[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 89 (Wednesday, May 10, 2017)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 21696-21697]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-09395]


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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS

U.S. Copyright Office

37 CFR Parts 201 and 202

[Docket No. 2017-6]


Designation of Agent To Receive Notification of Claimed 
Infringement

AGENCY: U.S. Copyright Office, Library of Congress.

ACTION: Final rule.

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SUMMARY: This final rule makes non-substantive technical amendments to 
the U.S. Copyright Office's regulations governing the submission of 
designated agent and service provider information to the Office 
pursuant to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (``DMCA'').

DATES: Effective May 10, 2017.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Sarang V. Damle, General Counsel and 
Associate Register of Copyrights, by email at [email protected], or Jason E. 
Sloan, Attorney-Advisor, by email at [email protected]. Each can be 
contacted by telephone by calling (202) 707-8350.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Effective December 1, 2016, the Copyright 
Office adopted new regulations governing the submission of designated 
agent and service provider information to the Office pursuant to the 
Digital Millennium Copyright Act (``DMCA'') in connection with the 
implementation of a new electronic registration system launched the 
same day.\1\ Under that rule, a person creating a user account for the 
electronic registration system is required to provide contact 
information for two people--a primary contact and secondary contact. 
Once the user account is set up, the user can then submit service 
provider and designated agent contact information. The contact 
information for the user account is collected by the Copyright Office 
solely for ``administrative purposes,'' \2\ e.g., for Office 
correspondence, and is not made public; it is distinct from the 
information that must be provided for each service provider and 
designated agent.
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    \1\ 81 FR 75695 (Nov. 1, 2016).
    \2\ See 37 CFR 201.38(c)(1).
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    As a result of user feedback about the new system, the Office has 
reconsidered the need for some of the contact information required to 
be provided under the current rule as part of the user account creation 
process. Specifically, the Office has been informed that in some cases 
smaller service providers have either been confused by some of the 
requirements or have had difficulty following them. For example, a 
service provider who is an individual blogger, acting as his or her own 
primary point of contact for communications with the Office, may not 
have a positional/title or organization, or may have difficulty finding 
someone to act as a secondary point of contact.
    Upon further reflection, the Office believes that some of the 
currently required information, while helpful, is not essential to 
facilitating efficient communication with the Office, and on balance 
need not be collected. Consequently, the Office has determined that in 
connection with the user account creation process, it will no longer be 
mandatory to provide the position or title, organization, or physical 
mail address for the individual named as the primary point of contact 
for communications with the Office. The Office will also stop requiring 
users to provide a secondary point of contact for communications with 
the Office.

[[Page 21697]]

The Office is removing the position/title and address fields for the 
primary and secondary account contacts from the system; the Office has 
determined that such information is not necessary for Office 
communications. The organization field and fields relating to the 
secondary contact will remain, but will be made optional, as certain 
service providers might find it useful to include this information. 
Nonetheless, the Office still strongly encourages all service providers 
to provide a secondary contact as a backup to best ensure that 
important communications from the Office--especially renewal 
reminders--reach the appropriate person.
    Because the current regulation only requires this information for 
administrative purposes, this final rule is a non-substantive, 
procedural change not ``alter[ing] the rights or interests of 
parties,'' and thus is not subject to the notice and comment 
requirements of the Administrative Procedure Act.\3\ Furthermore, the 
Office finds good cause that permitting notice and comment would be 
``contrary to the public interest'' in this instance.\4\ Because this 
final rule will make it even easier and faster for service providers to 
register an account with the new system, and should reduce any 
confusion or burden on smaller service providers, it is in the public's 
best interest that it take effect without delay. For these same 
reasons, the Office is making this final rule effective on May 10, 
2017, when updates to the electronic system will be made to implement 
it.\5\
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    \3\ See Nat'l Mining Ass'n v. McCarthy, 758 F.3d 243, 250 (D.C. 
Cir. 2014) (``The critical feature of a procedural rule is that it 
covers agency actions that do not themselves alter the rights or 
interests of parties, although it may alter the manner in which the 
parties present themselves or their viewpoints to the agency.'') 
(internal quotation marks omitted); 5 U.S.C. 553(b) (notice and 
comment not required for ``interpretative rules, general statements 
of policy, or rules of agency organization, procedure, or 
practice'').
    \4\ See 5 U.S.C. 553(b) (notice and comment not required ``when 
the agency for good cause finds . . . that notice and public 
procedure thereon are impracticable, unnecessary, or contrary to the 
public interest'').
    \5\ See id. Sec.  553(d) (``The required publication or service 
of a substantive rule shall be made not less than 30 days before its 
effective date, except--(1) a substantive rule which grants or 
recognizes an exemption or relieves a restriction; (2) 
interpretative rules and statements of policy; or (3) as otherwise 
provided by the agency for good cause found and published with the 
rule.'').
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List of Subjects in 37 CFR Parts 201 and 202

    Copyright.

Final Regulations

    For the reasons set forth above, the Copyright Office amends 37 CFR 
part 201 as follows:

PART 201--GENERAL PROVISIONS

0
1. The authority citation for part 201 continues to read as follows:

    Authority:  17 U.S.C. 702.


Sec.  201.1   [Amended]

0
2. Amend Sec.  201.1 by removing paragraph (c)(3) and redesignating 
paragraphs (c)(4) through (8) as paragraphs (c)(3) through (7), 
respectively.


Sec.  201.2   [Amended]

0
3. Amend Sec.  201.2 in paragraph (b)(5) by removing ``201.1(c)(5)'' 
and adding in its place ``201.1(c)''.

0
3. Amend Sec.  201.38 as follows:
0
a. In paragraph (b)(1)(ii), remove ``an email address and/or physical 
mail address'' and add in its place ``an email address''; and
0
b. Revise paragraph (c)(1)(i).
    The revision reads as follows:


Sec.  201.38  Designation of agent to receive notification of claimed 
infringement.

* * * * *
    (c) * * *
    (1) * * *
    (i) The first name, last name, telephone number, and email address 
of a representative of the service provider who will serve as the 
primary point of contact for communications with the Office.
* * * * *

PART 202--PREREGISTRATION AND REGISTRATION OF CLAIMS TO COPYRIGHT

0
4. The authority citation for part 202 continues to read as follows:

    Authority 17 U.S.C. 408(f), 702


Sec.  202.5   [Amended]

0
4. Amend Sec.  202.5 in paragraph (d) by removing ``201.1(c)(4)'' and 
adding in its place ``201.1(c)''.

    Dated: April 19, 2017.
Karyn Temple Claggett,
Acting Register of Copyrights and Director of the U.S. Copyright 
Office.
Carla D. Hayden,
Librarian of Congress.
[FR Doc. 2017-09395 Filed 5-9-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 1410-30-P