[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 117 (Tuesday, June 19, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 33776-33777]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-11816]


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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS

Copyright Office

[Docket No. 2007-1]


Section 109 Report to Congress

AGENCY: Copyright Office, Library of Congress.

ACTION: Extension of Time to File Reply Comments

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SUMMARY: The Copyright Office is extending the time in which reply

[[Page 33777]]

comments can be filed in response to its Notice of Inquiry requesting 
information for the preparation of the Section 109 Report to the 
Congress, as required by the Satellite Home Viewer Extension and 
Reauthorization Act of 2004.

DATES: Reply Comments are due no later than October 1, 2007.

ADDRESSES: If hand delivered by a private party, an original and five 
copies of reply comments should be brought to the Library of Congress, 
U.S. Copyright Office, Public Information Office, LM 401, James Madison 
Building, 101 Independence Ave, Washington, DC 20559, between 8:30 a.m. 
and 5 p.m. The envelope should be addressed as follows: Ben Golant, 
Office of the General Counsel, U.S. Copyright Office.
    If delivered by a commercial courier, an original and five copies 
of a comment or reply comment must be delivered to the Congressional 
Courier Acceptance Site (``CCAS'') located at 2nd and D Streets, NE, 
Washington, D.C. between 8:30 a.m. and 4 p.m. The envelope should be 
addressed as follows: Office of the General Counsel, U.S. Copyright 
Office, LM 401, James Madison Building, 101 Independence Avenue, SE, 
Washington, DC. Please note that CCAS will not accept delivery by means 
of overnight delivery services such as Federal Express, United Parcel 
Service or DHL.
    If sent by mail (including overnight delivery using U.S. Postal 
Service Express Mail), an original and five copies of a comment or 
reply comment should be addressed to U.S. Copyright Office, Copyright 
GC/I&R, P.O. Box 70400, Southwest Station, Washington, DC 20024.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ben Golant, Senior Attorney, and Tanya 
M. Sandros, Acting General Counsel, Copyright GC/I&R, P.O. Box 70400, 
Southwest Station, Washington, DC 20024. Telephone: (202) 707-8380. 
Telefax: (202) 707-8366.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On December 8, 2004, the President signed 
the Satellite Home Viewer Extension and Reauthorization Act of 2004, a 
part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2004. See Pub. L. No. 
108-447, 118 Stat. 3394 (2004) (hereinafter ``SHVERA''). Section 109 of 
the SHVERA requires the Copyright Office to examine and compare the 
statutory licensing systems for the cable and satellite television 
industries under Sections 111, 119, and 122 of the Copyright Act and 
recommend any necessary legislative changes no later that June 30, 
2008.
    Earlier this year, we released a Notice of Inquiry (NOI) seeking 
comment on several issues associated with the matters identified in 
Section 109 of the SHVERA. See 72 FR 19039 (April 16, 2007). To further 
supplement the record, the Office announced the scheduling of public 
hearings for the purpose of taking testimony from interested persons. 
The hearings are to be held during the week of July 23, 2007. See 72 FR 
28998 (May 23, 2007).
    On June 11, 2007, the Copyright Office received a Motion for an 
Extension of Time to File Comments and Reply Comments in this 
proceeding from the following parties: (1) Program Suppliers; (2) Joint 
Sports Claimants; (3) Public Television Claimants; (4) NAB; (5) BMI; 
(6) SESAC; (7) Michael Remington of Drinker Biddle; and (8) John Beiter 
of Loeb & Loeb. The parties have also requested that the Office move 
the date of its public hearings as originally announced in the Federal 
Register on May 23, 2007.
    The parties have proposed to move the dates for: (1) the filing of 
initial comments from July 2, 2007, to September 7, 2007; (2) the 
filing of reply comments from September 13, 2007, to November 16, 2007; 
and (3) the hearing from July 23-26, 2007, to the week of September 24, 
2007. Under their proposed schedule, witnesses would be identified on 
August 24, 2007, instead of June 15, 2007, and written questions of 
testimony would be filed on September 7, 2007, instead of July 2, 2007. 
They add that moving the dates of the public hearings into the month of 
August would create ``numerous scheduling problems.''
    The parties state that the issues raised in this proceeding, 
``besides being so wide-ranging, are of substantial importance to the 
industries that will be affected by Congress's ultimate resolution'' of 
the matters enumerated in Section 109 of the SHVERA and discussed by 
the Copyright Office in the NOI. For this reason, and this reason 
alone, the parties urge the Office to provide more time to allow 
further consideration of these issues within their respective industry 
groups before initial comments are filed.
    We deny all of the extension requests, except for the date by which 
reply comments are due. The parties have failed to provide a 
substantive reason why most of the extensions are necessary. They have 
not adequately stated why the 75 day time frame for filing comments set 
forth by the Office in the Section 109 NOI was insufficient nor have 
they adequately explained why they need over seven months to file reply 
comments. It is important for the parties to recognize that the Office 
will need time to draft the Report to Congress, which will be a 
considerable effort given the limited amount of administrative 
resources available. Nevertheless, to provide all parties with more 
time to make a meaningful rebuttal to the comments and testimony filed 
in July 2007, we will extend the dates reply comments are due for an 
additional two and a half weeks. We will also consider whether to hold 
additional hearings or permit the filing of surreplies after reply 
comments are filed in October.

Conclusion

    We hereby extend the time by which interested parties may file 
reply comments from September 13, 2007, to October 1, 2007.

    Dated: June 14, 2007
Tanya M. Sandros,
Acting General Counsel
[FR Doc. E7-11816 Filed 6-18-07; 8:45 am]
[BILLING CODE: 1410-30-S]