Copyright Office 2019 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents
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Online Publication
The U.S. Copyright Office is undertaking an effort to provide additional guidance regarding the determination of a work's publication status for registration purposes. To aid this effort, the Office is seeking public input on this topic, including feedback regarding issues that require clarification generally, as well specific suggestions about how the Office may consider amending its regulations and, as appropriate, effectively advise Congress regarding possible changes to the Copyright Act. Based on this feedback, the Office may solicit further written comments and/or schedule public meetings before moving to a rulemaking process.
Group Registration of Newspapers
The U.S. Copyright Office is amending its regulation governing the group registration option for newspapers. Under the current regulation, applicants are required to upload a complete copy of each newspaper issue through the Office's electronic registration system. Applicants may also submit their newspaper issues on microfilm on a voluntary basis (in addition to and at the same time as submitting the required digital files), provided the microfilm is received by December 31, 2019. The microfilm option expires at the end of this year; therefore, today's final rule eliminates the reference to that option.
Unclaimed Royalties Study: Announcement of Public Symposium
As directed by the Music Modernization Act, the U.S. Copyright Office is conducting a study to evaluate best practices that the Mechanical Licensing Collective should implement in the following areas: (1) To identify and locate musical work copyright owners and unclaimed accrued royalties held by the collective; (2) to encourage musical work copyright owners to claim the royalties of those owners; and (3) to reduce the incidence of unclaimed royalties. To initiate this effort, the Office is holding a one-day symposium to provide an educational foundation and facilitate public discussion on issues relevant to the study. Following this symposium, the Office will separately issue Notices of Inquiry soliciting written comments and announcing roundtables, both of which will provide opportunities for public input on the Unclaimed Royalties Study.
Copyright Office Fees
As part of its ongoing fee study, the Copyright Office proposes limited revisions to its previously proposed fee schedule relating to document recordation and new prospective group registration options. The proposed modifications would adjust the fee structure for document recordation from a fee formula based on the number of titles to a formula based on the number of works and alternate titles and registration numbers to which a document pertains, and make certain other clarifications. The Office is also noticing its intention to issue fees for its previously-proposed group registration options for short online literary works and for works contained on an album of music. The Office is providing an opportunity to the public to comment on these specific proposed changes before the Office's fee schedule is submitted to Congress.
Public Draft of the Compendium of U.S. Copyright Office Practices
The U.S. Copyright Office is extending the deadline for the submission of written comments in response to its March 15, 2019, notice announcing the release of a public draft of an update to its administrative manual, the Compendium of U.S. Copyright Office Practices, Third Edition.
Noncommercial Use of Pre-1972 Sound Recordings That Are Not Being Commercially Exploited; Correction
The U.S. Copyright Office is correcting a final rule that appeared in the Federal Register on April 9, 2019. The document incorrectly numbered paragraphs governing the filing fees of certain documents that can be filed with the Copyright Office.
Architectural Works
The U.S. Copyright Office is amending its regulations pertaining to the registration of architectural works. To improve the efficiency of the registration process, and encourage broader participation in the registration system, the final rule will require applicants to submit their claims using an online application, rather than a paper application. Applicants will be required to provide a date of construction, but only if the work was embodied in unpublished plans or drawings on or before December 1, 1990 and if the work was constructed before January 1, 2003. And, applicants will be encouragedbut not requiredto upload a digital copy of their architectural works through the electronic registration system, instead of submitting a physical copy.
Noncommercial Use of Pre-1972 Sound Recordings That Are Not Being Commercially Exploited
The U.S. Copyright Office is issuing a final rule regarding the Classics Protection and Access Act, title II of the Orrin G. Hatch- Bob Goodlatte Music Modernization Act. In connection with the establishment of federal remedies for unauthorized uses of sound recordings fixed before February 15, 1972 (``Pre-1972 Sound Recordings''), Congress established an exception for certain noncommercial uses of Pre-1972 Sound Recordings that are not being commercially exploited. To qualify for this exception, a user must file a notice of noncommercial use after conducting a good faith, reasonable search to determine whether the Pre-1972 Sound Recording is being commercially exploited, and the rights owner of the sound recording must not object to the use within 90 days. After soliciting three rounds of public comments through a notice of inquiry and a notice of proposed rulemaking, the Office is issuing final regulations identifying the specific steps that a user should take to demonstrate she has made a good faith, reasonable search. The rule also details the filing requirements for the user to submit a notice of noncommercial use and for a rights owner to submit a notice opting out of such use.
