[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 56 (Tuesday, March 24, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 15632-15633]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-06678]


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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS

Copyright Royalty Board

[Docket No. 14-CRB-0006 DART SR (CO/FA) 2013]


Distribution of the 2013 Digital Audio Recording Technology 
Royalty Funds

AGENCY: Copyright Royalty Board, Library of Congress.

ACTION: Notice announcing commencement of proceeding with request for 
Petitions to Participate and comments on intention to conduct paper 
proceeding.

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SUMMARY: The Copyright Royalty Board is announcing the commencement of 
a proceeding to determine the distribution of the digital audio 
recording technology royalty fees in the 2013 Sound Recordings Fund 
(Copyright Owners and Featured Recording Artists Subfunds). The Board 
is also announcing the date by which a party who wishes to participate 
in this proceeding must file its Petition to Participate and the 
accompanying $150 filing fee, if applicable. Finally, the Board is 
announcing the Copyright Royalty Judges' intention to conduct a paper 
proceeding.

DATES: Petitions to Participate, comments on the intention to conduct a 
paper proceeding, and applicable filing fee are due no later than April 
23, 2015.

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, if applicable, 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),

[[Page 15633]]

Petitions to Participate, along with the $150 filing fee, must be 
addressed to: Copyright Royalty Board, P.O. 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 Keys, CRB Program Specialist. 
Telephone: (202) 707-7658 or email at [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background

    The Audio Home Recording Act of 1992 (the ``AHRA''), Public Law 
102-563, requires manufacturers and importers to pay royalties on 
digital audio recording devices and media that are distributed in the 
United States. 17 U.S.C. 1003. These royalties are deposited with the 
Copyright Office for further distribution among interested copyright 
parties by the Copyright Royalty Judges (``Judges''), provided that the 
interested copyright parties file a claim with the Copyright Royalty 
Board (CRB) each year during the months of January and February. 17 
U.S.C. 1005, 1007.
    The AHRA provides that the royalties are divided between two funds: 
the Sound Recordings Fund and the Musical Works Fund. The Sound 
Recordings Fund receives 66\2/3\% of the royalties and the Musical 
Works Fund receives the remaining 33\1/3\%. These fees are allocated 
further to specific subfunds.
    The Sound Recordings Fund consists of four subfunds: the Featured 
Artists Subfund, the Copyright Owners Subfund, the Nonfeatured 
Musicians Subfund, and the Nonfeatured Vocalists Subfund. The royalty 
fees allocated to the Sound Recordings Fund are divided among these 
four subfunds according to the percentages set out in section 1006 of 
the Copyright Act. 17 U.S.C. 1006(b)(1).\1\ Distribution of these fees 
may occur in one of two ways. The interested copyright parties within 
each subfund may either negotiate the terms of a settlement as to the 
division of royalty funds, or the Judges may conduct a proceeding to 
determine the distribution of the royalties that remain in controversy 
in each subfund. See 17 U.S.C. 1006(c).
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    \1\ Similarly, the statute prescribes that the royalty fees 
allocated to the Musical Works Fund be divided equally between two 
subfunds, the Publishers Subfund and the Writers Subfund. 17 U.S.C. 
1006(b)(2).
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    On August 18, 2014, the CRB received a motion from the Alliance of 
Artists and Recording Companies (AARC) asking the Judges to authorize a 
partial distribution of 98% of the 2013 digital audio recording 
technology (``DART'') Sound Recordings Fund (Copyright Owners and 
Featured Recording Artists subfunds). The CRB published notice of the 
settlement and a solicitation of comments in the Federal Register on 
October 6, 2014.\2\ On December 19, 2014, the Judges granted the 
motion, finding that there was no reasonable objection to AARC's 
proposed partial distribution. See Order Granting AARC's Request for 
Partial Distribution of Royalties from the 2013 DART Sound Recordings 
Fund (Copyright Owners and Featured Recording Artists Subfunds) at 3-4 
(December 19, 2014 Order). The Judges now commence a proceeding to 
resolve any existing controversies with respect to the 2013 DART Sound 
Recordings Fund (Copyright Owners and Featured Recording Artists 
subfunds).
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    \2\ 79 FR 60185.
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Commencement of Proceeding

    Consistent with 17 U.S.C. 804(b)(8), the Judges determine that a 
controversy exists as to the distribution of the 2013 DART Sound 
Recordings Fund. The Judges make this finding based on the fact that 
AARC notified the Judges that it failed to reach settlements with three 
claimants to the 2013 Featured Recording Artists Subfund and that it 
failed to reach settlements with five claimants to the 2013 Copyright 
Owners Subfund. December 19, 2014 Order at 1. In the December 19, 2014 
Order, the Judges ordered the parties to notify the Judges whether any 
remaining disputes in this matter have been resolved. Id. at 4. To 
date, the Judges have not received notification that any of these 
controversies have been resolved.

Intention to Conduct a Paper Proceeding

    In accordance with Section 803(b)(5)(B) of the Copyright Act, the 
Judges find it appropriate to conduct a paper proceeding in this matter 
in light of the relatively modest amount of royalties in dispute and 
the anticipated small number of non-settling claimants. In such 
proceedings, the Judges determine issues solely on the basis of the 
filing of a written direct statement by each participant, a response of 
an opposing participant, and one additional response from the 
participant. 17 U.S.C. 803(b)(5). Any party wishing to comment on the 
Judges' intention to conduct a paper proceeding should include such 
comments in its Petition to Participate.

Petitions to Participate

    Petitions to Participate must provide all of the information 
required by 37 CFR 351.1(b)(2). Petitions to Participate submitted by 
interested parties whose claims do not exceed $1,000 \3\ 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. Interested parties 
with claims exceeding $1,000, however, must submit a filing fee of $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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    \3\ The Copyright Royalty Judge Program Technical Corrections 
Act, Public Law 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 and comments, if any, on the Judges' 
intention to conduct a paper proceeding, have been received.
    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 Judges, unless the 
party is an individual who represents herself or himself.
    Participants should conform filed electronic documents to the 
Judges' Guidelines for Electronic Documents, available online at 
www.loc.gov/crb/docs/Guidelinesfor_Electronic_Documents.pdf.

    Dated: March 18, 2015.
Suzanne M. Barnett,
Chief U.S. Copyright Royalty Judge.
[FR Doc. 2015-06678 Filed 3-23-15; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 1410-72-P