Library of Congress 2021 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The U.S. Copyright Office is issuing a notice of proposed rulemaking to establish procedures governing the appearance of law student representatives and employees of business entities in proceedings before the Copyright Claims Board.

The U.S. Copyright Office is announcing a series of consultations on technical measures to identify or protect copyrighted works online. The Office plans to hold a plenary session to launch consultations on this issue on February 22, 2022, to be followed by smaller sectoral consultations thereafter. To aid in this effort, the Office also is seeking public input on a number of questions.

The U.S. Copyright Office is undertaking a public study to evaluate the merits of providing an option to defer examination of copyright registration application materials until a later request by the applicant. To aid in this effort, the Office is soliciting input from interested members of the public.

The Copyright Royalty Judges announce a cost of living adjustment (COLA) in the royalty rates that commercial and noncommercial noninteractive webcasters pay for eligible transmissions pursuant to the statutory licenses for the public performance of and for the making of ephemeral reproductions of sound recordings.

The Copyright Royalty Judges announce a cost of living adjustment (COLA) to the royalty rate that noncommercial radio stations at certain colleges, universities, and other educational institutions that are not affiliated with National Public Radio must pay for the use in 2022 of published nondramatic musical compositions in the SESAC repertory pursuant to the statutory license under the Copyright Act for noncommercial broadcasting.

The U.S. Copyright Office seeks further comments on the effectiveness of copyright protections for publishers, with a focus on press publishers. This request provides an opportunity for interested parties to raise new issues related to the topic of the study, amplify initial comments, present empirical studies, or to address, reply to, or expand upon any issues raised in the initial request for written commentsresponses to which are due on or before November 26, 2021or during the virtual public roundtable, which will be held on December 9, 2021. On November 29, 2021, the Office will post a link at https:// copyright.gov/policy/publishersprotections/ through which parties can submit second-round comments.

The U.S. Copyright Office is extending the deadline for the submission of written comments in response to its September 29, 2021, notification of proposed rulemaking regarding initiating proceedings before the Copyright Claims Board.

Because a comment filed by settling parties included additional material (in particular a memorandum of understanding) that relates to statements in some of the comments the Copyright Royalty Judges received, the Judges are reopening the comment period for an additional 30 days. The proposed rule published for comment sets certain rates and terms applicable during the period beginning January 1, 2023, and ending December 31, 2027, for the section 115 statutory license for making and distributing phonorecords of nondramatic musical works and is based on regulations proposed pursuant to a partial settlement among the settling parties.

The Copyright Royalty Judges announce receipt from SoundExchange, Inc., of a notice of intent to audit the 2018, 2019, and 2020 statements of account submitted by commercial webcaster iHeartMedia concerning the royalty payments it made pursuant to two statutory licenses.

The Copyright Royalty Judges solicit comments on a motion of Multigroup Claimants for partial distribution of 2015-2017 cable royalty funds.

The U.S. Copyright Office is amending its regulations to establish a new expedited registration option under the Copyright Alternative in Small-Claims Enforcement Act of 2020 and to provide a technical update to the Office's Freedom of Information Act regulations. To qualify for this expedited registration option, the work(s) being registered must be the subject of a claim or counterclaim before the Copyright Claims Board.

The Copyright Royalty Judges publish for comment proposed regulations that set rates and terms for the use of certain copyrighted works by public broadcasting entities for the period beginning January 1, 2023, and ending December 31, 2027.

The Copyright Royalty Judges publish for comment proposed regulations that set rates and terms applicable during the period beginning January 1, 2023, and ending December 31, 2027, for the section 115 statutory license for making and distributing phonorecords of nondramatic musical works.

The Copyright Royalty Judges solicit comments on a motion of Allocation Phase claimants for partial distribution of 2019 satellite royalty funds.

The Copyright Royalty Judges are amending regulations to clarify that their hearings may be conducted in person at the Library of Congress or an alternative location, or virtually, at the Judges' discretion.

