Library of Congress – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Copyright Royalty Judges announce receipt of a notice of intent to audit the 2018 statements of account submitted by Sirius XM Radio Inc.'s Commercial Webcaster service, Preexisting Satellite Digital Audio Radio Service, New Subscription Service, and Business Establishment Service concerning royalty payments they made pursuant to two statutory licenses.

Pursuant to title I of the Orrin G. Hatch-Bob Goodlatte Music Modernization Act, and following a solicitation of proposals and public comment on those proposals, the Register is designating the entities who will perform certain functions relating to the compulsory license for digital music providers to make and distribute digital phonorecord deliveries. For the reasons published in this document, the Register designates Mechanical Licensing Collective, Inc. as the mechanical licensing collective and Digital Licensee Coordinator, Inc. as the digital licensee coordinator, including their individual proposed board members.

The Copyright Royalty Judges (Judges) adopt regulations governing proceedings to determine the reasonableness of, and allocate responsibility to fund, the operating budget of the Mechanical Licensing Collective authorized by the Music Modernization Act (MMA). The Judges also adopt proposed amendments to extant rules as required by the MMA.

The Copyright Royalty Judges announce their final determination of the distribution of 2007 DART royalties in the Featured Artists Subfund of the Sound Recordings Fund.

The U.S. Copyright Office is proposing to create a new group registration option for musical works, sound recordings, and certain other works contained on an album. The proposed rule will expand the registration options currently available to register multiple musical works or sound recordings under one application. In particular, this proposed group registration option will permit the registration of multiple musical works and/or sound recordings distributed together, regardless of whether such distribution occurs via physical or digital media.

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.

The Copyright Royalty Judges announce their final determination of the distribution percentages of cable and satellite royalties in the program suppliers funds and the devotional funds for numerous years.

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.

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.

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.

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.

The Copyright Royalty Judges (Judges) announce commencement of a proceeding to determine reasonable rates and terms for two statutory licenses permitting the digital performance of sound recordings over the internet 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 Copyright Office is proposing to amend its regulations pertaining to the registration of architectural works. To improve the efficiency of this process, applicants will be required to submit their claims through the online application process, rather than a paper application, and they will be encouraged to upload a digital copy of their works through the electronic registration system, instead of submitting a physical copy. The proposed rule also clarifies that a date of construction is needed only if the architectural work was embodied in unpublished plans or drawings on or before December 1, 1990 and if the work was constructed before January 1, 2003. The Office invites public comment on the proposed changes.

The U.S. Copyright Office is issuing a notice of inquiry regarding the Musical Works Modernization Act, title I of the Orrin G. Hatch-Bob Goodlatte Music Modernization Act (``MMA''), enacted on October 11, 2018. The MMA made significant modifications to the compulsory license in section 115 of title 17 for making and distributing phonorecords of musical works (the ``mechanical license''). Among the many changes to the section 115 compulsory license, the MMA calls for establishing a collective to manage a new blanket licensing system governing licensed uses of musical works by digital music providers. The Register of Copyrights is directed to designate the mechanical licensing collective and the digital licensee coordinator that will carry out key functions under the new blanket license. The Office now solicits information to identify the appropriate entities to be designated. The information received in response to this notice of inquiry will be publicly posted, and interested members of the public may publicly comment on the submissions. After consideration of the record material, the Register will publish a notice in the Federal Register setting forth the identity of and contact information for the mechanical licensing collective and digital licensee coordinator, and the reasons for the designations.

The Copyright Royalty Judges announce their final determination of the rates and terms for the digital transmission of sound recordings and the reproduction of ephemeral recordings by preexisting subscription services and preexisting satellite digital audio radio services for the period beginning January 1, 2018, and ending on December 31, 2027.

The U.S. Copyright Office is issuing interim regulations pursuant to the Musical Works Modernization Act, title I of the recently enacted Orrin G. Hatch-Bob Goodlatte Music Modernization Act. This interim rule amends the Office's existing regulations pertaining to the compulsory license to make and distribute phonorecords of musical works so as to conform the existing regulations to the new law, including with respect to the operation of notices of intention and statements of account, and to make other minor technical updates. To be clear, this interim rule is generally directed at the present transition period before a blanket license is offered by a mechanical licensing collective and does not include regulatory updates that may be required in connection with the future offering of that blanket license; such updates will be the subject of future rulemakings. These regulations are issued on an interim basis with opportunity for public comment to avoid delay in making these necessary updates and clarifications and because they are technical in nature. The Office welcomes comment on these interim regulations.

The Copyright Royalty Judges (Judges) publish a final rule requiring affected cable systems to pay a separate per-telecast royalty (a Sports Surcharge) in addition to the other royalties that those cable systems must pay under Section 111 of the Copyright Act.

The U.S. Copyright Office is amending its regulations governing the group registration options for newsletters and serials. With respect to group newsletters, the final rule amends the definition of ``newsletter,'' eliminating the requirement that each issue must be a work made for hire, and the provision stating that group newsletter claims must be received within three months after publication. Under the final rule, newsletter publishers now should register their issues with the online application and upload a digital copy of each issue through the electronic registration system instead of submitting them in a physical form. With respect to group serials, the final rule clarifies that serials governed by the rule generally must be published at intervals of a week or longer, and that the publication dates provided in the application need not match the dates appearing on the issues themselves. In addition, the rule phases out the paper application for group serials and the submission of physical copies. Beginning one year after the rule goes into effect, serial publishers will be required to use the online application for group serials and to upload a digital copy of each issue, rather than submitting them in a physical form. The final rule updates the regulations for both newsletters and serials by confirming that publishers do not need to provide the Library of Congress with complimentary subscriptions to or microfilm of each issue as a condition for registering their works with the Office, but newsletter and serial issues that are submitted for purposes of registration will no longer satisfy the mandatory deposit requirement. Publishers will be expected to separately provide the Library with two complimentary subscriptions if the newsletter or serial is published in the United States in a physical format (unless the publisher is informed that the publication is not needed for the Library's collections). If the newsletter or serial is published solely in electronic form, the publisher will remain exempt from mandatory deposit unless the Office issues a formal demand for copies of that publication.