[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 218 (Tuesday, November 12, 2019)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 60917-60918]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-24450]


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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS

Copyright Office

37 CFR Parts 201 and 202

[Docket No. 2017-16]


Group Registration of Newspapers

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

ACTION: Final rule.

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[[Page 60918]]

SUMMARY: The U.S. Copyright Office is amending its regulation governing 
the group registration option for newspapers. Under the current 
regulation, applicants are required to upload a complete copy of each 
newspaper issue through the Office's electronic registration system. 
Applicants may also submit their newspaper issues on microfilm on a 
voluntary basis (in addition to and at the same time as submitting the 
required digital files), provided the microfilm is received by December 
31, 2019. The microfilm option expires at the end of this year; 
therefore, today's final rule eliminates the reference to that option.

DATES: Effective January 1, 2020.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Regan A. Smith, General Counsel and 
Associate Register of Copyrights, or Robert J. Kasunic, Associate 
Register of Copyrights and Director of Registration Policy and 
Practice, or Erik Bertin, Deputy Director of Registration Policy and 
Practice, by email at [email protected], [email protected], and 
[email protected] or by telephone at (202) 707-8350.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: When Congress enacted the Copyright Act of 
1976 (the ``Act''), it authorized the Register of Copyrights to specify 
by regulation the administrative classes of works for the purpose of 
seeking a registration, and the nature of the deposits required for 
each such class. In addition, Congress granted the Register the 
discretion to allow groups of related works to be registered with one 
application and one filing fee. See 17 U.S.C. 408(c)(1). Congress cited 
``the various editions or issues of a daily newspaper'' as a specific 
example of a ``group of related works'' that would be suitable for a 
group registration. H.R. Rep. No. 94-1476, at 153-54 (1976); S. Rep. 
No. 94-473, at 136 (1975).
    On January 30, 2018, the Copyright Office (the ``Office'') issued a 
final rule amending the regulation governing the group registration 
option for newspapers (``GRNP''). 83 FR 4144 (Jan. 30. 2018). The 2018 
final rule modified the requirements for this group registration option 
in several respects, including the deposit requirements. Applicants are 
now required to upload their newspaper issues in digital form through 
the Office's electronic registration system. In addition, applicants 
may submit microfilm containing a complete copy of each issue on a 
voluntary basis, provided the Office receives the microfilm by December 
31, 2019.
    The Office made these changes to improve the efficiency of the 
registration system and encourage broader participation in the 
registration system by reducing the burden on applicants. To that end, 
the Office provided a one-year phase out period for microfilm deposits 
to give publishers time to develop quality assurance testing for their 
digital submissions.
    These amendments went into effect on March 1, 2018. Since then, the 
number of microfilm submissions has steadily declined. For example, in 
March 2018 the Office received electronic deposits (without any 
microfilm) for 78% of the applications submitted under this group 
registration option. That number increased to 87% by the end of 
December 2018. The trend continued through July 2019, where digital 
deposit copies accounted for 92% of all GRNP applications. In fact, 
from May through July 2019 the Office received no microfilm submissions 
and compliance with the digital deposit requirement has been 100%.
    The microfilm option will expire at the end of this year, and based 
on the submissions received since March 2018, the Office sees no need 
to extend the phase out period. Accordingly, the Office is amending its 
regulations to remove the reference to the microfilm option.
    Because the updates are technical and non-substantive changes that 
do not ``alter the rights or interests of parties,'' they are not 
subject to the notice and comment requirements of the Administrative 
Procedure Act.\1\ Furthermore, the Office finds good cause that 
providing notice and comment is ``unnecessary'' because the changed 
requirements and phase-out period were adopted in a previous public 
proceeding; this final rule merely removes related obsolete 
language.\2\
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    \1\ See Nat'l Mining Ass'n v. McCarthy, 758 F.3d 243, 250 (D.C. 
Cir. 2014); 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'').
    \2\ See 5 U.S.C. 553(b).
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List of Subjects

37 CFR Part 201

    Copyright, General provisions.

37 CFR Part 202

    Copyright, Preregistration and registration of claims to copyright.

Final Regulations

    For the reasons set forth in the preamble, the Copyright Office 
amends 37 CFR parts 201 and 202 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(c)(6) by removing ``, and newspaper microfilm 
copies submitted under Sec.  202.4(e) of this chapter,''.

PART 202--PREREGISTRATION AND REGISTRATION OF CLAIMS TO COPYRIGHT

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

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


Sec.  202.4   [Amended]

0
4. Amend Sec.  202.4 by removing paragraph (e)(6)(ii)(B) and 
redesignating paragraph (e)(6)(ii)(A) as paragraph (e)(6)(ii).

    Dated: October 23, 2019.
Karyn A. Temple,
Register of Copyrights and Director of the U.S. Copyright Office.
    Approved by:
Carla D. Hayden,
Librarian of Congress.
[FR Doc. 2019-24450 Filed 11-8-19; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 1410-30-P