[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 156 (Monday, August 14, 2006)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 46402-46403]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 06-6915]



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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS

Copyright Office

37 CFR Parts 201 and 212

[Docket No. RM 2006-5]


Correction of Errors in Certificates of Registration of Vessel 
Hull Designs

AGENCY: Library of Congress, Copyright Office.

ACTION: Interim rule.

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SUMMARY: The Copyright Office is publishing an interim rule governing 
the correction of errors in certificates of registration of vessel hull 
designs. If the Office discovers a clerical or typographical error made 
by the Office on a certificate of registration, the Office will issue a 
corrected certificate. If an owner of a vessel hull design discovers a 
clerical or typographical error in a certificate of registration that 
is a result of error in the application, the owner may submit an 
application for correction of the certificate of registration.

DATES: Effective Date: August 14, 2006.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: David O. Carson, General Counsel, or 
Renee Coe, Senior Attorney, P.O. Box 70400, Washington, DC 20024-0400, 
Telephone: (202) 707-8380. Telefax: (202) 707-8366.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Vessel Hull Design Protection Act of 
1998 offered sui generis protection for original designs of watercraft 
hulls and decks. 17 U.S.C. chapter 13. One of the requirements for 
protection of a vessel hull design is that the design be registered in 
the Copyright Office. See generally 17 U.S.C. 1310-1314.
    Section 1319 provides that the Office ``may, by a certificate of 
correction under seal, correct any error in a registration incurred 
through the fault of the Office, or, upon payment of the required fee, 
any error of a clerical or typographical nature occurring in good faith 
but not through the fault of the Office. Such registration, together 
with the certificate, shall thereafter have the same effect as if it 
had been originally issued in such corrected form.'' 17 U.S.C. 1319.
    The Office has not issued regulations governing the procedure for 
correcting clerical or typographical errors in certificates of 
registration of vessel hull designs, but is now issuing interim 
regulations to clarify the procedure for requesting a certificate of 
correction.
    Certificates of registration of vessel hull designs are produced 
directly from the application for registration (on Form D-VH) submitted 
by the owner of the design, sometimes with amendments made by the 
Copyright Office with the consent of the claimant. When a claimant 
discovers that there was a clerical or typographical error on the 
application and on the resulting certificate of registration, the 
claimant may apply for correction of the error by submitting an 
application to correct a design registration (Form DC) with the 
applicable filing fee. The Office has determined that the filing fee 
for correction of an error in a certificate of registration shall be 
the same as the filing fee for supplementary registration, the 
analogous service for copyright registration. Upon examination of the 
application and determination that a clerical or typographical error 
was made, the Office will issue a certificate of correction, which will 
be produced directly from the Form DC submitted by the claimant. Form 
DC is available on the Copyright Office Web site at http://www.copyright.gov/forms/formdc.pdf.
    The procedure for correcting clerical or typographical errors is 
somewhat similar to the existing procedure for supplementary 
registration of copyright, but is narrower in scope than the copyright 
procedure. A copyright claimant may obtain supplementary registration, 
by submitting Form CA, in order ``to correct an error in a copyright 
registration or to amplify the information given in a registration.'' 
17 U.S.C. 408(d) (emphasis added). In contrast, section 1319 permits 
correction of a vessel hull design registration only in cases of a 
clerical or typographical error, and does not permit amplification or 
supplementation of the information in the basic registration.
    When the Office discovers a clerical or typographical error in a 
certificate of registration that is due to error by the Office, or when 
such an error is brought to the attention of the Office, the Office 
will issue a corrected certificate of registration without requiring 
the submission of a Form DC or a filing fee.

List of Subjects

37 CFR Part 201

    Copyright, General provisions.

37 CFR Part 212

    Design, Vessel hulls, Registration.

Final Rule

0
For the reasons set out in the preamble, 37 CFR parts 201 and 212 are 
amended as follows:

PART 201--GENERAL PROVISIONS

0
1. The authority citation for part 201 continues to read as follows:

    Authority:  17 U.S.C. 702.


