[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 218 (Tuesday, November 12, 2019)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 60918-60920]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-24451]


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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS

U.S. Copyright Office

37 CFR Part 202

[Docket No. 2018-2]


Group Registration of Serials

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

ACTION: Final rule.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Copyright Office is amending its regulation governing 
the group registration option for serials. Under the current 
regulation, applicants may complete and submit the online application 
designated for a group of serial issues, or they may complete and 
submit a paper application using Form SE/Group, provided the Office 
receives the paper form by December 30, 2019. Applicants submitting 
Form SE/Group may submit a physical copy of each issue in the group; 
applicants using the online application may upload one electronic copy 
of each issue through the Office's electronic registration system or 
they may submit one physical copy, provided the Office receives the 
physical copy by December 30, 2019.

[[Page 60919]]

This final rule eliminates the reference to paper applications and 
physical deposit copies. Beginning December 31, 2019, the Office will 
no longer accept a paper application or a physical deposit for this 
group registration option.

DATES: Effective December 31, 2019.

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 & 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. See 17 U.S.C. 408(c). In addition, Congress granted 
the Register the discretion to allow groups of related works to be 
registered with one application and one filing fee, a procedure known 
as ``group registration.'' See 17 U.S.C. 408(c)(1). Congress recognized 
that requiring applicants to submit separate applications for certain 
types of works may be so burdensome and expensive that authors and 
copyright owners may forgo registration altogether, since copyright 
registration is not a prerequisite to copyright protection. H.R. Rep. 
No. 94-1476, at 154 (1976); S. Rep. No. 94-473, at 136 (1975). Pursuant 
to the authority granted by Congress, the Register has issued 
regulations permitting the U.S. Copyright Office (the ``Office'') to 
issue a group registration for limited categories of works, including 
serials, provided that certain conditions have been met. See generally 
37 CFR 202.3(b)(5), 202.4.
    On November 30, 2018, the Office issued a final rule amending the 
regulation governing the group registration of serials (``GRSE''). 83 
FR 61546 (Nov. 30, 2018). Among other changes, the 2018 final rule 
updated the application and deposit requirements by phasing out the 
paper form (known as Form SE/Group) and phasing out the submission of 
physical copies. Beginning December 31, 2019, applicants will be 
required to use the online application designated for group serials and 
to upload a digital copy of each issue.
    Requiring applications and deposits to be submitted electronically 
increases the efficiency of the group registration process. Electronic 
submissions take less time to process and are easier to track and 
handle than paper applications and physical copies. They reduce the 
burden on applicants by eliminating the cost of mailing the deposit to 
the Office. And they improve the quality of the registration record, 
because it is easier to locate and retrieve a digital deposit if it is 
needed for litigation or other legitimate purposes. 83 FR 22896, 22900 
(May 17, 2018).
    The Office provided a one-year phase-out period to give publishers 
time to adjust to the new application and deposit requirements. To 
facilitate this transition, the Literary Division contacted every 
applicant that has submitted a group serial claim since December 31, 
2018, to notify them of the upcoming changes.
    Over the past three years, there has been a steady increase in 
electronic deposits for group serial claims. In 2017, electronic 
deposits accounted for 23% of these claims and physical deposits 
accounted for 76%. In 2018, electronic deposits increased to 34% while 
physical deposits dropped to 65%.\1\ This trend accelerated once the 
2018 final rule went into effect: Between December 31, 2018, and July 
24, 2019, electronic deposit copies accounted for 59% of group serial 
claims, while physical deposits accounted for the remaining 41%.
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    \1\ For the remainder of claims submitted in 2017 through July 
24, 2019, applicants either submitted both an electronic and 
physical deposit for the same claim or did not submit any deposit at 
all.
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    The phase out period will expire at the end of this year. 
Therefore, the Office is amending the regulation to eliminate the 
reference to Form SE/Group and physical deposit copies. Beginning 
December 31, 2019, the Office will no longer accept paper applications 
or physical deposits for this group option.
    The regulation does give the Office the discretion to waive the 
online application filing requirement and grant special relief from the 
digital deposit requirement in exceptional cases, subject to conditions 
imposed on the applicant by the Associate Register of Copyrights and 
Director of the Office of Registration Policy and Practice. 37 CFR 
202.4(d)(4), 202.20(d)(1)(iii). Requests for special relief will be 
considered on a case-by-case basis. But the fact that a serial is 
published in a physical form does not necessarily mean that a request 
will be granted. The Office requires digital deposits for most group 
registration options as a quid pro quo for allowing multiple works to 
be registered with one application and one filing fee.\2\ In the case 
of group serials, the Office delayed this requirement for one year to 
give publishers time to prepare for the new workflow. Serials are 
typically created using digital publishing software, even though the 
issue itself may be distributed in a physical form. In such cases, the 
electronic file that was used to create the physical copy may be used 
to satisfy the digital deposit requirement, as long as it contains a 
complete copy of the issue and satisfies the other legal and formal 
requirements for this group option.\3\
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    \2\ See 37 CFR 202.4(c)(9), (e)(6)(ii)(A), (f)(3), (g)(8), 
(h)(9), (i)(9).
    \3\ These requirements are currently set forth in 37 CFR 
202.4(d)(3)(i).
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    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.\4\ 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.\5\
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    \4\ 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'').
    \5\ See 5 U.S.C. 553(b).
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List of Subjects in 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 part 202 as follows:

PART 202--PREREGISTRATION AND REGISTRATION OF CLAIMS TO COPYRIGHT

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

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


0
2. Amend Sec.  202.4 by revising paragraphs (d)(2) and (3) to read as 
follows:


Sec.  202.4  Group registration.

* * * * *
    (d) * * *
    (2) Application. The applicant must complete and submit the online 
application designated for a group of serial issues. The application 
may be

[[Page 60920]]

submitted by any of the parties listed in Sec.  202.3(c)(1).
    (3) Deposit. The applicant must submit one complete copy of each 
issue that is included in the group. Copies submitted under this 
paragraph (d)(3) will be considered solely for the purpose of 
registration under 17 U.S.C. 408, and will not satisfy the mandatory 
deposit requirement under 17 U.S.C. 407. The issues must be submitted 
in digital form, and each issue must be contained in a separate 
electronic file. The applicant must use the file-naming convention and 
submit digital files in accordance with instructions specified on the 
Copyright Office's website. The files must be submitted in Portable 
Document Format (PDF), they must be assembled in an orderly form, and 
they must be uploaded to the electronic registration system as 
individual electronic files (i.e., not .zip files). The files must be 
viewable and searchable, contain embedded fonts, and be free from any 
access restrictions (such as those implemented through digital rights 
management) that prevent the viewing and examination of the work. The 
file size for each uploaded file must not exceed 500 megabytes, but 
files may be compressed to comply with the requirement in this 
paragraph (d)(3).
* * * * *

    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. 2019-24451 Filed 11-8-19; 8:45 am]
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