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

The Copyright Royalty Judges publish their ruling on regulatory interpretation that was referred to them by the United States District Court for the District Of Columbia. The regulation at issue is about gross revenue exclusions that a satellite digital audio radio service may use when calculating royalty payments owed to SoundExchange, a collective for copyright owners, for digital transmissions of sound recordings pursuant to a statutory license. The Judges find that Sirius XM properly interpreted the regulation to apply to pre-'72 sound recordings and that it improperly excluded certain revenues from its Gross Revenues royalty base.

The Copyright Royalty Judges announce a cost of living adjustment (COLA) in the royalty rates that commercial and noncommercial noninteractive webcasters pay for eligible transmissions pursuant to the statutory licenses for the public performance of and for the making of ephemeral reproductions of sound recordings.

The U.S. Copyright Office is issuing an update to its interim rule, issued June 12, 2017, governing registration of secure tests. Based on the initial comments received on that interim rule, the Office has determined that there is an immediate need to establish a new group registration option for secure test questions and answers and other related materials (referred to as ``test items'') that are stored in an electronic database, test bank, or other medium of expression. This interim rule incorporates most of the same procedures that the Office adopted in its recent interim rule on secure tests and adds additional procedures for group registration. To seek a group registration, applicants will be required to submit an online application, upload a redacted copy of the individual test items to the electronic registration system, and complete and submit a brief questionnaire. If, based on the answers to the questionnaire, the test items appear to be eligible for the group registration option, the Office will contact the applicant and schedule an appointment to deliver these materials to the Office in person. On the appointed date, the applicant must bring a copy of the application and a complete unredacted copy of the actual test items. In addition, the applicant must bring a redacted copy of the test items, and a signed declaration confirming that this copy is identical to the redacted copy that was uploaded to the electronic registration system. The Office will examine each test item to determine if it contains sufficient copyrightable authorship. If the Office registers the claim, the registration will cover each test item as a separate work of authorship, and the registration will be effective as of the date the Office initially received the application, filing fee, and the redacted copy of the test items in proper form through the electronic registration system. To be clear, the previous interim rule otherwise remains in effect, and applicants may continue to use that rule to register individual secure tests. The Office welcomes public comment on both this interim rule and the June 12, 2017 interim rule.

The U.S. Copyright Office is publishing a final rule establishing a separate, lower filing fee for recording documents when they are submitted with an electronic title list. Separately, the Office is noting a policy change, effective on the same date as the final rule, to require the payment of fees for the filing of all notices of intention to obtain a compulsory license to make and distribute phonorecords, including those that are filed in the Office after failed delivery to the copyright owner.

The Copyright Royalty Judges solicit comments on proposed rates and terms for use of certain works in connection with noncommercial broadcasting for the period commencing January 1, 2018, and ending on December 31, 2022.