U.S.A. Copyright Law, Library of Congress. Copyright Office [reading diary TXT] 📗

in excess of the fee required by this

section.

(2) In the case of fees deposited against future services, the Register

of Copyrights shall request the Secretary of the Treasury to invest in

interest-bearing securities in the United States Treasury any portion of

the fees that, as determined by the Register, is not required to meet

current deposit account demands. Funds from such portion of fees shall

be invested in securities that permit funds to be available to the

Copyright Office at all times if they are determined to be necessary to

meet current deposit account demands. Such investments shall be in

public debt securities with maturities suitable to the needs of the

Copyright Office, as determined by the Register of Copyrights, and

bearing interest at rates determined by the Secretary of the Treasury,

taking into consideration current market yields on outstanding

marketable obligations of the United States of comparable maturities.

(3) The income on such investments shall be deposited in the Treasury of

the United States and shall be credited to the appropriations for

necessary expenses of the Copyright Office.

Section 709. Delay in delivery caused by disruption of postal or other

services

In any case in which the Register of Copyrights determines, on the basis

of such evidence as the Register may by regulation require, that a

deposit, application, fee, or any other material to be delivered to the

Copyright Office by a particular date, would have been received in the

Copyright Office in due time except for a general disruption or

suspension of postal or other transportation or communications services,

the actual receipt of such material in the Copyright Office within one

month after the date on which the Register determines that the

disruption or suspension of such services has terminated, shall be

considered timely.

Chapter 7 Endnotes

1 The Work Made for Hire and Copyright Corrections Act of 2000 amended

the table of sections for chapter 7 by deleting section 710, entitled,

"Reproduction for use of the blind and physically handicapped: Voluntary

licensing forms and procedures." Pub. L. No. 106-379, 114 Stat. 1444,

1445.

2 The Copyright Fees and Technical Amendments Act of 1989 amended

section 701 by adding subsection (e). Pub. L. No. 101-319, 104 Stat.

In 1998, the Digital Millennium Copyright Act amended section 701

by adding a new subsection (b), redesignating former subsections (b)

through (e) as (c) through (f) respectively, and, in the new subsection

(f), by substituting "III" for "IV" and "5314" for "5315." Pub. L. No.

105-304, 112 Stat. 2860, 2887.

3 Title 5 of the United States Code is entitled "Government

Organization and Employees."

4 Copyright Office regulations are published in the *Federal Register

[http://www.loc.gov/copyright/fedreg/] *and in title 37, Chapter II, of the *Code of Federal Regulations. [http://www.loc.gov/copyright/title37/] *

5 The Work Made for Hire and Copyright Corrections Act of 2000 amended

section 705 by rewriting paragraph (a). Pub. L. No. 106-379, 114 Stat.

1444, 1445.

6 The Copyright Fees and Technical Amendments Act of 1989 amended

section 708 by substituting a new subsection (a), by redesignating

subsections (b) and (c) as subsections (c) and (d), respectively, and by

adding a new subsection (b). Pub. L. No. 101-318, 104 Stat. 287. The Act

states that these amendments "shall take effect 6 months after the date

of the enactment of this Act" and shall apply to:

(A) claims to original, supplementary, and renewal copyright received

for registration, and to items received for recordation in the Copyright

Office, on or after such effective date, and

(B) other requests for services received on or after such effective

date, or received before such effective date for services not yet

rendered as of such date.

With respect to prior claims, the Act states that claims to original,

supplementary, and renewal copyright received for registration and items

received for recordation in acceptable form in the Copyright Office

before the above mentioned effective date, and requests for services

which are rendered before such effective date "shall be governed by

section 708 of title 17, United States Code, as in effect before such

effective date." Pub. L. No. 101-318, 104 Stat. 287, 288.

The Copyright Renewal Act of 1992 amended paragraph (2) of section

708(a) by striking the words "in its first term" and by substituting

"$20" in lieu of "$12." Pub. L. No. 102-307, 106 Stat. 264, 266.

In 1997, section 708 was amended by rewriting subsections (b) and (d) in

their entirety. Pub. L. No. 105-80, 111 Stat. 1529, 1532.

The Work Made for Hire and Copyright Corrections Act of 2000 amended

section 708 by rewriting subsection (a), by substituting new language

for the first sentence in subsection (b) and by substituting

"adjustment" for "increase" in paragraph (b)(1), the word "adjust" for

"increase" in paragraph (b)(2) and the word "adjusted" for "increased"

in paragraph (b)(5). Pub. L. No. 106-379, 114 Stat. 1444, 1445. The Act

also stated that "The fees under section 708(a) of title 17, United

States Code, on the date of the enactment of this Act shall be the fees

in effect under section 708(a) of such title on the day before such date

of enactment."

7 The current fees may be found in the *Code of Federal Regulations,

[http://www.loc.gov/copyright/title37/] * at 37 C.F.R. Sec. 201.3,

[http://www.loc.gov/copyright/title37/] as authorized by Pub. L. No.

105-80, 111 Stat. 1529, 1532. In Pub. L. No. 105-80, Congress amended

section 708(b) to require that the Register of Copyrights establish fees

by regulation.

Chapter 8 [1]

Copyright Arbitration Royalty Panels

Copyright arbitration royalty panels: Establishment and purpose

Membership and proceedings of copyright arbitration royalty

panels

Institution and conclusion of proceedings

Section 801. Copyright arbitration royalty panels: Establishment and

purpose [2]

(a) Establishment. The Librarian of Congress, upon the recommendation of

the Register of Copyrights, is authorized to appoint and convene

copyright arbitration royalty panels.

