Federal Register, Volume 77 Issue 176 (Tuesday, September 11, 2012)

[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 176 (Tuesday, September 11, 2012)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 55783-55784]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-22317]

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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS

37 CFR Part 201 and 210

[Docket No. 2012-7]

Mechanical and Digital Phonorecord Delivery Compulsory License

AGENCY: Copyright Office, Library of Congress.

ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking: Extension of comment and reply
comment periods.

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SUMMARY: The Copyright Office is extending the deadline for filing
comments and reply comments

[[Page 55784]]

regarding its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking concerning regulations for
reporting Monthly and Annual Statements of Account for the making and
distribution of phonorecords under compulsory licenses obtained
pursuant to 17 U.S.C. 115.

DATES: Comments on the proposed regulation must be received in the
Office of the General Counsel of the Copyright Office no later than 5
p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) on October 25, 2012. Reply comments
are due November 26, 2012.

ADDRESSES: The Copyright Office strongly prefers that comments be
submitted electronically. A comment submission page is posted on the
Copyright Office Web site at http://www.copyright.gov/docs/section115/soa/comments/. The Web site interface requires submitters to complete a
form specifying name and other required information, and to upload
comments as an attachment. To meet accessibility standards, all
comments must be uploaded in a single file in either the Adobe Portable
Document File (PDF) format that contains searchable, accessible text
(not an image); Microsoft Word; WordPerfect; Rich Text Format (RTF); or
ASCII text file format (not a scanned document). The maximum file size
is 6 megabytes (MB). The name of the submitter and organization should
appear on both the form and the face of the comments. All comments will
be posted publicly on the Copyright Office Web site exactly as they are
received, along with names and organizations if provided. If electronic
submission of comments is not feasible, please contact the Copyright
Office at (202) 707-8380 for special instructions.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Tanya Sandros, Deputy General Counsel,
or Stephen Ruwe, Attorney Advisor, Copyright GC/I&R, P.O. Box 70400,
Washington, DC 20024. Telephone: (202) 707-8380. Telefax: (202) 707-
8366.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On July 27, 2012, the Copyright Office
published a notice of proposed rulemaking and request for comments
concerning a new regulation that would amend the regulations for
reporting Monthly and Annual Statements of Account for the making and
distribution of phonorecords under the compulsory license, 17 U.S.C.
115, to bring the regulations up to date to reflect recent and pending
rate determinations by the Copyright Royalty Judges, which among other
things provide new rates for limited downloads, interactive streaming
and incidental digital phonorecord deliveries, and to harmonize these
reporting requirements with the existing regulations for reporting the
making and distribution of physical phonorecords, permanent downloads
and ringtones. The notice of proposed rulemaking stated that comments
would be due no later than September 25, 2012 and that reply comments
would be due October 25, 2012.
On September 5, 2012, the Office received a joint motion to extend
the comment and reply comment period by thirty days each (i.e. until
October 25, 2012 and November 26, 2012). The motion was filed by the
Recording Industry Association of America, Inc., National Music
Publishers Association, Songwriters Guild of America, Digital Media
Association, and Music Reports, Inc., (``Joint Requestors''). The Joint
Requestors stated that they represent the most active institutional
participants in the mechanical compulsory license system. They stated
that it was their view that it would be beneficial to the Copyright
Office and to the outcome of the proceeding for the Joint Requestors to
formulate and submit consensus positions on as many of the issues
raised in the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking as possible. They added
that a process for formulating such positions is currently underway.
However, they offered that additional time would likely be necessary to
allow the Joint Requestors to adequately think through the issues,
consult further with their respective members, discuss consensus
positions, and prepare a written submission setting forth whatever
consensus positions the group is able to reach. They stated that
without an extension of time, the Joint Requestors will be less likely
to reach consensus and provide the Office unified comments concerning
the various issues raised in the NPRM.
In the interest of giving the Joint Requestors the necessary time
to conclude the ongoing process of formulating consensus positions, the
Office has decided to grant the request for an extension to file
comments and reply comments by thirty days in each case, making the
comments due on October 25, 2012 and reply comments due on November 26,
2012).

Dated: September 6, 2012.
Tanya Sandros,
Deputy General Counsel.
[FR Doc. 2012-22317 Filed 9-10-12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 1410-30-P