[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 154 (Friday, August 10, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 45071-45072]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-15680]


=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS

Copyright Office

[Docket Nos. 2001-8 CARP CD 98-99, 2002-8 CARP CD 2000, 2003-2 CARP CD 
2001, 2004-5 CARP CD-2002, 2001-5 CARP SD 99, 2001-7 CARP SD 2000, and 
99-4 CARP DPRA]


Notice of Terminations

AGENCY: Copyright Office, Library of Congress.

ACTION: Notice of termination of proceedings.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The Copyright Office of the Library of Congress is announcing 
the termination of the proceedings in the above-captioned dockets 
conducted under the former Copyright Arbitration Royalty Panel system. 
The Office is also providing notice that the authority to set rates or 
to make determinations regarding the future distribution of royalty 
funds associated with these proceedings will be transferred to the 
Copyright Royalty Board.

DATES: Effective August 10, 2007.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Tanya M. Sandros, Acting General 
Counsel, or Ben Golant, Principal Legal Advisor. Telephone: (202) 707-
8380. Telefax: (202) 252-3423.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On November 30, 2004, the President signed 
into law the Copyright Royalty and Distribution Reform Act of 2004 (the 
``CRDRA''), Pub. L. 108-419, No. 118 Stat. 2341. This Act, which became 
effective on May 31, 2005, phases out the Copyright Arbitration Royalty 
Panel (``CARP'') system and replaces it with three permanent Copyright 
Royalty Judges (``CRJs''). Additionally, CRDRA allows for the 
termination of ``any [CARP] proceeding commenced by the date of the 
enactment of this Act...and any proceeding so terminated shall become 
null and void. In such cases, the Copyright Royalty Judges may initiate 
a new proceeding in accordance with regulations adopted pursuant to 
section 803(b)(6) of title 17, United States Code.'' Section 6(b)(1) of 
the Copyright Royalty and Distribution Reform Act of 2004, Pub. L. No. 
108-419. The Copyright Office is announcing the termination of all open 
proceedings under this provision.
    Cable Royalties. The cable statutory license, first enacted through 
the Copyright Act of 1976, and codified at Section 111 of the Act, 
provides cable systems with a statutory license to retransmit a 
performance or display of a work embodied in a primary transmission 
made by a television or radio station licensed by the Federal 
Communications Commission (``FCC''). Cable systems that retransmit 
broadcast signals in accordance with the provisions governing the 
statutory license set forth in Section 111 are required to pay royalty 
fees to the Copyright Office. Payments made under the cable statutory 
license are remitted semi-annually to the Copyright Office which 
invests the royalties in United States Treasury securities pending 
distribution of these funds to those copyright owners who are entitled 
to receive a share of the fees. We terminate Docket Nos. 2001-8 CARP CD 
98-99, 2002-8 CARP CD 2000, 2003-2 CARP CD 2001, and 2004-5 CARP CD-
2002, the four Section 111 CARP proceedings that have remained open.
    We note that there has been a controversy regarding the 
participation of the Independent Producers Group (``IPG'') in the 
distribution of the 1998-2002 cable royalty funds. In past Orders, the 
Office has found that IPG has repeatedly failed to comply with the 
rules governing the CARP process, especially with regard to service of 
filings on other parties. Consequently, the Office did not accept its 
responses to its September 2005 Orders when making its determination 
with respect to a further partial distribution. See, e.g., Distribution 
of the 1998-2002 Cable Royalty Funds, Order (rel. Apr. 3, 2007). In 
response to this order, IPG asked the Office to clarify that it remains 
a party to the proceedings in which it has an interest. (Letter from 
James Sun, Pick & Boydston, LLP, dated April 11, 2007.) The question, 
however, is moot. Termination of these proceedings brings an end to all 
outstanding controversies before the Office and vests authority in the 
CRJs to initiate a new proceeding in accordance with their rules to 
consider the disposition of the remaining royalty fees that have not 
yet been distributed.
    Satellite Royalties. The satellite carrier statutory license, first 
enacted through the Satellite Home Viewer Act (``SHVA'') of 1988, and 
codified in Section 119 of the Act, establishes a statutory copyright 
licensing scheme for satellite carriers that retransmit the signals of 
distant television network stations and superstations to satellite dish 
owners for their private home viewing and for viewing in commercial 
establishments. Satellite carriers may use the Section 119 license to 
retransmit the signals of superstations to subscribers located anywhere 
in the United States. However, the Section 119 statutory license limits 
the secondary transmissions of network station signals to no more than 
two such stations in a single day to persons who reside in unserved 
households. Each year satellite carriers submit royalties to the 
Copyright Office under the section 119 statutory license for the 
retransmission to their subscribers of superstations and network 
stations to unserved households. 17 U.S.C. 119. These royalties, in 
turn, have been distributed in one of two ways to copyright owners 
whose works were included in a retransmission of an over-the-air 
television broadcast signal and who timely filed a claim for royalties 
with the Copyright Office. The copyright owners may either have 
negotiated the terms of a settlement as to the division of the royalty 
funds, or a CARP was convened to conduct a proceeding to determine the 
distribution of the royalties that remain in controversy. We terminate 
Docket Nos. 2001-5 CARP SD 99 and 2001-7 CARP SD 2000, the two Section 
119 CARP proceedings that have remained open. Henceforth, resolution of 
the controversies concerning the distribution of the remaining funds 
shall be considered by the CRJs.
    Section 115 Royalties. The Digital Performance Right In Sound 
Recording Act of 1995 (``DPRA''), Pub. L. No. 104-39, 109 Stat. 336, 
clarified the scope of the compulsory license to make and distribute 
phonorecords of nondramatic musical compositions, including the right 
to distribute or authorize distribution by means of a digital 
transmission which constitutes a ``digital phonorecord delivery.''' 17 
U.S.C. 115(c)(3)(A). The DPRA established that the rate for all DPDs 
made or authorized under a compulsory license on or before December 31, 
1997, was the same as the rate in effect for the making and 
distribution of physical phonorecords for that period. 17 U.S.C. 
115(c)(3)(A)(i). For DPDs made or authorized after December 31, 1997, 
the DPRA established a two-tier process for determining the terms and 
rates: either the copyright owners of nondramatic musical works and 
those persons entitled to obtain a license may have negotiated the 
rates and terms for the statutory license, or they may have 
participated in a CARP proceeding. 17 U.S.C. 115(c)(3)(A)-(D). Such 
rates and terms, whether negotiated by the parties or determined by a 
CARP, were to distinguish between ``digital phonorecord deliveries 
where the reproduction or distribution of a

[[Page 45072]]

phonorecord is incidental to the transmission which constitutes the 
digital phonorecord delivery, and (ii) digital phonorecord deliveries 
in general.'' 17 U.S.C. 115(c)(2)(C)-(D). We terminate Docket No. 99-4 
CARP DPRA, the one CARP proceeding that has remained open under Section 
115.
    Disposition. We hereby terminate the above-captioned proceedings 
immediately pursuant to Section 6(b)(1) of the CRDRA. As a result, 
subsequent proceedings regarding the rates for Section 115 and the 
distribution of royalties that were the subject of the identified 
proceedings shall be initiated under the new Copyright Royalty Board 
system.

    Dated: August 6, 2007.
Marybeth Peters,
Register of Copyrights.
[FR Doc. E7-15680 Filed 8-9-07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 1410-30-S