[Federal Register: August 10, 2007 (Volume 72, Number 154)]
[Notices]
[Page 45071-45072]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr10au07-122]
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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS
Copyright Office
[Docket Nos. 2001-8 CARP CD 98-99, 2002-8 CARP CD 2000, 2003-2 CARP CD
2001, 2004-5 CARP CD-2002, 2001-5 CARP SD 99, 2001-7 CARP SD 2000, and
99-4 CARP DPRA]
Notice of Terminations
AGENCY: Copyright Office, Library of Congress.
ACTION: Notice of termination of proceedings.
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SUMMARY: The Copyright Office of the Library of Congress is announcing
the termination of the proceedings in the above-captioned dockets
conducted under the former Copyright Arbitration Royalty Panel system.
The Office is also providing notice that the authority to set rates or
to make determinations regarding the future distribution of royalty
funds associated with these proceedings will be transferred to the
Copyright Royalty Board.
DATES: Effective August 10, 2007.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Tanya M. Sandros, Acting General
Counsel, or Ben Golant, Principal Legal Advisor. Telephone: (202) 707-
8380. Telefax: (202) 252-3423.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On November 30, 2004, the President signed
into law the Copyright Royalty and Distribution Reform Act of 2004 (the
``CRDRA''), Pub. L. 108-419, No. 118 Stat. 2341. This Act, which became
effective on May 31, 2005, phases out the Copyright Arbitration Royalty
Panel (``CARP'') system and replaces it with three permanent Copyright
Royalty Judges (``CRJs''). Additionally, CRDRA allows for the
termination of ``any [CARP] proceeding commenced by the date of the
enactment of this Act...and any proceeding so terminated shall become
null and void. In such cases, the Copyright Royalty Judges may initiate
a new proceeding in accordance with regulations adopted pursuant to
section 803(b)(6) of title 17, United States Code.'' Section 6(b)(1) of
the Copyright Royalty and Distribution Reform Act of 2004, Pub. L. No.
108-419. The Copyright Office is announcing the termination of all open
proceedings under this provision.
Cable Royalties. The cable statutory license, first enacted through
the Copyright Act of 1976, and codified at Section 111 of the Act,
provides cable systems with a statutory license to retransmit a
performance or display of a work embodied in a primary transmission
made by a television or radio station licensed by the Federal
Communications Commission (``FCC''). Cable systems that retransmit
broadcast signals in accordance with the provisions governing the
statutory license set forth in Section 111 are required to pay royalty
fees to the Copyright Office. Payments made under the cable statutory
license are remitted semi-annually to the Copyright Office which
invests the royalties in United States Treasury securities pending
distribution of these funds to those copyright owners who are entitled
to receive a share of the fees. We terminate Docket Nos. 2001-8 CARP CD
98-99, 2002-8 CARP CD 2000, 2003-2 CARP CD 2001, and 2004-5 CARP CD-
2002, the four Section 111 CARP proceedings that have remained open.
We note that there has been a controversy regarding the
participation of the Independent Producers Group (``IPG'') in the
distribution of the 1998-2002 cable royalty funds. In past Orders, the
Office has found that IPG has repeatedly failed to comply with the
rules governing the CARP process, especially with regard to service of
filings on other parties. Consequently, the Office did not accept its
responses to its September 2005 Orders when making its determination
with respect to a further partial distribution. See, e.g., Distribution
of the 1998-2002 Cable Royalty Funds, Order (rel. Apr. 3, 2007). In
response to this order, IPG asked the Office to clarify that it remains
a party to the proceedings in which it has an interest. (Letter from
James Sun, Pick & Boydston, LLP, dated April 11, 2007.) The question,
however, is moot. Termination of these proceedings brings an end to all
outstanding controversies before the Office and vests authority in the
CRJs to initiate a new proceeding in accordance with their rules to
consider the disposition of the remaining royalty fees that have not
yet been distributed.
Satellite Royalties. The satellite carrier statutory license, first
enacted through the Satellite Home Viewer Act (``SHVA'') of 1988, and
codified in Section 119 of the Act, establishes a statutory copyright
licensing scheme for satellite carriers that retransmit the signals of
distant television network stations and superstations to satellite dish
owners for their private home viewing and for viewing in commercial
establishments. Satellite carriers may use the Section 119 license to
retransmit the signals of superstations to subscribers located anywhere
in the United States. However, the Section 119 statutory license limits
the secondary transmissions of network station signals to no more than
two such stations in a single day to persons who reside in unserved
households. Each year satellite carriers submit royalties to the
Copyright Office under the section 119 statutory license for the
retransmission to their subscribers of superstations and network
stations to unserved households. 17 U.S.C. 119. These royalties, in
turn, have been distributed in one of two ways to copyright owners
whose works were included in a retransmission of an over-the-air
television broadcast signal and who timely filed a claim for royalties
with the Copyright Office. The copyright owners may either have
negotiated the terms of a settlement as to the division of the royalty
funds, or a CARP was convened to conduct a proceeding to determine the
distribution of the royalties that remain in controversy. We terminate
Docket Nos. 2001-5 CARP SD 99 and 2001-7 CARP SD 2000, the two Section
119 CARP proceedings that have remained open. Henceforth, resolution of
the controversies concerning the distribution of the remaining funds
shall be considered by the CRJs.
Section 115 Royalties. The Digital Performance Right In Sound
Recording Act of 1995 (``DPRA''), Pub. L. No. 104-39, 109 Stat. 336,
clarified the scope of the compulsory license to make and distribute
phonorecords of nondramatic musical compositions, including the right
to distribute or authorize distribution by means of a digital
transmission which constitutes a ``digital phonorecord delivery.''' 17
U.S.C. 115(c)(3)(A). The DPRA established that the rate for all DPDs
made or authorized under a compulsory license on or before December 31,
1997, was the same as the rate in effect for the making and
distribution of physical phonorecords for that period. 17 U.S.C.
115(c)(3)(A)(i). For DPDs made or authorized after December 31, 1997,
the DPRA established a two-tier process for determining the terms and
rates: either the copyright owners of nondramatic musical works and
those persons entitled to obtain a license may have negotiated the
rates and terms for the statutory license, or they may have
participated in a CARP proceeding. 17 U.S.C. 115(c)(3)(A)-(D). Such
rates and terms, whether negotiated by the parties or determined by a
CARP, were to distinguish between ``digital phonorecord deliveries
where the reproduction or distribution of a
[[Page 45072]]
phonorecord is incidental to the transmission which constitutes the
digital phonorecord delivery, and (ii) digital phonorecord deliveries
in general.'' 17 U.S.C. 115(c)(2)(C)-(D). We terminate Docket No. 99-4
CARP DPRA, the one CARP proceeding that has remained open under Section
115.
Disposition. We hereby terminate the above-captioned proceedings
immediately pursuant to Section 6(b)(1) of the CRDRA. As a result,
subsequent proceedings regarding the rates for Section 115 and the
distribution of royalties that were the subject of the identified
proceedings shall be initiated under the new Copyright Royalty Board
system.
Dated: August 6, 2007.
Marybeth Peters,
Register of Copyrights.
[FR Doc. E7-15680 Filed 8-9-07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 1410-30-S