[Federal Register: August 4, 2005 (Volume 70, Number 149)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Page 44878-44879]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr04au05-18]
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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS
Copyright Office
37 CFR Part 202
[Docket No. RM 2005-9]
Preregistration of Certain Unpublished Copyright Claims
AGENCY: Library of Congress, Copyright Office.
ACTION: Supplemental notice of proposed rulemaking.
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SUMMARY: The Copyright Office is supplementing its Notice of Proposed
Rulemaking on preregistration of copyright claims, issued July 22,
2005. That notice proposed procedures to preregister any unpublished
work being prepared for commercial distribution that is in a class of
works determined by the Register of Copyrights to have had a history of
pre-release infringement. Today's notice seeks information as to
whether persons filing the electronic-only preregistration form
prescribed by the Copyright Office will experience difficulties if it
is necessary to use Microsoft's Internet Explorer web browser in order
to preregister a work.
DATES: Comments are due no later than August 22, 2005. Reply comments
are due no later than September 7, 2005.
ADDRESSES: If hand delivered by a private party, an original and five
copies of any comment should be brought to Room LM-401 of the James
Madison Memorial Building between 8:30 a.m. and 5 p.m. and the envelope
should be addressed as follows: Office of the General Counsel, U.S.
Copyright Office, James Madison Memorial Building, Room LM-401, 101
Independence Avenue, SE., Washington, DC 20559-6000. If hand delivered
by a commercial courier, an original and five copies of any comment
must be delivered to the Congressional Courier Acceptance Site located
at Second and D Streets, NE., Washington, DC, between 8:30 a.m. and 4
p.m. The envelope should be addressed as follows: Copyright Office
General Counsel, Room LM-403, James Madison Memorial Building, 101
Independence Avenue, SE., Washington, DC. If sent by mail, an original
and five copies of any comment should be addressed to: Copyright GC/
I&R, P.O. Box 70400, Southwest Station, Washington, DC 20024-0400.
Comments may not be delivered by means of overnight delivery services
such as Federal Express, United Parcel Service, etc., due to delays in
processing receipt of such deliveries.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: David O. Carson, General Counsel, or
Charlotte Douglass, Principal Legal Advisor, P.O. Box 70400,
Washington, DC 20024-0400, Telephone (202) 707-8380. Telefax: (202)
707-8366.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In accordance with the Artists' Rights and
Theft Prevention Act of 2005 (the ART Act), Title I of the Family
Entertainment and Copyright Act, Pub. L. No. 109-9, 119 Stat. 218, the
Copyright Office recently proposed implementing regulations for
preregistration of eligible copyright claims. 70 FR 42286 (July 22,
2005). To be eligible for preregistration, a work must be unpublished,
in the process of being prepared for commercial distribution, and in a
class of works that the Register of Copyrights determines has had a
history of copyright infringement.
Section 104 of the ART Act directs that preregistration procedures
must be in place by October 24, 2005. 17 U.S.C. 408(f)(1). To comply
with this time frame and to facilitate efficient processing of
preregistration claims, inter alia, the proposed rule calls for filing
such claims by electronic means only. At this point in the process of
[[Page 44879]]
developing the Copyright Office's system for online preregistration, it
is not entirely clear whether the system will be compatible with web
browsers other than Microsoft Internet Explorer versions 5.1 and
higher. Filers of preregistration applications will be able to employ
these Internet Explorer browsers successfully. Support for Netscape
7.2, Firefox 1.0.3, and Mozilla 1.7.7 is planned but will not be
available when preregistration goes into effect. Present users of these
browsers may experience problems when filing claims.
In order to ensure that preregistration can be implemented in a
smoothly functioning and timely manner, the Office now seeks comments
that will assist it in determining whether any eligible parties will be
prevented from preregistering a claim due to browser requirements of
the preregistration system. Therefore, this notice seeks information
whether any potential preregistration filers would have difficulties
using Internet Explorer (version 5.1 or higher) to file preregistration
claims, and if so, why. More generally, in the interest of achieving
support for browsers in the Office's preregistration processing
environment, this notice inquires whether (and why) an eligible party
who anticipates preregistering a claim on the electronic-only form will
not be able to use Internet Explorer to do so, or will choose not to
preregister if it is necessary to use Internet Explorer.
The Office requests that responses to this supplemental notice of
inquiry be made part of the responders' comments on the July 22nd
Notice of Proposed Rulemaking. Whether or not accompanied by comments
on the proposed rule, the response to this notice of inquiry should be
submitted by the due dates for comment on the Notice of Proposed
Rulemaking, i.e., no later than August 22, 2005, with reply comments
due no later than September 7, 2005.
Dated: August 1, 2005.
Tanya Sandros,
Associate General Counsel.
[FR Doc. 05-15458 Filed 8-3-05; 8:45 am]
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