Library of Congress – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Copyright Office is publishing a final list of stations listed in affidavits sent to the Copyright Office in which the owner or licensee of the station attests that the station qualifies as a specialty station in accordance with the Federal Communications Commission`s (FCC) definition of specialty station in effect on June 24, 1981. The list shall be used to verify the specialty station status of those stations identified as such by cable systems on their semi- annual statements of account.

The Copyright Royalty Judges are publishing for comment certain royalty rates for use of a musical work in a Public Broadcasting Service-distributed program pursuant to the noncommercial educational broadcasting statutory license contained in the Copyright Act. The rates published herein correct an error in the rates published for comment in the Federal Register on April 17, 2007.

The Copyright Office of the Library of Congress is announcing the termination of the proceedings in the above-captioned dockets conducted under the former Copyright Arbitration Royalty Panel system. The Office is also providing notice that the authority to set rates or to make determinations regarding the future distribution of royalty funds associated with these proceedings will be transferred to the Copyright Royalty Board.

The Copyright Office is undergoing an extensive business process reengineering (BPR) initiative of many of its internal work systems, including registration and recordation procedural systems, to enhance the delivery of its services to the public. The implementation of an online registration system is a key component of BPR, and it requires that the Office amend its regulations governing the procedures by which the public submits, and the Office processes, copyright registrations and recordations. These interim rules identify the principal changes and upgrades to the registration system and announce the amendments to the regulations to accommodate online registration. These changes will become effective with the commencement of the Beta test phase of the electronic, online registration system in July 2007. The Beta test phase will be limited to selected participants until system testing is complete, at which time the Office will open the electronic registration system to the public.

The Copyright Office of the Library of Congress is publishing a final rule establishing a lower basic registration fee of $35 for copyright claims submitted electronically. This fee applies to all registrations where the application is submitted electronically, including those registrations where the deposit materials cannot be sent electronically together with the application. At the same time, the Office is retaining its current fee of $45 for processing paper applications for basic copyright registration of a copyright claim. The dual fee structure reflects the reduced cost of processing electronic claims and serves as an incentive to the public to utilize the new online, electronic registration system. On or after July 1, 2007, the Copyright Office will begin accepting a limited number of electronic submissions of copyright claims through the Internet and the new fee will apply to these applications. The adoption of the new rule assumes that no legislative action will take place before July 1, 2007.

In July 2007, the Copyright Office will initiate a beta testing phase in the development of its automated registration system, electronic Copyright Office (eCO). Requests to participate in eCO beta testing are being accepted from the public at this time. Participants will be selected in the order that requests are received and based on an array of submission criteria, and basic registration claims will be accepted at a reduced rate established for electronic filings.

The Copyright Office announces a public roundtable discussion concerning the use of the statutory license to make and distribute digital phonorecords, including for a limited period, and to make phonorecords that facilitate streaming. This discussion is an adjunct to the comments filed in the current rulemaking exploring these issues. The roundtable will also address the statutory requirement to provide notice of intention to obtain the compulsory license.

The Copyright Office of the Library of Congress is announcing receipt of a notice of intent to audit 2005 statements of account concerning the eligible nonsubscription transmissions of sound recordings made by Microsoft Corporation (``Microsoft'') under statutory licenses.

Pursuant to statute, the Copyright Office is seeking comment on issues related to the operation of, and continued necessity for, the cable and satellite statutory licenses under the Copyright Act.

The Copyright Office is proposing to amend its regulations governing applications for registration of claims to the renewal term of copyright. This notice seeks public comment on the proposed amended regulations, which will take into account the fact that, since January 1, 2006, all applications for renewal have necessarily related to works which are subject to automatic renewal and, thus, are already in their renewal terms, making impossible any 28th- year registration of claims to the renewal term.

The Copyright Office is compiling a new specialty station list to identify commercial television broadcast stations which, according to their owners, qualify as specialty stations for purposes of the former distant signal carriage rules of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). The list has been periodically updated to reflect an accurate listing of specialty stations. To that end, the Copyright Office is again requesting all interested owners of television broadcast stations that qualify as specialty stations, including those that previously filed affidavits, to submit sworn affidavits to the Copyright Office stating that the programming of their stations meets the requirements specified under the FCC regulations in effect on June 24, 1981.

