Copyright Office May 2016 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

Under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (``DMCA''), the U.S. Copyright Office is required to maintain a current directory of agents that have been designated by online service providers to receive notifications of claimed infringement. Since the DMCA's enactment in 1998, online service providers have used a paper form to designate agents with the Copyright Office, and the Office has made scanned copies of those paper forms available to the public by posting them on the Office's Web site. In 2011, the Copyright Office issued a notice proposing updated regulations governing the designation of agents under the DMCA in anticipation of the creation of a new online system though which service providers could more efficiently designate agents with the Copyright Office and the public could more easily search for such agents. With the development of this electronic system approaching completion, this notice proposes an amendment of the Office's regulations to lower the fee for designating an agent under the DMCA.