The U.S. Copyright Office is issuing a notification of inquiry regarding its implementation of the Copyright Alternative in Small- Claims Enforcement (``CASE'') Act. The CASE Act establishes the Copyright Claims Board (``CCB''), an alternative forum in which parties may voluntarily seek to resolve certain copyright infringement and other claims. The Office must establish regulations to govern the CCB and its procedures, including rules addressing service of notice and other documents, waiver of personal service, notifications that parties are opting out of participating in the forum, discovery, a mechanism for certain claims to be resolved by a single CCB Officer, review of CCB determinations by the Register of Copyrights, publication of records, certifications, and fees. The statute also allows the Office to adopt several optional regulations, including regulations addressing claimants' permissible number of cases, eligible classes of works, the conduct of proceedings, and default determinations. The statute vests the Office with general authority to adopt regulations to carry out its provisions. To assist in promulgating these regulations, the Office seeks public comment regarding the subjects of inquiry discussed in this notification.

The U.S. Copyright Office is creating a new group registration option for musical works, sound recordings, and certain other works contained on an album. This option will permit the registration of a group of musical works or a group of sound recordings distributed together, regardless of whether such distribution occurs via physical or digital media. The final rule generally adopts the provisions set forth in the May 2019 notice of proposed rulemaking in this proceeding, with certain updates to reflect the planned implementation of new online applications for this option.

The Copyright Royalty Judges are amending regulations governing the electronic filing of documents through the Copyright Royalty Board's electronic filing system (eCRB) to permit attorney designees with approved eCRB user accounts to file on behalf of attorneys.

The U.S. Copyright Office is issuing an interim rule regarding the protection of confidential information by the mechanical licensing collective and the digital licensee coordinator under title I of the Orrin G. Hatch-Bob Goodlatte Music Modernization Act. After soliciting public comments through a notification of inquiry and a notice of proposed rulemaking, the Office is now issuing interim regulations identifying appropriate procedures to ensure that confidential, private, proprietary, or privileged information contained in the records of the mechanical licensing collective and the digital licensee coordinator is not improperly disclosed or used.

The U.S. Copyright Office will be holding public roundtables as part of its study to evaluate best practices that the newly established mechanical licensing collective may implement to identify and locate musical work copyright owners and unclaimed accrued royalties held by the collective, encourage musical work copyright owners to claim their royalties, and reduce the incidence of unclaimed royalties. Music industry participants and others interested in participating in the roundtables are invited to submit requests to participate pursuant to the instructions set forth below.

The Library of Congress is convening a public committee to enhance communication and provide a public forum for the technology- related aspects of the U.S. Copyright Office's modernization initiative. At this time, the Library is announcing that it will accept applications from qualified members of the public to serve on this committee. The scope of contributions made by the committee are limited to the specific topics set forth in this notice. Membership will be on a volunteer basis, with the expectation of in-person or virtual participation at two open forums a year at the member's own expense.

The Copyright Royalty Judges are amending regulations to revise the allocation of the initial administrative assessment To fund the mechanical licensing collective.

Pursuant to title I of the Orrin G. Hatch-Bob Goodlatte Music Modernization Act, and following extensive solicitation of public comments, the U.S. Copyright Office is issuing a final rule addressing digital music providers' obligations to transfer and report accrued royalties for the use of unmatched musical works (or shares thereof) to the mechanical licensing collective for purposes of eligibility for the Act's limitation on liability for prior unlicensed uses.

The Copyright Royalty Judges announce receipt from SoundExchange, Inc., (SoundExchange) of a notice of intent to audit the 2017, 2018, and 2019 statements of account submitted by Rockbot, Inc.'s Business Establishment Service concerning royalty payments they made pursuant to statutory license.

The U.S. Copyright Office is initiating a study to evaluate the impact on the satellite television market of the Satellite Television Community Protection and Promotion Act of 2019's adoption of new statutory requirements for certain uses of the section 119 compulsory license for distant-into-local satellite transmission, and sunsetting of other uses from the license. The Office seeks public comment on this topic to assist in preparing a report to Congress.