[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 189 (Tuesday, September 29, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 61034-61035]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-21566]


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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS

Copyright Office

[Docket No. 2020-9]


Sovereign Immunity Study: Notice and Request for Public Comment

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

ACTION: Notice of inquiry; extension of comment period.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Copyright Office is extending the deadline for the 
submission of reply comments and empirical research studies in response 
to the June 3 and June 24, 2020, notices regarding its state sovereign 
immunity policy study.

DATES: Written reply comments and empirical research studies in 
response

[[Page 61035]]

to the notices published June 3, 2020, at 85 FR 34252, and June 24, 
2020, at 85 FR 37961, must be received no later than 11:59 p.m. Eastern 
Time on October 22, 2020.

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 website 
at http://www.copyright.gov/docs/sovereignimmunitystudy. If electronic 
submission of comments is not feasible due to lack of access to a 
computer and/or the internet, please contact the Office, using the 
contact information below, for special instructions.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kevin Amer, Deputy General Counsel, 
[email protected]; Mark T. Gray, Attorney-Advisor, 
[email protected]; or Jalyce E. Mangum, Attorney-Advisor, 
[email protected]. They can be reached by telephone at 202-707-3000.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On June 3, 2020, the U.S. Copyright Office 
issued a notice of inquiry (``NOI'') commencing a policy study on state 
sovereign immunity from copyright infringement suits.\1\ Congress has 
requested that the Office ``research this issue to determine whether 
there is sufficient basis for federal legislation abrogating State 
sovereign immunity when States infringe copyrights.'' \2\ To assist 
Congress in making that assessment, the Office solicited public comment 
on several issues concerning the degree to which copyright owners face 
infringement from state actors today, whether such infringement is 
based on intentional or reckless conduct, and what remedies, if any, 
are available to copyright owners under state law.
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    \1\ 85 FR 34252 (June 3, 2020).
    \2\ Letter from Sens. Thom Tillis & Patrick Leahy to Maria 
Strong, Acting Register of Copyrights, U.S.
    Copyright Office at 1 (Apr. 28, 2020), https://www.copyright.gov/rulemaking/statesovereign-immunity/letter.pdf.
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    On June 24, 2020, the Office issued an additional notice providing 
for a second round of written comments to permit interested parties the 
opportunity to address any comments submitted in response to the NOI 
and to allow parties engaged in empirical research to complete and 
submit their findings.\3\ To ensure that members of the public have 
sufficient time to comment, and to ensure that the Office has the 
benefit of a complete record, the Office is extending the deadline for 
the submission of additional comments and/or empirical research to 
11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on October 22, 2020.
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    \3\ 85 FR 37961 (June 24, 2020); see 85 FR at 34255.

    Dated: September 24, 2020.
Regan A. Smith,
General Counsel and Associate Register of Copyrights.
[FR Doc. 2020-21566 Filed 9-28-20; 8:45 am]
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