The Copyright Office of the Library of Congress is announcing receipt of a notice of intent to audit 2005 statements of account concerning the eligible nonsubscription transmissions of sound recordings made by Beethoven.com (``Beethoven'') under statutory licenses.

The Section 108 Study Group announces a public roundtable discussion on certain issues relating to the exceptions and limitations applicable to libraries and archives under the Copyright Act, and seeks written comments on these issues. This notice (1) announces a public roundtable discussion regarding the issues identified in this notice and (2) requests written comments from all interested parties on the issues described in this notice. These issues relate primarily to making and distributing copies pursuant to requests by individual users, as well as to provision of user access to unlicensed digital works.

This notice announces that during the next three years, the prohibition against circumvention of technological measures that effectively control access to copyrighted works shall not apply to persons who engage in noninfringing uses of six classes of copyrighted works.

The Copyright Royalty Board, acting pursuant to statute, referred a novel question of law to the Register of Copyrights concerning the designation of certain digital subscription music services as preexisting subscription services. Specifically, the Copyright Royalty Board requested a decision by the Register of Copyrights regarding whether the universe of preexisting subscription services was limited to three specific services. The Register of Copyrights, in a timely fashion, transmitted a Memorandum Opinion to the Copyright Royalty Board confirming that only three music services qualify as a preexisting subscription service for purposes of performing a sound recording publicly by means of a subscription digital audio transmission pursuant to a statutory license.

The Copyright Office of the Library of Congress is announcing receipt of a notice of intent to audit 2005 statements of account concerning the eligible nonsubscription and subscription transmissions of sound recordings made by Live365, Inc. (``Live365'') under statutory licenses.

The Copyright Royalty Judges, on behalf of the Copyright Royalty Board, are issuing interim regulations for the delivery and format of reports of use of sound recordings for the statutory licenses set forth in sections 112 and 114 of the Copyright Act.

The Copyright Office is seeking comment on copyright issues associated with the secondary transmission of digital television broadcast signals by cable operators under the Copyright Act.

The Copyright Office is publishing an interim rule governing the correction of errors in certificates of registration of vessel hull designs. If the Office discovers a clerical or typographical error made by the Office on a certificate of registration, the Office will issue a corrected certificate. If an owner of a vessel hull design discovers a clerical or typographical error in a certificate of registration that is a result of error in the application, the owner may submit an application for correction of the certificate of registration.

The Copyright Office is seeking input on possible rules governing the reporting practices of cable operators under the Copyright Act.

The Copyright Office of the Library of Congress is publishing a final rule establishing adjusted fees for its services. The adjusted fees will recover a significant part of the costs to the Office of registering claims and provide full cost recovery for many services provided by the Office which benefit only or primarily the user of that service. The proposed fee increase for preregistration has been eliminated, and the proposed increase for group registration of photographs has been reduced to the fee for basic registration. Adjusted fees will be effective July 1, 2006. This final rule assumes that no legislative action will take place before July, 1, 2006.

This notice of proposed rulemaking is issued to inform the public that the Copyright Office of the Library of Congress is considering adoption of new fees for special services and Licensing Division services, and that the Office has submitted to Congress proposed new statutory fees for certain other services. The proposed fees would recover a significant part of the costs to the Office of registering claims and provide full cost recovery for many services provided by the Office which benefit only or primarily the user of that service.

The Section 108 Study Group of the Library of Congress seeks comment on certain issues relating to the exceptions and limitations applicable to libraries and archives under section 108 of the Copyright Act, and announces public roundtable discussions. This notice (1) requests written comments from all interested parties on the specific issues identified in this notice, and (2) announces public roundtable discussions regarding certain of those issues, as described in this notice. The issues covered in this notice relate primarily to eligibility for the section 108 exceptions and copies made for purposes of preservation and replacement.

The Copyright Royalty Board of the Library of Congress is announcing the commencement of the proceeding to determine the reasonable rates and terms for use of certain works in connection with noncommercial broadcasting. The Board is also announcing the date by which a party who wishes to participate in the new rate proceeding must file its Petition to Participate and the accompanying $150 filing fee.