[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 169 (Friday, August 30, 2024)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 70496-70497]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-19538]


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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS

Copyright Office

37 CFR Part 210

[Docket No. 2022-5]


Termination Rights, Royalty Distributions, Ownership Transfers, 
Disputes, and the Music Modernization Act

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

ACTION: Final rule.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Copyright Office is issuing a final rule adjusting 
certain due dates set in an earlier rule regarding how the Copyright 
Act's derivative works exception to termination rights applies to the 
statutory mechanical blanket license established by the Music 
Modernization Act.

DATES: This rule is effective August 30, 2024.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Rhea Efthimiadis, Assistant to the 
General Counsel, by email at [email protected] or telephone at 202-
707-8350.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On July 9, 2024, the Copyright Office 
published a final rule regarding how the Copyright Act's derivative 
works exception to termination rights (the ``Exception'') applies to 
the statutory mechanical blanket license established by the Music 
Modernization Act.\1\ Among other things, the rule required the 
Mechanical Licensing Collective (``MLC'') to engage in corrective 
royalty adjustments for royalties distributed under its earlier, 
erroneous interpretation of the Exception. The rule specified separate 
due dates for the MLC and relevant parties to complete certain steps in 
this process. The due dates were set by referencing the rule's 
publication date (e.g., thirty or sixty days after the rule's 
publication date). Three days after the rule's publication, the Office 
of the Federal Register issued a correction to one of those dates, 
which it had miscalculated.\2\
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    \1\ 89 FR 56586 (July 9, 2024).
    \2\ 89 FR 57093 (July 12, 2024).
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    On August 15, 2024, the MLC contacted the Office to ask about the 
calculation of the first due date in the corrective adjustment process 
based on a discrepancy between the date in the rule's regulatory text 
and its preamble. To resolve any confusion created by the discrepancy 
and ensure that parties have adequate time to participate in the 
corrective adjustment process, the

[[Page 70497]]

Office is adjusting the relevant due dates for all parties by extending 
each by approximately thirty days from the original dates provided in 
the rule's regulatory text.

List of Subjects in 37 CFR Part 210

    Copyright, Phonorecords, Recordings.

Final Regulations

    For the reasons set forth in the preamble, the U.S. Copyright 
Office amends 37 CFR part 210 as follows:

PART 210--COMPULSORY LICENSE FOR MAKING AND DISTRIBUTING PHYSICAL 
AND DIGITAL PHONORECORDS OF NONDRAMATIC MUSICAL WORKS

0
1. The authority citation for part 210 continues to read as follows:

    Authority:  17 U.S.C. 115, 702.


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2. Amend Sec.  210.29 as follows:
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a. In paragraph (k)(1)(ii) introductory text, remove ``August 8, 2024'' 
and add in its place ``September 9, 2024''.
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b. In paragraph (k)(1)(iii) introductory text, remove ``September 9, 
2024'' and add in its place ``October 9, 2024''.
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c. In paragraph (k)(1)(iv)(B), remove ``February 9, 2026'' and add in 
its place ``March 11, 2026''.
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d. In paragraph (k)(1)(v)(A), remove ``October 7, 2024'' and add in its 
place ``November 6, 2024'' and remove ``November 6, 2024'' and add in 
its place ``December 6, 2024``.
* * * * *

    Dated: August 21, 2024.
Shira Perlmutter,
Register of Copyrights and Director of the U.S. Copyright Office.

    Approved by:
Carla D. Hayden,
Librarian of Congress.
[FR Doc. 2024-19538 Filed 8-29-24; 8:45 am]
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