons from the same organization wish to participate on 
different issues, each should submit a separate request. Depending upon 
the number and nature of the requests, the Office may not be able to 
accommodate all requests to participate.
    The public roundtables will offer an opportunity for interested 
parties to comment on the information submitted to the Office to date 
and offer additional views concerning the best practices the MLC may 
implement to reduce the incidence of unclaimed royalties. While the 
Office will tailor sessions based on expressions of interest, it 
expects that sessions will address various issues related to data 
matching and identification of musical work copyright owners; user 
experience and accessibility of the public database and claiming 
portal; education and outreach to promote awareness and encourage 
royalty claiming; and holding and distribution of accrued royalties. 
Although the primary focus of the statutorily-mandated study must 
remain on best practices the Office may recommend for the MLC to 
consider in order to reduce the overall incidence of unclaimed accrued 
royalties, the Office will also entertain discussion of how other 
actors in the music ecosystem may support the successful administration 
of the section 115 blanket license.
    All requests to participate must clearly identify:
     The name of the person desiring to participate;
     The organization or organizations represented, if any;
     Contact information; and
     A two- to three-sentence summary of the substantive issues 
the participant expects to discuss.
    Following receipt of the requests to participate, the Office will 
prepare an agenda listing the participants, dates, and times for each 
session. These will be circulated to participants and posted at https://www.copyright.gov/policy/unclaimed-royalties/roundtable on or about 
March 18, 2021.

B. Format of Public Roundtables

    Each roundtable session will cover a topic relevant to the study, 
as discussed above. Depending on the level of interest, the Office may 
hold multiple sessions on the same topic to accommodate a greater 
number of participants and provide additional time for discussion. 
Following a discussion of the various agenda topics by roundtable 
participants, members of the public will be provided a limited 
opportunity to offer additional comments for the record, but parties 
who wish to provide detailed information to the Office are encouraged 
to submit a request to participate.

    Dated: February 2, 2021.
Regan A. Smith,
General Counsel and Associate Register of Copyrights.
[FR Doc. 2021-02460 Filed 2-5-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 1410-30-P

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