[Federal Register: March 20, 2003 (Volume 68, Number 54)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Page 13652-13653]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr20mr03-27]
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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS
Copyright Office
37 CFR Part 201
[Docket No. RM 2002-4B]
Notice of Public Hearings: Exemption to Prohibition on
Circumvention of Copyright Protection Systems for Access Control
Technologies
AGENCY: Copyright Office, Library of Congress.
ACTION: Notice of public hearings.
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SUMMARY: The Copyright Office of the Library of Congress will be
holding public hearings on the possible exemptions to the prohibition
against circumvention of technological measures that control access to
copyrighted works. In accordance with the Copyright Act, as amended by
the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, the Office is conducting its
triennial rulemaking proceeding to determine whether there are
particular ``classes of works'' as to which users are, or are likely to
be, adversely affected in their ability to make noninfringing uses if
they are prohibited from circumventing such technological measures.
DATES: Public hearings will be held in Washington, DC on Friday, April
11, 2003, Tuesday, April 15, 2003, Wednesday, April 30, 2003 and
Friday, May 2, 2003, beginning at 9:30 a.m. Public hearings will also
be held in California in May at a time and location to be announced
later. Requests to testify must be received by 5 p.m. E.S.T. on April
1, 2003. See SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION for additional information on
other requirements.
ADDRESSES: The Washington, DC round of public hearings will be held as
follows: April 11 in the Mumford, Room, LM-649, of the James Madison
Building of the Library of Congress, 101 Independence Ave, SE.,
Washington, DC. April 15 in the West Dining Room, LM-621, of the James
Madison Memorial Building of the Library of Congress, 101 Independence
Ave, SE., Washington, DC. April 30 and May 2 at the Postal Rate
Commission, 1333 H Street, NW., Third Floor, Washington, DC. Additional
public hearings will be held in California at a time and location to be
subsequently announced. See SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION for additional
address information and other requirements.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Rob Kasunic, Senior Attorney, Office
of the General Counsel, Copyright GC/I&R, PO Box 70400, Southwest
Station, Washington, DC 20024. Telephone (202) 707-8380; fax (202) 707-
8366. Requests to testify must be sent by email to 1201@loc.gov.. Email
inquiries regarding the hearings may be sent to rkas@loc.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On October 15, 2002, the Copyright Office
published a Notice of Inquiry seeking comments in connection with a
rulemaking pursuant to section 1201(a)(1) of the Copyright Act, 17
U.S.C. 1201(a)(1), which provides that the Librarian of Congress may
exempt certain classes of works from the prohibition against
circumventing a technological measure that controls access to a
copyrighted work. 67 FR 63578 (October 15, 2002). For a more complete
statement of the background and purpose of the rulemaking, please see
the Notice of Inquiry and the full record of the previous rulemaking
proceeding available on the Copyright Office's Web site at: http://
www.copyright.
gov/1201/.
www.copyright. gov/1201/.
The 51 written comments proposing classes of works to be exempted
and the 338 reply comments have been posted on the Office's Web site;
see http://www.copyright.gov/1201/.
The Office will be conducting public hearings in Washington, DC in
April and May and in California in May to hear testimony relating to
the rulemaking. Interested parties are invited to submit requests to
testify at one of these hearings. The dates for the hearings in
Washington, DC are April 11, 15 and 30, and May 2. Depending on the
number of requests to testify that we receive, it may not be necessary
to conduct hearings on all four of these days. The date or dates for
the hearings in California will be announced later.
Requirements for persons desiring to testify:
A request to testify must be submitted to the Copyright Office. All
requests to testify must clearly identify:
[sbull] The name of the person desiring to testify,
[sbull] The organization or organizations represented, if any,
[sbull] Contact information (address, telephone, and email),
[sbull] The class of work to which your testimony is responsive (if
you wish to testify on more than one proposed class of work, please
state your order of preference),
[sbull] A brief summary of your proposed testimony,
[sbull] A description of any audiovisual material or demonstrative
evidence, if any, that you intend to present,
[sbull] The location of the hearing at which you wish to testify
(Washington, DC or California).
[sbull] Preferences as to dates on which you wish to testify. Note:
Because the agenda will be organized based on subject matter, we cannot
guarantee that we can accommodate requests to testify on particular
dates.
All persons who submit a timely request to testify will receive
confirmation by email or telephone by April 4. The Copyright Office
will notify all witnesses of the date and expected time of their
appearance, and the time allocated for their testimony.
Addresses for requests to testify:
All requests to testify must be sent by email to 1201@loc.gov and
must be received by 5 E.S.T. on April 1, 2003. Persons who are unable
to send requests by email should contact Rob Kasunic, Senior Attorney,
at (202) 707-8380 to make alternative arrangements for submission of
their requests to testify.
Form and limits on testimony at public hearings:
There will be time limits on the testimony allowed for persons
testifying that will be established after receiving all requests to
testify. In the written comment period, the Office received nearly 400
written comments. Given the time constraints, only a fraction of that
number could possibly testify at the hearings. A timely request to
testify does not guarantee an opportunity to testify at these hearings.
The Copyright Office encourages parties with similar interests to
select common representatives to testify on behalf of a particular
position.
The Copyright Office stresses that factual arguments are at least
as important as legal arguments and encourages persons who wish to
testify to provide demonstrative evidence to supplement their
testimony. While testimony from attorneys who can articulate legal
arguments in support of or opposition to a proposed exempted class of
works is useful, testimony from witnesses who can explain and
demonstrate the facts is also solicited.
An LCD projector and screen will be available in the hearing rooms.
An overhead projector may be made available if arrangements are
requested in advance. Other electronic or audiovisual equipment
necessary for a presentation should be brought by the person
testifying. Persons intending to
[[Page 13653]]
bring such equipment into the Library of Congress, e.g., laptops, slide
projectors, etc., will need to arrive early in order to register the
equipment with the Library Police.
The Office intends to organize individual sessions of the hearings
around particular or related classes of works proposed for exemption.
If a request to testify involves more than one proposed exemption or
related exemption, please specify, in order of preference, the proposed
exemptions on which you would prefer to testify.
Following receipt of the requests to testify, the Copyright Office
will prepare an agenda of the hearings which will be posted on the
Copyright Office Web site at: http://www.copyright.gov/1201/ and sent
Copyright Office Web site at: http://www.copyright.gov/1201/ and sent
to all persons who have submitted requests to testify. To facilitate
this process, it is essential that all of the required information
listed above be included in a request to testify.
Dated: March 17, 2003.
Marybeth Peters,
Register of Copyrights.
[FR Doc. 03-6741 Filed 3-19-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 1410-31-P