Library of Congress January 2014 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The United States Copyright Office is requesting public comment on proposed key elements relevant to reengineering the function of recording documents pertaining to copyright pursuant to 17 U.S.C. 205. In a separate notice that will be published soon, the Office will also announce a series of public hearings on these elements, scheduled shortly after the end of the comment period on this Notice of Inquiry. The elements have been developed with the aid of previous comments obtained during the Office's two-year Special Projects process, particularly the Special Project on Technical Upgrades to Registration and Recordation Functions. (That Project's Notice of Inquiry and the comments received in response are available at https:// www.copyright.gov/docs/technicalupgrades/.) In particular, the Office is seeking comment and holding public hearings on the following elements: (1) A guided remitter responsibility model of electronic recordation; (2) the use of structured electronic documents that contain their own indexing information; (3) the linking of recordation records to registration records; (4) the use of standard identifiers, and other metadata standards, in recorded documents and the catalog of such documents; and (5) potential additional incentives to record documents pertaining to copyrights. Further explanation of these elements is to be found below in the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this Notice. The Office appreciates in particular comments from parties who record documents and the professionals who assist them in doing so; from parties experienced with electronic recordation in other areas, such as that of real property; from those who maintain databases of copyrighted works for licensing or other purposes; from those who have developed or are developing metadata standards for copyright management purposes; and from those who use the Copyright Office's catalog and collection of recorded documents for any purpose.

The Copyright Royalty Judges announce the commencement of the proceeding to determine the rates and terms for the use of sound recordings in transmissions made by new subscription services and for the making of ephemeral recordings necessary for the facilitation of such transmissions for the period beginning on January 1, 2016, and ending on December 31, 2020. A party wishing to participate in this rate determination proceeding must file its Petition to Participate and the accompanying $150 filing fee by the deadline in this notice.