[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 64 (Wednesday, April 2, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 18004-18005]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-6840]


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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS

Copyright Royalty Board

[Docket No. 2008-2 CRB CD 2000-2003]


Distribution of 2000, 2001, 2002, and 2003 Cable Royalty Funds

AGENCY: Copyright Royalty Board, Library of Congress.

ACTION: Notice announcing commencement of Phase I proceeding with 
request for Petitions to Participate.

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SUMMARY: The Copyright Royalty Judges are announcing the commencement 
of a proceeding to determine the Phase I distribution of 2000, 2001, 
2002, and 2003 royalties collected under the cable statutory license. 
The Judges are also announcing the date by which a party who wishes to 
participate in this distribution proceeding must file its Petition to 
Participate and the accompanying $150 file fee.

DATES: Petitions to Participate and the filing fee are due on or before 
May 2, 2008.

ADDRESSES: An original, five copies, and an electronic copy in Portable 
Document Format (PDF) on a CD of the Petition to Participate, along 
with the $150 filing fee, may be delivered to the Copyright Royalty 
Board by either mail or hand delivery. Petitions to Participate and the 
$150 filing fee may not be delivered by an overnight delivery service 
other than the U.S. Postal Service Express Mail. If by mail (including 
overnight delivery), Petitions to Participate, along with the $150 
filing fee, must be addressed to: Copyright Royalty Board, P.O. Box 
70977, Washington, DC 20024-0977. If hand delivered by a private party, 
Petitions to Participate, along with the $150 filing fee, must be 
brought to the Library of Congress, James Madison Memorial Building, 
LM-401, 101 Independence Avenue, SE., Washington, DC 20559-6000. If 
delivered by a commercial courier, Petitions to Participate, along with 
the $150 filing fee, must be delivered to the Congressional Courier 
Acceptance Site, located at 2nd and D Street, NE., Washington, DC. The 
envelope must be addressed to: Copyright Royalty Board, Library of 
Congress, James Madison Memorial Building, LM-403, 101 Independence 
Avenue, SE., Washington, DC 20559-6000.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: LaKeshia Brent, CRB Program 
Specialist, by telephone at (202) 707-7658 or e-mail at [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    Each year, semiannually, cable systems must submit royalty payments 
to the Copyright Office as required by the cable statutory license for 
the privilege of retransmitting over-the-air television and radio 
broadcast signals. 17 U.S.C. 111. These royalties are then distributed 
to copyright owners whose works were included in such retransmissions 
and who timely filed a claim for royalties. Distribution of the 
royalties for each calendar year are determined by the Copyright 
Royalty Judges (``Judges'') in two phases. At Phase I, the royalties 
are divided among the representatives of the major categories of 
copyrightable content (movies, sports programming, music, etc.) 
requesting the distribution. At Phase II, the royalties are divided 
among the various copyright owners within each category.
    This Notice announcing the commencement of a proceeding under 17 
U.S.C. 803(b)(1) for distribution of cable royalties collected for 
2000, 2001, 2002, and 2003 is confined to Phase I.

Commencement of Phase I Proceeding

    Consistent with 17 U.S.C. 804(b)(8), the Copyright Royalty Judges 
determine that a Phase I controversy exists as to the distribution of 
the 2000, 2001, 2002, and 2003 cable royalties. We reach this 
determination, in this instance, for two reasons. First, several 
interested parties have represented to us that a Phase I controversy 
exists for these years. See, e.g., comments filed by the following 
parties on September 19, 2007 in Docket No. 2005-3 CRB CD 2003:\1\ the 
National Association of Broadcasters, the Joint Sports Claimants, 
Devotional Claimants, Canadian Claimants Group, Public Television 
Claimants. Second, to date we have not received notification that any 
settlements have been reached for any of these years, nor have we 
received motions for final distribution.
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    \1\ For the reasons discussed herein, the Copyright Royalty 
Judges are consolidating the 2000, 2001, 2002 and 2003 royalty years 
into a single proceeding. Therefore, from this point forward, any 
issues regarding the distribution of the 2003 cable royalty funds 
should be captioned under the consolidated docket, Docket No. 2008-2 
CRB CD 2000-2003.
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    The Judges are consolidating the 2000, 2001, 2002 and 2003 royalty 
years into a single proceeding. Several parties

[[Page 18005]]

have informed the Judges that each of these years involves the same 
single issue regarding the claim of the Canadian Claimants and 
therefore favor consolidation of these years into one proceeding. Id. 
Moreover, consolidation allows for resolution of this issue in the most 
administratively efficient manner.

Petitions To Participate

    Petitions to Participate must be filed in accordance with the Sec.  
351.1(b) of the Judge's regulations. See 37 CFR 351.1(b). Petitions to 
Participate submitted by interested parties whose claims do not exceed 
$1,000 \2\ must contain a statement that the party will not seek a 
distribution of more than $1,000. No filing fee is required for these 
parties. We note, however, that interested parties with claims 
exceeding one thousand dollars ($1,000) must submit a filing fee of one 
hundred and fifty dollars ($150) with their Petition to Participate or 
it will be rejected. Cash will not be accepted; therefore, parties must 
pay the filing fee with a check or money order made payable to the 
``Copyright Royalty Board.'' If a check is returned for lack of 
sufficient funds, the corresponding Petition to Participate will be 
dismissed.
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    \2\ The Copyright Royalty Judges Program Technical Corrections 
Act, Public Law No. 109-303, changed the amount from $10,000 to 
$1,000.
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    Further procedural matters, including scheduling, will be addressed 
after Petitions to Participate have been received.
    Note that in accordance with 37 CFR 350.2 (Representation), only 
attorneys who are members of the bar in one or more states and in good 
standing will be allowed to represent parties before the Copyright 
Royalty Judges, unless the party is an individual who represents 
herself or himself.

    Dated: March 27, 2008.
James Scott Sledge,
Chief Copyright Royalty Judge.
[FR Doc. E8-6840 Filed 4-1-08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 1410-72-P