Sec.  201.3  [Amended]

0
2. Section 201.3(c) is amended by adding paragraph (20) in the table to 
read: ``(20) Correction of error in a certificate of registration of a 
vessel hull design (Form DC) * * * 115.''

PART 212--PROTECTION OF VESSEL HULL DESIGNS

0
3. The authority citation for part 212 continues to read as follows:

    Authority: 17 U.S.C. chapter 13.


0
4. A new Sec.  212.8 is added to read as follows:


Sec.  212.8  Correction of errors in certificates of registration.

    (a) General.
    (1) This section prescribes conditions relating to the correction 
of clerical or typographical errors in a certificate of registration of 
a vessel hull design, under section 1319 of title 17 of the United 
States Code, as amended by Public Law 105-304.
    (2) For the purposes of this section, a basic registration means 
registration of a vessel hull design made under sections 1310 through 
1314 of title 17 of the United States Code, as amended by Public Law 
105-304.
    (3) No correction of the information in a basic registration will 
be made except pursuant to the provisions of this Sec.  212.8. As an 
exception, where it is discovered that the record of a vessel hull 
design registration contains a clerical or typographical error made by 
the Copyright Office, the Office will take appropriate measures to 
rectify its error. Correction will be made only of clerical or 
typographical errors; errors of a different nature cannot be corrected 
and there is no procedure to amplify the registration record with 
additional information.
    (b) Application for correction of error in certificate. At any time 
after registration of a vessel hull design, the Copyright Office will 
correct a clerical or typographical error in the registration upon the 
application of the owner of the registered design or the owner's 
authorized agent.
    (c) Form and content of application to correct registration.
    (1) An application to correct a registration shall be made on a 
form prescribed by the Copyright Office, shall be accompanied by the 
appropriate filing fee identified in Sec.  201.3(c) and shall contain 
the following information:
    (i) The make and model of the vessel that embodies the registered 
design;
    (ii) The registration number of the basic registration;

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    (iii) The year when the basic registration was completed;
    (iv) The name or names of the designer or designers of the vessel 
hull, and the owner or owners of the vessel hull design, as they appear 
in the basic registration;
    (v) The space number and heading or description of the part of the 
basic registration where the error occurred;
    (vi) A transcription of the erroneous information as it appears in 
the basic registration;
    (vii) A statement of the correct information as it should have 
appeared;
    (viii) If desired, an explanation of the error or its correction;
    (ix) The name and address:
    (A) To which the correspondence concerning the application should 
be sent; and
    (B) To which the certificate of correction should be mailed; and
    (x) The certification shall consist of:
    (A) The handwritten signature of the owner of the registered design 
or of the duly authorized agent of such owner (who shall also be 
identified);
    (B) The typed or printed name of the person whose signature 
appears, and the date of signature; and
    (C) A statement that the person signing the application is the 
owner of the registered design or of the duly authorized agent of such 
owner, and that the statements made in the application are correct to 
the best of that person's knowledge.
    (2) The form prescribed by he Copyright Office for the foregoing 
purposes is designated ``Application to Correct a Design Registration 
(Form DC)''. Copies of the form are available free upon request to the 
Public Information Office, Library of Congress, Copyright Office, 101 
Independence Avenue, SE., Washington, DC 20559-6000 or on the Copyright 
Office Web site at http://www.copyright.gov/forms/formdc.pdf.
    (3) Copies, phonorecords or supporting documents cannot be made 
part of the record of a corrected certificate of registration and 
should not be submitted with the application.
    (d) Fee. The filing fee for an application to correct a certificate 
of registration of a vessel hull design is prescribed in Sec.  
201.3(c).

    Dated: July 19, 2006.
Marybeth Peters,
Register of Copyrights.

James H. Billington,
Librarian of Congress.
[FR Doc. 06-6915 Filed 8-11-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 1410-30-M