[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 37, Volume 1]
[Revised as of July 1, 2008]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 37CFR384.7]

[Page 758-759]
 
              TITLE 37--PATENTS, TRADEMARKS, AND COPYRIGHTS
 
        CHAPTER III--COPYRIGHT ROYALTY BOARD, LIBRARY OF CONGRESS
 
PART 384_RATES AND TERMS FOR THE MAKING OF EPHEMERAL RECORDINGS BY BUSINESS ESTABLISHMENT SERVICES--Table of Contents
 
Sec. 384.7  Verification of royalty distributions.

    (a) General. This section prescribes procedures by which any 
Copyright Owner may verify the royalty distributions made by the 
Collective; Provided, however, that nothing contained in this section 
shall apply to situations where a Copyright Owner and the Collective 
have agreed as to proper verification methods.
    (b) Frequency of verification. A Copyright Owner may conduct a 
single audit of the Collective upon reasonable notice and during 
reasonable business hours, during any given calendar year, for any or 
all of the prior 3 calendar years, but no calendar year shall be subject 
to audit more than once.
    (c) Notice of intent to audit. A Copyright Owner must file with the 
Copyright Royalty Judges a notice of intent to audit the Collective, 
which shall, within 30 days of the filing of the notice, publish in the 
Federal Register a notice announcing such filing. The notification of 
intent to audit shall be served at the same time on the Collective. Any 
such audit shall be conducted by an independent and Qualified Auditor 
identified in the notice, and shall be binding on all Copyright Owners.
    (d) Acquisition and retention of records. The Collective shall use 
commercially reasonable efforts to obtain or to provide access to any 
relevant books and records maintained by third parties for the purpose 
of the audit and retain such records for a period of not less than 3 
years. The Copyright Owner requesting the verification procedure shall 
retain the report of the verification for a period of not less than 3 
years.
    (e) Acceptable verification procedure. An audit, including 
underlying paperwork, which was performed in the ordinary course of 
business according to generally accepted auditing standards by an 
independent and Qualified Auditor, shall serve as an acceptable 
verification procedure for all parties with respect to the information 
that is within the scope of the audit.

[[Page 759]]

    (f) Consultation. Before rendering a written report to a Copyright 
Owner, except where the auditor has a reasonable basis to suspect fraud 
and disclosure would, in the reasonable opinion of the auditor, 
prejudice the investigation of such suspected fraud, the auditor shall 
review the tentative written findings of the audit with the appropriate 
agent or employee of the Collective in order to remedy any factual 
errors and clarify any issues relating to the audit; Provided that the 
appropriate agent or employee of the Collective reasonably cooperates 
with the auditor to remedy promptly any factual errors or clarify any 
issues raised by the audit.
    (g) Costs of the verification procedure. The Copyright Owner 
requesting the verification procedure shall pay the cost of the 
procedure, unless it is finally determined that there was an 
underpayment of 10% or more, in which case the Collective shall, in 
addition to paying the amount of any underpayment, bear the reasonable 
costs of the verification procedure.