[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 217 (Monday, November 13, 2017)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 52258-52259]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-24511]


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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS

Copyright Office

37 CFR Parts 201 and 202

[Docket No. 2017-15]


Group Registration of Unpublished Works: Extension of Comment 
Period

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

ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking; extension of comment period.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Copyright Office is extending the deadlines for the 
submission of written comments in response to its October 12, 2017 
notice of proposed rulemaking, regarding the creation of a new group 
registration option for unpublished works to replace the existing 
``unpublished collections'' registration option. In this document, the 
Office also clarifies that the new group registration option is not 
intended for group registration of unpublished photographs; that is the 
subject of a separate proposed rulemaking, which would permit 
submission of up to 750 photographs on one application.

DATES: The comment period for the notice of proposed rulemaking 
published on October 12, 2017 (82 FR 47415), is extended. Comments must 
be made in writing and must be received in the U.S. Copyright Office no 
later than November 17, 2017.

ADDRESSES: For reasons of government efficiency, the Copyright Office 
is using the regulations.gov system for the submission and posting of 
public comments in this proceeding. All comments are therefore to be 
submitted electronically through regulations.gov. Specific instructions 
for submitting comments are available on the Copyright Office Web site 
at https://www.copyright.gov/rulemaking/groupunpublished/. If 
electronic submission of comments is not feasible due to lack of access 
to a computer and/or the Internet, please contact the Office for 
special instructions using the contact information below.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Robert J. Kasunic, Associate Register 
of Copyrights and Director of Registration Policy and Practice; Erik 
Bertin, Deputy Director of Registration Policy and Practice; or Regan 
A. Smith, Deputy General Counsel, by telephone at 202-707-8040 or by 
email at [email protected], [email protected], and [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: As detailed in an October 12, 2017 notice of 
proposed rulemaking (``NPRM''),\1\ the U.S. Copyright Office is 
proposing to create a new group registration option for a limited 
number of unpublished works (``GRUW''). Under that proposal, applicants 
will be allowed to include up to five works in each submission. This 
new group registration option will replace the current ``unpublished 
collections'' option.
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    \1\ 82 FR 47415 (Oct. 12, 2017).
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    After publication of the NPRM, there was some understandable 
confusion about the scope of the NPRM among the photographer community, 
who feared that the GRUW option would limit them to submitting five 
unpublished photographs per application. To clarify, the Office does 
not intend to impose such a limit on photographers. On December 1, 
2016, the Office issued a separate notice of proposed rulemaking 
amending the existing option for group registration of photographs that 
would create an electronic application for group registration for 
published photographs, and also create an analogous application for 
group registration for unpublished photographs.\2\ Under that separate 
proposed rule, photographers would be permitted to include up to 750 
photographs on each such application, rather than the five works 
proposed under the new GRUW option. See generally 81 FR at 86649. The 
Office is working on the group registration of photographs final rule 
in conjunction

[[Page 52259]]

with the public comments received in that rulemaking. The Office fully 
intends to finalize that rule before finalizing the GRUW final rule.
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    \2\ 81 FR 86643 (Dec. 1, 2016).

    Dated: November 7, 2017.
Sarang V. Damle,
General Counsel and Associate Register of Copyrights.
[FR Doc. 2017-24511 Filed 11-9-17; 8:45 am]
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