[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 68 (Wednesday, April 8, 2020)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 19666-19668]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-07353]


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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS

U.S. Copyright Office

37 CFR Parts 201 and 202

[Docket No. 2020-4]


Technical Amendments Regarding Electronic Submissions to the 
Copyright Office

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

ACTION: Final rule.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Copyright Office is adopting technical amendments to 
allow electronic submission of materials in connection with certain 
Office services, and to allow the Office to respond to submitters 
electronically. These amendments are intended to facilitate the 
public's ability to access Office services during the COVID-19 
pandemic.

DATES: Effective April 8, 2020.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Regan A. Smith, General Counsel and 
Associate Register of Copyrights, by email at [email protected]; 
Kevin R. Amer, Deputy General Counsel, by email at [email protected]; 
or Nicholas R. Bartelt, Attorney-Advisor, by email at 
[email protected]. They can be reached by telephone at 202-707-3000.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 
President has declared a national emergency and executive branch and 
state governments have adopted guidelines recommending, among other 
restrictions, that members of the public avoid discretionary travel.\1\ 
Consequently, users of the Copyright Office's services currently may be 
limited in their ability to physically deliver materials to the U.S. 
Postal Service or other carrier for shipment to the Office. In 
addition, the Office has implemented an extended telework policy, 
resulting in a substantially reduced number of onsite staff available 
to process deliveries to and from the Office. Further, because the 
Office is currently closed to the public, it cannot receive in-person 
deliveries.\2\
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    \1\ See Proclamation on Declaring a National Emergency 
Concerning the Novel Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) Outbreak (Mar. 
13, 2020), https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/proclamation-declaring-national-emergency-concerning-novel-coronavirus-disease-covid-19-outbreak/.
    \2\ The Copyright Office continues to receive mail sent through 
the postal delivery system. All mail is being redirected and stored 
at a storage facility until the building resumes normal operations. 
As with prior closures, such as due to a government shutdown, the 
Office will process that mail upon reopening of the Library of 
Congress.
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    While much of the Office's services, including applications for 
copyright registration submitted through the electronic Copyright 
Office (``eCO'') system, are already largely digital, in some cases 
users are required to submit materials through physical mailing 
services. To help ensure both that members of the public can continue 
to access Office services and that Office staff can respond to 
inquiries in a timely manner, the Office is updating various 
regulations to allow certain types of submissions and responses to be 
made electronically, for example, through dedicated email addresses 
that the Office is establishing. Previously, these regulations 
permitted delivery only by mail or other physical means. The updates 
pertain to the following Office services: (1) Submitting notices of 
termination for recordation,\3\ (2) requests for removal of personally 
identifiable information from the online public catalog or other public 
records,\4\ (3) cancellation of completed registrations,\5\ (4) filing 
of satellite carrier statements of account,\6\ (5) recordation of 
certain contracts by cable systems located outside of the forty-eight 
contiguous states,\7\ (6) filing of statements of account for digital 
audio recording devices or media,\8\ (7) filing of a Notice of Intent 
to Enforce a Restored Copyright,\9\ (8) filing of a Notice to Libraries 
and Archives of Normal Commercial Exploitation or Availability at 
Reasonable Price,\10\ (9) group registration of automated 
databases,\11\ (10) requests for reconsideration for refusals to 
register,\12\ (11) supplementary registrations for restored works, non-
photographic databases, and renewal registrations,\13\ (12) 
registration of restored copyrights,\14\ (13) renewal 
registrations,\15\ and (14) requests for full-term retention of 
copyright deposits.\16\
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    \3\ Id. at Sec.  201.1(c)(2).
    \4\ 37 CFR 201.1(c)(7), 201.2(e) and (f).
    \5\ Id. at Sec. Sec.  201.1(c)(3), 201.7.
    \6\ Id. at Sec.  201.11.
    \7\ Id. at Sec.  201.12.
    \8\ Id. at Sec.  201.28.
    \9\ Id. at Sec.  201.33.
    \10\ Id. at Sec.  201.39.
    \11\ Id. at Sec.  202.3
    \12\ Id. at Sec. Sec.  201.1(c)(3), 202.5.
    \13\ Id. at Sec.  202.6(e)(4).
    \14\ Id. at Sec.  202.12.
    \15\ Id. at Sec.  202.17.
    \16\ Id. at Sec.  202.23.
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    The final rule also updates several of these regulations to remove 
the requirement that submissions to the Office contain a handwritten 
signature. The rule instead adopts a more flexible requirement that 
submissions contain ``a