Filing of Schedules by Rights Owners and Contact Information by Transmitting Entities Relating to Pre-1972 Sound Recordings
Pursuant to the Classics Protection and Access Act, title II of the Orrin G. Hatch-Bob Goodlatte Music Modernization Act (``MMA''), the U.S. Copyright Office is adopting as final a rule regarding the filing of schedules by rights owners listing their sound recordings fixed before February 15, 1972, and the filing of contact information by entities publicly performing these sound recordings by means of digital audio transmission. This rule largely finalizes the interim rule published on October 16, 2018, with some adjustments adopted in response to public comment.
Public Draft of the Compendium of U.S. Copyright Office Practices
The U.S. Copyright Office is announcing the release of a public draft of an update to its administrative manual, the Compendium of U.S. Copyright Office Practices, Third Edition. The update has been released in draft form to give the public an opportunity to review and provide comments on the revisions.
Group Registration of Newspapers
The U.S. Copyright Office is amending its regulation governing the group registration option for newspaper issues. This rule will eliminate the three-month deadline for submitting this type of claim. Based on requests received from several newspaper publishers, the Office has determined that there is a legitimate need to make this change effective immediately.
Group Registration of Unpublished Works
The U.S. Copyright Office is modernizing its practices and procedures to increase the efficiency and quality of the registration process. As part of this effort, this final rule establishes a new group registration option for a limited number of unpublished works, replacing the prior accommodation for ``unpublished collections.'' The new group registration option will allow the Office to examine each work for copyrightable authorship, create a more robust record of the claim, and improve the overall efficiency of the registration process. In addition, the final rule makes certain technical amendments to the regulations governing the group registration option for photographs.
Freedom of Information Act Regulations
The U.S. Copyright Office is issuing a final rule that amends its regulations governing its practices and procedures under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). The final rule closely follows the February 7, 2017 interim rule, implementing the FOIA Improvement Act of 2016. The final rule makes limited modifications to align with public comments and to promote further regulatory clarity and customer service.
Noncommercial Use of Pre-1972 Sound Recordings That Are Not Being Commercially Exploited
The U.S. Copyright Office (``Copyright Office'' or ``Office'') is issuing a notice of proposed rulemaking regarding the Classics Protection and Access Act, title II of the recently enacted Orrin G. Hatch-Bob Goodlatte Music Modernization Act. In connection with the establishment of federal remedies for unauthorized uses of sound recordings fixed before February 15, 1972 (``Pre-1972 Sound Recordings''), Congress also established an exception for certain noncommercial uses of Pre-1972 Sound Recordings that are not being commercially exploited. To qualify for this exemption, a user must file a notice of noncommercial use after conducting a good faith, reasonable search to determine whether the Pre-1972 Sound Recording is being commercially exploited, and the rights owner of the sound recording must not object to the use within 90 days. After soliciting public comments through a notice of inquiry, the Office is proposing regulations identifying the specific steps that a user should take to demonstrate she has made a good faith, reasonable search. The proposed rule also details the filing requirements for the user to submit a notice of noncommercial use and for a rights owner to submit a notice objecting to such use.
Copyright Restoration of Works in Accordance with the Uruguay Round Agreements Act
The U.S. Copyright Office is publishing a list of works for which it has received and processed a Notice of Intent to Enforce copyrights restored under the Uruguay Round Agreements Act. The Office is required by law to publish such lists to provide a public record of works in which copyrights have been restored and whose owners have notified the Office of their intent to enforce those copyrights. In addition, publication triggers the statutory 12-month grace period within which reliance parties may continue to exploit existing copies of the identified works.
Section 512 Study: Announcement of Public Roundtable
The U.S. Copyright Office is conducting a study to evaluate the impact and effectiveness of the Copyright Act's safe harbor provisions for online service providers. At this time, the Office is announcing that it will hold a one-day public roundtable to allow interested members of the public to address relevant domestic and international developments that have occurred since the close of the written comment period on February 6, 2017. The roundtable is not intended to allow participants to supplement the record with respect to events occurring before that date, and discussion will be limited to the specific topics set forth in this notice.
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