[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 54 (Thursday, March 20, 2003)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 13652-13653]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-6741]


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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 [email protected].. Email 
inquiries regarding the hearings may be sent to [email protected].

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/.
    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 [email protected] 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 
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