[[Page 19667]]

legally binding signature, including an electronic signature as defined 
in 15 U.S.C. 7006.'' The Office previously adopted a rule permitting 
electronic signatures on statements of account filed with the Office 
under the statutory license for secondary transmissions by cable 
systems,\17\ and the same rationale is applicable here. These changes 
apply to regulations governing statements of account for satellite 
carriers and digital audio recording technology products, recordation 
of certain cable contracts, and full-term retention requests.
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    \17\ Authentication of Electronic Signatures on Electronically 
Filed Statements of Account, 82 FR 22,884 (May 19, 2017).
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    As new electronic submission options are implemented, the Office 
will provide instructions on its website and on any relevant Office 
forms. The Office also will provide electronic submission options for 
other services where such delivery methods are already permitted under 
existing regulations, including filing recorded documents and notices 
of termination.\18\ For information about these options and other 
Office operations during the COVID-19 pandemic, members of the public 
should visit https://www.copyright.gov/coronavirus, which will be 
updated regularly.
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    \18\ For example, on March 18, 2020, the Office modified its 
processes to allow for receipt of requests for special handling of 
registration applications via electronic application. See U.S. 
Copyright Office, Registration Special Handling Arrangements, 
NewsNet No. 807 (Mar. 18, 2020), https://www.copyright.gov/newsnet/2020/807.html.
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    In light of the ongoing national emergency, the Copyright Office 
finds good cause to publish these amendments as a final rule effective 
immediately, and without first publishing a notice of proposed 
rulemaking, ``because of the demonstrable urgency of the conditions 
they are designed to correct.'' \19\ Further, these updates constitute 
a change to a ``rule[ ] of agency . . . procedure, or practice'' \20\ 
which do not ``alter the rights or interests of parties,'' but merely 
``alter[s] the manner in which the parties present themselves or their 
viewpoints to the agency.'' \21\
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    \19\ H.R. Rep. No. 1980, 79th Cong., 2d Sess. 26 (1946). See 5 
U.S.C. 553(d)(3); id. at 553(b)(3)(B) (notice and comment is not 
necessary upon agency determination that it would be 
``impracticable, unnecessary, or contrary to the public interest'').
    \20\ 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(A).
    \21\ JEM Broad. Co. v. F.C.C., 22 F.3d 320, 326 (DC Cir. 1994).
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List of Subjects

37 CFR Part 201

    Cable television, Copyright, Recordings, Satellites.

37 CFR Part 202

    Claims, Copyright.

    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.


0
2. Amend Sec.  201.1 by:
0
a. In paragraph (b)(1), adding ``, or as otherwise indicated in 
instructions on the Copyright Office's website or forms provided by the 
Office'' after the word ``20559-6000''.
0
b. In paragraph (c)(2), adding the words ``and submitted either 
electronically in the form and manner prescribed in instructions on the 
Office's website or by mail to'' after ``Notices of Termination,''.
0
c. In paragraph (c)(3), adding the words ``and submitted either 
electronically in the form and manner prescribed in instructions on the 
Office's website or by mail to'' after ``RAC Division,''.
0
d. In paragraph (c)(4), adding the words ``and submitted either 
electronically in the form and manner prescribed in instructions on the 
Office's website or by mail to'' after ``Records Research and 
Certification Section,''.
0
e. In paragraph (c)(5), adding a sentence at the beginning of the 
paragraph and removing the word ``Notices'' and adding in its place 
``If sending by mail, notices''.
0
f. In paragraph (c)(7):
0
i. Removing ``, P.O. Box 70400, Washington, DC 20024-0400'' in the 
first sentence.
0
ii. Removing the words ``should be'' in the second sentence and in 
their place adding ``may be submitted either electronically in the form 
and manner prescribed in instructions on the Office's website or by 
mail to P.O. Box 70400, Washington, DC 20024-0400, and''.
    The addition reads as follows:


Sec.  201.1  Communication with the Copyright Office.

* * * * *
    (c) * * *
    (5) * * * Filings or inquiries to the Licensing Division may be 
submitted either electronically in the form and manner prescribed in 
instructions on the Office's website or by mail. * * *
* * * * *


Sec.  201.2  [Amended]

0
3. Amend Sec.  201.2 by:
0
a. In paragraph (e)(4), removing ``mailed to the address listed'' and 
in its place adding the words ``sent to the Office as prescribed''.
0
b. In paragraph (e)(5), removing the word ``mail'' and in its place 
adding the word ``send'' and adding ``physical mail address or email'' 
before the word ``address''.
0
c. In paragraph (e)(7), removing the words ``mailed to the address 
listed'' and in their place adding the words ``sent to the Office as 
prescribed''.


