Library of Congress February 2019 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Copyright Royalty Judges (Judges) announce commencement of a proceeding to determine reasonable rates and terms for digital performance of sound recordings by new subscription services and the making of ephemeral recordings to facilitate those performances for the period beginning January 1, 2021, and ending December 31, 2025. The Judges also announce the date by which a party wishing to participate in the rate determination proceeding must file its Petition to Participate and the accompanying $150 filing fee.

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.

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.

The Copyright Royalty Judges (Judges) announce commencement of a proceeding to determine distribution of 2014, 2015, 2016, and 2017 royalties deposited with the Copyright Office under the statutory license for secondary transmissions satellite television services. The Judges also set the date by which all parties wishing to participate and share in the distribution of satellite retransmission royalties for the years 2014 through 2017 must file a Petition to Participate and the accompanying $150 filing fee, if applicable. The Judges seek a single Petition to Participate from any entity intending to participate in the Allocation Phase or the Distribution Phase of this proceeding, or both Phases. ANY PARTY THAT FILED A PETITION TO PARTICIPATE IN ANY OF THE PROCEEDINGS CONSOLIDATED IN THIS PROCEEDING MUST NONETHELESS FILE A PETITION TO PARTICIPATE IN THIS CONSOLIDATED PROCEEDING. ANY PARTY THAT FAILS TO FILE A PETITION TO PARTICIPATE IN THIS CONSOLIDATED PROCEEDING BY THE TIME SET IN THIS NOTICE SHALL NOT BE A PARTICIPANT AT ANY STAGE OF THIS CONSOLIDATED PROCEEDING.

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.

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.

The Copyright Royalty Judges announce receipt of two notices of intent to audit the 2015, 2016, and 2017 statements of account submitted by commercial webcasters and broadcasters Entercom Communications Corp. and iHeartMedia concerning royalty payments each made pursuant to two statutory licenses.

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.