[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 13 (Monday, January 23, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 7876-7878]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-01358]


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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS

Copyright Royalty Board

[Consolidated Docket No. 14-CRB-0010-CD (2010-13)]


Distribution of 2010-13 Cable Royalty Funds

AGENCY: Copyright Royalty Board, Library of Congress.

ACTION: Notice requesting comments.

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SUMMARY: The Copyright Royalty Judges announce settlement of 
controversies and requests for partial distribution of

[[Page 7877]]

cable television distant retransmission royalties claimed by National 
Public Radio (NPR) and Music Claimants. National Public Radio appeared 
in this proceeding on its own behalf and on behalf of its NPR Members 
retransmitted as distant signals by cable television operators. Music 
Claimants include Broadcast Music, Inc. (BMI) and the American Society 
of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP), as well as SESAC, Inc.

DATES: Comments are due on or before February 22, 2017.

ADDRESSES: Submit electronic comments via email to [email protected]. Those 
who choose not to submit comments electronically should see ``How to 
Submit Comments'' in the Supplementary Information section below for 
physical addresses and further instructions. This notice and request is 
also posted on the agency's Web site (www.loc.gov/crb) and on 
Regulations.gov (www.regulations.gov).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kimberly Whittle, Attorney-Advisor, by 
telephone at (202) 707-7658 or email at [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Each year cable systems must submit royalty 
payments to the Register of Copyrights as required by the statutory 
license set forth in section 111 of the Copyright Act for the distant 
retransmission to cable subscribers of over-the-air television and 
radio broadcast signals. See 17 U.S.C. 111(d). The Copyright Royalty 
Judges (Judges) oversee distribution of royalties to copyright owners 
whose works were included in a qualifying retransmission and who timely 
filed a claim for royalties. Allocation of the royalties collected 
occurs in one of two ways. In the first instance, the Judges may 
authorize distribution in accordance with a negotiated settlement among 
all claiming parties. 17 U.S.C. 111(d)(4)(A). If all claimants do not 
reach agreement with respect to the royalties, the Judges must conduct 
a proceeding to determine the distribution of any royalties that remain 
in controversy. 17 U.S.C. 111(d)(4)(B). Alternatively, the Judges may, 
on motion of claimants and on notice to all interested parties, 
authorize a partial distribution of royalties, reserving on deposit 
sufficient funds to resolve identified disputes. 17 U.S.C. 
111(d)(4)(C), 801(b)(3)(C).

National Public Radio

    On December 6, 2016, the Judges received a joint motion \1\ seeking 
distribution by stipulation to NPR of 0.16% of all cable royalty funds 
on deposit for royalty years 2010 through 2013, inclusive (2010-13 
Funds) (NPR Motion). The Moving Parties confirm that no other claimant 
or category of claimants asserts a controversy regarding the funds 
allocated to NPR. The Moving Parties further agree that the 
distribution of royalties to NPR shall equal the value of its 0.16% 
settlement share minus the dollar value of partial distributions NPR 
has received to date for each of the 2010-13 Funds.\2\ The stated 
amounts reflect a 0.16% share of the total funds on deposit as of the 
date of the final distribution to NPR for each of the years included in 
the 2010-13 Funds; \3\ the dollar amounts might vary as of the date of 
distribution, depending upon costs incurred for managing the funds and 
interest accrued on the funds. The Parties further stipulate and agree 
that these sums, once distributed, shall not be subject to repayment 
and that no additional sums shall be distributed to NPR in the future 
with respect to the 2010-13 Funds, and that NPR need not participate 
further in royalty distribution proceedings related to the 2010-13 
Funds.
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    \1\ The Moving Parties included all other participants in this 
consolidated proceeding: Motion Picture Association of America, 
Joint Sports Claimants, National Association of Broadcasters and the 
Commercial Television Claimants, Music Claimants, Canadian Claimants 
Group, Settling Devotional Claimants, National Public Radio, Public 
Broadcasting Service and the Public Television Claimants, and 
Multigroup Claimants (collectively, the Moving Parties).

    \2\ The amounts that NPR received in partial distribution for 
each of the 2010-13 Funds can be found at http://www.copyright.gov/licensing/distribution-fund.pdf. To date, NPR has received a total 
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of $846,675.38 in partial distributions, as follows:

2010: $179,048.31 (distributed October 25, 2012)
2011: $187,871.22 (distributed April 25, 2013)
2012: $236,077.95 (distributed January 15, 2015)
2013: $243,677.90 (distributed June 18, 2015)

    \3\ The total funds for each of the years included in the 2010-
13 Funds as of September 30, 2016, can be found at page 6 of http://www.copyright.gov/licensing/financial-statements/operating/sep2016.pdf (chart tracking cable royalties entitled ``Growth in the 
Copyright Royalty Funds As of September 30, 2016''). Recognizing 
that the amount of NPR's 0.16% settlement share will be determined 
as of the date of the final distribution to NPR, at least as of 
September 30, 2016, the total funds attributable for each of the 
years included in the 2010-13 Funds (calculated by adding the 
amounts already distributed and the ``Funds Available for 
Distribution'' as of September 30, 2016) were reported as follows:

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                                                                                 Funds available for
                        Cable                               Distributed              distribution              Fund total             Percent growth
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2013................................................          $135,376,610.47           $90,865,875.68          $226,242,486.15                    3.363
2012................................................           131,154,417.29            87,726,471.99           218,880,889.28                    4.699
2011................................................           104,372,898.09           104,683,702.75           209,056,600.84                    4.919
2010................................................            99,471,281.18            99,783,533.64           199,254,814.82                   15.577
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Music Claimants

    On December 15, 2016, the Judges received a joint motion seeking 
distribution by stipulation to the Music Claimants from the cable 
royalty funds on deposit for royalty years 2010 through 2013, inclusive 
(2010-13 Funds) (Music Motion). The Moving Parties consist of all 
participants in this consolidated proceeding. In the Music Motion, the 
Moving Parties notified the Judges that they stipulate and agree that 
Music Claimants shall receive a share of each of the 2010-13 Funds as 
follows (the Music Claimants' Share):

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                                                             Basic fund         3.75% fund        Syndex fund
                          Year                               (percent)          (percent)          (percent)
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2010...................................................               3.50               3.50               3.50
2011...................................................               3.50               3.50               3.50
2012...................................................               3.55               3.55               3.55
2013...................................................               3.55               3.55               3.55
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[[Page 7878]]

The Moving Parties stipulate that the value of the Music Claimants' 
Share is as listed as above, minus the dollar value of partial 
distributions of the 2010-13 Funds that Music Claimants have received 
to date.\4\ The Licensing Office will calculate the Music Claimants' 
Share of the total funds as of the date of the distribution to Music 
Claimants for each of the years included in the 2010-13 Funds, 
including interest accrued to the date of distribution and excluding 
(1) the distribution to NPR of its 0.16% share as specified in the 
December 6, 2016, NPR Motion and (2) taxable costs incurred by the 
Department of Licensing.
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    \4\ The amounts Music Claimants have received in partial 
distribution for each of the 2010-13 Funds are available at http://www.copyright.gov/licensing/distribution-fund.pdf.
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    The Moving Parties represent that there are no outstanding inter- 
or intra-category controversies regarding the claims in the Music 
Claimant category. The Parties further stipulate and agree that these 
sums shall not be subject to repayment once distributed, that Music 
Claimants need not participate further in royalty distribution 
proceedings related to the 2010-13 Funds, and that no additional sums 
shall be distributed to Music Claimants in the future with respect to 
the 2010-13 Funds, provided that Music Claimants shall be entitled to 
receive the Music Claimants' Share of any additional royalties 
deposited into any of the 2010-13 Funds due to any audit of any cable 
system operator's Statement of Account pursuant to 37 CFR 201.16 that 
Music Claimants joined as participating copyright owners.
    The Moving Parties' further stipulate that the terms described in 
the Music Motion represent a compromise and settlement and apply to the 
2010, 2011, 2012, and 2013 Cable Royalty Distribution Proceedings only; 
no party accepts the requested allocation as precedent and no party 
admits to any principle underlying stipulated amounts of the Music 
Claimants' Share.

Partial Distribution

    The Moving Parties therefore request the Judges to order a partial 
distribution of royalties to NPR in the agreed amounts and a partial 
distribution to Music Claimants in the agreed amounts pursuant to 
section 801(b)(3)(C) of the Copyright Act.\5\ 17 U.S.C. 801(b)(3)(C). 
That section requires that, before ruling on the motion, the Judges 
publish a notice in the Federal Register seeking responses to the 
motion for partial distribution to ascertain whether any claimant 
entitled to receive the subject royalties has a reasonable objection to 
the requested distribution. Accordingly, this Notice seeks comments 
from interested claimants on whether any reasonable objection exists 
that would preclude the distributions to NPR or Music Claimants 
described in this Notice. Parties making objection to the partial 
distribution must advise the Judges of the existence and details of all 
objections by the end of the comment period. The Judges will not 
consider any objections with respect to the partial distribution motion 
that come to their attention after the close of the comment period.
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    \5\ The requested distributions represent partial distributions 
of the 2010-13 Funds, but not partial distributions to NPR or the 
Music Claimants, whose claims are satisfied by the requested 
distributions.
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    The Judges have caused the joint motion regarding NPR and the joint 
motion regarding Music Claimants to be posted on the Copyright Royalty 
Board Web site at http://www.loc.gov/crb.

How To Submit Comments

    Interested members of the public must submit comments to only one 
of the following addresses. If not commenting by email or online, 
commenters must submit an original of their comments, five paper 
copies, and an electronic version on a CD.
    Email: [email protected]; or
    Online: www.regulations.gov; or
    U.S. mail: Copyright Royalty Board, P.O. Box 70977, Washington, DC 
20024-0977; or
    Overnight service (only USPS Express Mail is acceptable): Copyright 
Royalty Board, P.O. Box 70977, Washington, DC 20024-0977; or
    Commercial courier: Address package to: Copyright Royalty Board, 
Library of Congress, James Madison Memorial Building, LM-403, 101 
Independence Avenue SE., Washington, DC 20559-6000. Deliver to: 
Congressional Courier Acceptance Site, 2nd Street NE. and D Street NE., 
Washington, DC; or
    Hand delivery: Library of Congress, James Madison Memorial 
Building, LM-401, 101 Independence Avenue SE., Washington, DC 20559-
6000.

    Dated: January 17, 2017.
Suzanne M. Barnett,
Chief U.S. Copyright Royalty Judge.
[FR Doc. 2017-01358 Filed 1-19-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 1410-72-P