Sec.  201.7  [Amended]

0
4. Amend Sec.  201.7 by:
0
a. In paragraph (c)(1), removing the word ``mailed'' and in its place 
adding the word ``sent''.
0
b. In paragraph (c)(4), removing the word ``mailed'' and in its place 
adding the word ``sent''.


Sec.  201.11  [Amended]

0
5. Amend Sec.  201.11(e)(9) introductory text by removing the words 
``The handwritten signature'' and adding in their place ``A legally 
binding signature, including an electronic signature as defined in 15 
U.S.C. 7006,''.


Sec.  201.12  [Amended]

0
6. Amend Sec.  201.12(a)(1) by:
0
a. Removing the words ``legible photocopy or other full-size facsimile 
reproduction'' and adding in their place the word ``copy''.
0
b. Removing the words ``signed by'' and adding in their place ``that 
shall include a legally binding signature, including an electronic 
signature as defined in 15 U.S.C. 7006, of''.


Sec.  201.28  [Amended]

0
7. Amend Sec.  201.28(e)(7) by removing the words ``the handwritten 
signature'' and adding in their place ``a legally binding signature, 
including an electronic signature as defined in 15 U.S.C. 7006,''.


Sec.  201.33  [Amended]

0
8. Amend Sec.  201.33(c) by removing ``and should be typed or printed 
by hand legibly in dark, preferably black, ink, on 8\1/2\ by 11 inch 
white paper of good quality, with at least a one inch (or three cm) 
margin'' and adding in its place ``, legible, and submitted in a 
letter-sized document format''.


Sec.  201.39  [Amended]

0
9. Amend Sec.  201.39(g) by removing ``at the address specified'' and 
adding in its place ``in the manner prescribed''.

[[Page 19668]]

PART 202--PREREGISTRATION AND REGISTRATION OF CLAIMS TO COPYRIGHT

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

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


0
11. Amend Sec.  202.3 by revising paragraph (b)(5)(ii)(A) to read as 
follows:


Sec.  202.3  Registration of copyright.

* * * * *
    (b) * * *
    (5) * * *
    (ii) * * *
    (A) A form that best reflects the subject matter of the material in 
the database as set forth in paragraph (b)(2)(ii)(A) of this section, 
completed in accordance with the instructions provided by the Copyright 
Office on its website or in materials published by the Office. 
Applications for group registration of an automated database consisting 
predominantly of photographs may be submitted electronically only after 
consultation and with the permission and under the direction of the 
Visual Arts Division.
* * * * *


Sec.  202.5   [Amended]

0
12. Amend Sec.  202.5 by:
0
a. In paragraph (b)(3), removing ``or'' after the word ``postmarked'' 
and adding a comma in its place and adding ``, or otherwise received by 
the Office,'' after the word ``messenger''.
0
b. In paragraph (c)(3), removing ``or'' after the word ``postmarked'' 
and adding a comma in its place and adding ``, or otherwise received by 
the Office,'' after the word ``messenger''.


Sec.  202.6  [Amended]

0
13. Amend Sec.  202.6(e)(4) by removing the words ``a paper'' and 
adding in their place the word ``an''.


Sec.  202.12  [Amended]

0
14. Amend Sec.  202.12(c)(1) by adding ``or electronically, in 
accordance with instructions for submission and payment provided on the 
Office's website or Form GATT itself'' after ``by mail''.


Sec.  202.17  [Amended]

0
15. Amend Sec.  202.17(g)(1) by removing ``mailed to the address 
specified'' and adding in its place ``sent in the manner prescribed''.


Sec.  202.23   [Amended]

0
16. Amend Sec.  202.23(b)(2) by:
0
a. Removing the words ``at the address specified'' and adding in their 
place the words ``in the manner prescribed''.
0
b. Removing the words ``be signed by'' and adding in their place 
``include a legally binding signature, including an electronic 
signature as defined in 15 U.S.C. 7006, of''.

    Dated: April 2, 2020.
Maria Strong,
Acting Register of Copyrights and Director of the U.S. Copyright 
Office.
Carla D. Hayden,
Librarian of Congress.
[FR Doc. 2020-07353 Filed 4-7-20; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 1410-30-P