(b) Purposes. Subject to the provisions of this chapter, the purposes of

the copyright arbitration royalty panels shall be as follows:

(1) To make determinations concerning the adjustment of reasonable

copyright royalty rates as provided in sections 114, 115, 116, and 119,

and to make determinations as to reasonable terms and rates of royalty

payments as provided in section 118. The rates applicable under sections

114(f)(1)(B), 115, and 116 shall be calculated to achieve the following

objectives:

(A) To maximize the availability of creative works to the public;

(B) To afford the copyright owner a fair return for his creative work

and the copyright user a fair income under existing economic conditions;

(C) To reflect the relative roles of the copyright owner and the

copyright user in the product made available to the public with respect

to relative creative contribution, technological contribution, capital

investment, cost, risk, and contribution to the opening of new markets

for creative expression and media for their communication;

(D) To minimize any disruptive impact on the structure of the industries

involved and on generally prevailing industry practices.

(2) To make determinations concerning the adjustment of the copyright

royalty rates in section 111 solely in accordance with the following

provisions:

(A) The rates established by section 111(d)(1)(B) may be adjusted to

reflect (i) national monetary inflation or deflation or (ii) changes in

the average rates charged cable subscribers for the basic service of

providing secondary transmissions to maintain the real constant dollar

level of the royalty fee per subscriber which existed as of the date of

enactment of this Act: Provided, That if the average rates charged

cable system subscribers for the basic service of providing secondary

transmissions are changed so that the average rates exceed national

monetary inflation, no change in the rates established by section 111(d)

(1)(B) shall be permitted: And provided further, That no increase in

the royalty fee shall be permitted based on any reduction in the average

number of distant signal equivalents per subscriber. The copyright

arbitration royalty panels may consider all factors relating to the

maintenance of such level of payments including, as an extenuating

factor, whether the industry has been restrained by subscriber rate

regulating authorities from increasing the rates for the basic service

of providing secondary transmissions.

(B) In the event that the rules and regulations of the Federal

Communications Commission are amended at any time after April 15, 1976,

to permit the carriage by cable systems of additional television

broadcast signals beyond the local service area of the primary

transmitters of such signals, the royalty rates established by section

111(d)(1)(B) may be adjusted to insure that the rates for the additional

distant signal equivalents resulting from such carriage are reasonable

in the light of the changes effected by the amendment to such rules and

regulations. In determining the reasonableness of rates proposed

following an amendment of Federal Communications Commission rules and

regulations, the copyright arbitration royalty panels shall consider,

among other factors, the economic impact on copyright owners and users:

Provided, That no adjustment in royalty rates shall be made under this

subclause with respect to any distant signal equivalent or fraction

thereof represented by (i) carriage of any signal permitted under the

rules and regulations of the Federal Communications Commission in effect

on April 15, 1976, or the carriage of a signal of the same type (that

is, independent, network, or noncommercial educational) substituted for

such permitted signal, or (ii) a television broadcast signal first

carried after April 15, 1976, pursuant to an individual waiver of the

rules and regulations of the Federal Communications Commission, as such

rules and regulations were in effect on April 15,1976.

(C) In the event of any change in the rules and regulations of the

Federal Communications Commission with respect to syndicated and sports

program exclusivity after April 15, 1976, the rates established by

section 111(d)(1)(B) may be adjusted to assure that such rates are

reasonable in light of the changes to such rules and regulations, but

any such adjustment shall apply only to the affected television

broadcast signals carried on those systems affected by the change.

(D) The gross receipts limitations established by section 111(d)(1)(C)

and (D) shall be adjusted to reflect national monetary inflation or

deflation or changes in the average rates charged cable system

subscribers for the basic service of providing secondary transmissions

to maintain the real constant dollar value of the exemption provided by

such section; and the royalty rate specified therein shall not be

subject to adjustment.

(3) To distribute royalty fees deposited with the Register of Copyrights

under sections 111, 116, 119(b), and 1003, and to determine, in cases

where controversy exists, the distribution of such fees.

(c) Rulings. The Librarian of Congress, upon the recommendation of the

Register of Copyrights, may, before a copyright arbitration royalty

panel is convened, make any necessary procedural or evidentiary rulings

that would apply to the proceedings conducted by such panel, including-

(1) authorizing the distribution of those royalty fees collected under

sections 111, 119, and 1005 that the Librarian has found are not subject

to controversy; and

(2) accepting or rejecting royalty claims filed under sections 111, 119,

and 1007 on the basis of timeliness or the failure to establish the

basis for a claim.

(d) Support and Reimbursement of Arbitration Panels. The Librarian of

Congress, upon the recommendation of the Register of Copyrights, shall

provide the copyright arbitration royalty panels with the necessary

administrative services related to proceedings under this chapter, and

shall reimburse the arbitrators presiding in distribution proceedings at

such intervals and in such manner as the Librarian shall provide by

regulation. Each such arbitrator is an independent contractor acting on

behalf of the United States, and shall be hired pursuant to a signed

agreement between the Library of Congress and the arbitrator. Payments

to the arbitrators shall be considered reasonable costs incurred by the

Library of Congress and the Copyright Office for purposes of section

802(h)(1).

Section 802. Membership and proceedings of copyright arbitration royalty

panels [3]

(a) Composition of Copyright Arbitration Royalty Panels.