[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 22 (Friday, February 3, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 9238-9239]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-02294]


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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS

Copyright Office

[Docket No. 2017-3]


Notice of Intent To Audit

AGENCY: Copyright Office, Library of Congress.

ACTION: Public notice.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Copyright Office is announcing receipt of eight 
notices of intent to audit certain statements of account filed by cable 
operators and satellite carriers pursuant to the section 111 and 119 
statutory licenses.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Regan A. Smith, Deputy General 
Counsel, by email at [email protected] or by telephone at 202-707-8350; or 
Jason E. Sloan, Attorney-Advisor, by email at [email protected] or by 
telephone at 202-707-8350.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

[[Page 9239]]

I. Background

    Sections 111 and 119 of the Copyright Act (``Act''), Title 17 of 
the United States Code, establish compulsory licenses under which cable 
operators and satellite carriers may, by complying with the license 
terms, retransmit copyrighted over-the-air broadcast programming. Among 
other requirements, cable and satellite licensees must file statements 
of account and deposit royalty fees with the U.S. Copyright Office 
(``Office'') on a semi-annual basis.
    The Satellite Television Extension and Localism Act of 2010, Public 
Law 111-175 (2010), amended the Act by directing the Register of 
Copyrights (``Register'') to issue regulations to allow copyright 
owners to audit the statements of account and royalty fees that cable 
operators and satellite carriers file with the Office. See 17 U.S.C. 
119(b)(2) (directing the Register to ``issue regulations to permit 
interested parties to verify and audit the statements of account and 
royalty fees submitted by satellite carriers under this subsection''); 
17 U.S.C. 111(d)(6) (directing the Register to ``issue regulations to 
provide for the confidential verification by copyright owners whose 
works were embodied in the secondary transmissions of primary 
transmissions pursuant to [section 111] of the information reported on 
the semiannual statements of account filed under this subsection for 
accounting periods beginning on or after January 1, 2010, in order that 
the auditor designated under subparagraph [111(d)(6)(A)] is able to 
confirm the correctness of the calculations and royalty payments 
reported therein''). Following a lengthy rulemaking proceeding, the 
Office issued such regulations, adopting the audit process now set 
forth in 37 CFR 201.16. See 79 FR 68623 (Nov. 18, 2014). Section 
201.16(c)(1) requires any copyright owner who intends to audit a 
statement of account to provide written notice to the Register no later 
than three years after the last day of the year in which the statement 
of account was filed with the Office. 37 CFR 201.16(c)(1). Such notice 
may be submitted by an individual copyright owner or a designated agent 
that represents a group or multiple groups of copyright owners. Id. The 
notice must be received in the Office on or after December 1st and no 
later than December 31st. Id.
    While the Office is supposed to publish a notice in the Federal 
Register announcing the receipt of any notices of intent to audit 
between January 1st and January 31st of the following calendar year, 
due to an internal mail-processing delay affecting the Office of the 
General Counsel's receipt of such notices, this year's publication of 
otherwise timely-received notices in the Federal Register was delayed. 
Consequently, the November 1 deadline for delivery of the final audit 
report is extended to November 4, 2017. See id. 201.16(i)(3). All other 
deadlines concerning the audit process shall remain as prescribed in 37 
CFR 201.16, meaning, for example, that notices to participate in these 
audits are due within 30 days after the publication of this notice. See 
id. 201.16(c)(3).

II. Notices

    On December 31, 2016, the Office received the below notices of 
intent to audit statements of account. The notices were submitted 
jointly by the Office of the Commissioner of Baseball, National 
Football League, National Basketball Association, Women's National 
Basketball Association, National Hockey League, and National Collegiate 
Athletics Association pursuant to 37 CFR 201.16(c):
    1. Notice of intent to audit the statements of account filed by 
DISH Network, LLC for the accounting periods January 1-June 30, 2013 
and July 1-December 31, 2014.
    2. Notice of intent to audit the statement of account filed by 
Bright House Networks LLC for the cable system serving Orlando, Florida 
and the surrounding area (Licensing Division No. 10444) for the 
accounting period July 1-December 31, 2014.
    3. Notice of intent to audit the statement of account filed by 
Bright House Networks LLC for the cable system serving Hillsborough, 
Florida and the surrounding area (Licensing Division No. 20503) for the 
accounting period July 1-December 31, 2014.
    4. Notice of intent to audit the statements of account filed by 
Comcast of Boston, Inc. for the cable system serving Boston, 
Massachusetts and the surrounding area (Licensing Division No. 1240) 
for the accounting periods July 1-December 31, 2014 and January 1-June 
30, 2016.
    5. Notice of intent to audit the statements of account filed by 
Time Warner Cable New York City, LLC for the cable system serving the 
borough of Manhattan in New York, New York and the surrounding area 
(Licensing Division No. 7761) for the accounting periods July 1-
December 31, 2014 and January 1-June 30, 2016.
    6. Notice of intent to audit the statements of account filed by 
Charter Communications Entertainment 1 LLC for the cable system serving 
St. Louis, Missouri and the surrounding area (Licensing Division No. 
20437) for the accounting periods July 1-December 31, 2014 and July 1-
December 31, 2015.
    7. Notice of intent to audit the statement of account filed by MCC 
Iowa, LLC for the cable system serving Des Moines, Iowa and the 
surrounding area (Licensing Division No. 7649) for the accounting 
period July 1-December 31, 2014.
    8. Notice of intent to audit the statement of account filed by Cox 
Communications Gulf Coast LLC for the cable system serving Pensacola, 
Florida and the surrounding area (Licensing Division No. 34160) for the 
accounting period July 1-December 31, 2014.

    Dated: January 31, 2017.
Sarang V. Damle,
General Counsel and Associate Register of Copyrights, U.S. Copyright 
Office.
[FR Doc. 2017-02294 Filed 2-2-17; 8:45 am]
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