Library of Congress May 2017 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Copyright Royalty Judges (Judges) publish for comment proposed regulations to require covered cable systems to pay a separate per-telecast royalty (a Sports Surcharge) in addition to the other royalties that that cable system must pay under Section 111 of the Copyright Act.

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.

The Copyright Royalty Judges announce receipt of a notice of intent to audit the 2015 and 2016 statements of account submitted by commercial webcaster Pandora Media, Inc. concerning the royalty payments it made pursuant to two statutory licenses.

The U.S. Copyright Office is announcing a pilot program that will allow for the bulk submission of claims to copyright in certain limited types of literary works. Specifically, at this time, the pilot program is limited to claims to single literary works that have a single author, where all content that appears in the work was created and is owned solely by that single author. Applicants that participate in the pilot will be required to provide author, title, and other pertinent information for each work they submit. And they will be required to upload a copy of each work and pay the appropriate filing fee. But they will be able to bypass the Office's online interface and transmit their claims directly into the electronic registration system, instead of filing them on an individual basis. To participate in the pilot, applicants would have to comply with certain technical requirements, which are discussed below. The Office is offering this pilot as part of its continuing effort to increase the efficiency of the registration system for both applicants and the Office alike.