[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

Copyright Office

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