[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 44 (Monday, March 9, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 10096-10097]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-4913]
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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS
Copyright Office
37 CFR Part 201
[Docket No. RM 2008-8]
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: The first public hearing will be held in Palo Alto, California
on Friday, May 1, 2009, at 9:00 a.m. Public hearings will also be held
in Washington, DC on Wednesday, May 6, 2009, Thursday, May 7, 2009, and
Friday, May 8, 2009, at 10:00 a.m. Requests to testify must be received
by 5:00 p.m. E.D.T. on Friday, April 3, 2009. See SUPPLEMENTARY
INFORMATION for additional information on other requirements.
ADDRESSES: The Palo Alto hearings will be held in the Moot Court Room
of the Stanford Law School, Crown Quadrangle, Palo Alto, CA.
The Washington, DC round of public hearings will be held in the
Copyright Hearing Room, LM-408 of the James Madison Building of the
Library of Congress, 101 Independence Ave, SE., Washington, DC. See
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION for additional address information and other
requirements.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Robert Kasunic, Principal Legal
Advisor, Office of the General Counsel, Copyright GC/I&R, PO Box 70400,
Washington, DC 20024-0400. Telephone (202) 707-8380; fax (202) 707-
8366. Requests to testify may be submitted through the request form
available at http://www.copyright.gov/1201/.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On October 6, 2008, 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. 73 FR 58073 (October 6, 2008). On December 29, 2008,
the Copyright Office published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking listing
the proposed exemptions and requesting responsive comments. 73 FR 79425
(December 29, 2008). For all of the documents submitted and published
within the current rulemaking proceeding, and for a more complete
statement of the background and purpose of the rulemaking, please see
the Copyright Office's website at: http://www.copyright.gov/1201/. The
19 initial written comments proposing classes of works to be exempted
and the 56 responsive comments also have been posted on the Office's
website; see http://www.copyright.gov/1201/.
The Office will be conducting public hearings in Palo Alto,
California and Washington, DC to hear testimony
[[Page 10097]]
relating to the proposed exemptions in this rulemaking. Interested
parties are invited to submit requests to testify at these hearings.
The date for the hearing in Palo Alto, CA is May 1, 2009. The dates for
the Washington, DC hearings are May 6, May 7, and May 8, 2009.
Depending on the number of requests to testify received by the
Copyright Office, it may not be necessary to conduct hearings on all of
the available days. The hearings will be organized by subject matter,
and while the Copyright Office will attempt to accommodate preferences
for particular dates, such accommodations may not be possible.
Requirements for persons desiring to testify:
A request to testify must be submitted to the Copyright Office. All
requests to testify must clearly identify:
the name of the person desiring to testify,
the organization or organizations represented, if any,
contact information (address, telephone, and email),
the class of work on which you wish to testify (if you
wish to testify on more than one proposed class of work, please state
your order of preference),
a brief summary of your proposed testimony,
a description of any audiovisual material or demonstrative
evidence, if any, that you intend to present,
a description of any material you intend to distribute, if
any, at the hearing,
the location of the hearing at which you wish to testify
(Washington, DC or Palo Alto, CA),
dates on which you wish to testify in order of preference.
Note: Because the agenda will be organized based on subject matter, we
cannot guarantee that we can accommodate requests to testify on
particular dates.
Depending on the number and nature of the requests to testify, it is
possible that the Office will not be able to accommodate all
requests to testify.
All persons who submit a timely request to testify will receive
confirmation by email or telephone. 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:
Requests to testify must be submitted via the Copyright Office's
website form located at http://www.copyright.gov/1201/ and must be
received by 5:00 p.m. E.D.T. on Friday, April 3, 2009. Persons who are
unable to send requests via the website should contact Rob Kasunic,
Principal Legal Advisor, Office of the General Counsel 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 order to avoid duplicative and cumulative testimony and to
ensure that all relevant issues and viewpoints are addressed, the
Office encourages parties with similar interests to select common
representatives to testify on behalf of a particular position. A timely
request to testify does not guarantee an opportunity to testify at
these hearings.
The Copyright Office stresses that factual arguments are at least
as important as legal arguments. The hearings provide an opportunity to
explain and, in some cases, demonstrate the factual basis of an
argument. The Copyright Office encourages persons who wish to testify
to provide demonstrations of particular problems or solutions as
supplements to testimony. While testimony from attorneys who can
articulate legal arguments in support of or in opposition to a proposed
exempted class of works is useful, testimony from witnesses who can
explain and demonstrate pertinent facts is strongly encouraged by the
Office.
If audiovisual demonstrations or handouts will be used at any
hearing, the Copyright Office requires submission of such materials to
the Copyright Office 48 hours prior to the hearing in order to make
this information available to the other witnesses on the same panel,
and to ensure technological compatibility. If a demonstration will
consist of proprietary hardware or software, witnesses may need to
provide representative handouts to be distributed to other witnesses
prior to the hearing.
An LCD projector and screen will be available in the hearing rooms.
Other electronic or audiovisual equipment necessary for a presentation
should be brought by the person testifying. Persons intending to bring
such equipment into the Library of Congress, e.g., laptops, slide
projectors, etc., are encouraged to give the Office advance notice and
to arrive early in order to clear security screening by 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 website at: http://www.copyright.gov/1201/. The
Copyright Office will also provide additional information on directions
and parking for all persons testifying at the Palo Alto, CA round of
hearings. To facilitate this process, it is essential that all of the
required information listed above be included in a request to testify.
Dated: March 4, 2009
David O. Carson,
Copyright General Counsel.
[FR Doc. E9-4913 Filed 3-6-09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 1410-30-S