[Federal Register Volume 91, Number 157 (Monday, August 17, 2026)]
[Notices]
[Pages 53283-53284]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2026-16709]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS
Copyright Royalty Board
[Docket No. 24-CRB-0007-SD (2023)]
Distribution of Satellite Royalty Funds
AGENCY: Copyright Royalty Board (CRB), Library of Congress.
ACTION: Notice announcing commencement of distribution proceedings with
request for Petitions to Participate.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The Copyright Royalty Judges (Judges) announce the
commencement of proceedings to determine distribution of 2023 royalties
deposited with the Copyright Office under the satellite carrier
license. The Judges also set the date by which all parties wishing to
participate and share in the distribution of satellite retransmission
royalties for 2023, must file Petitions to Participate and pay the
accompanying $150 filing fee. The Judges seek a single Petition to
Participate in either or both the allocation phase and the distribution
phase of the satellite royalty proceeding. Any party that fails to file
a petition to participate by the time set forth in this notice shall
not be a participant at any stage of either proceeding, unless the
Judges accept a late petition to participate pursuant to 37 CFR
351.1(d).
DATES: Petitions to Participate, the filing fee, and the additional
required filing are due on or before September 16, 2026.
ADDRESSES: The petition to participate form is available online in
eCRB, the Copyright Royalty Board's online electronic filing
application, at https://app.crb.gov/.
Instructions: The petition to participate process has been
simplified. Interested parties file a petition to participate by
completing and filing the petition to participate form in eCRB and
paying the fee in eCRB. Do not upload a petition to participate
document. Additional required information regarding claims shall be
filed in eCRB separately from the form and no later than the deadline
for filing the petition to participate.
Docket: For access to the docket, go to eCRB, the Copyright Royalty
Board's electronic filing and case management system, at https://app.crb.gov/, and search for Docket No. 24-CRB-0007-SD (2023).
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Anita Brown, CRB Program Specialist,
(202) 707-7658, [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
Twice each year, satellite carriers deposit with the Copyright
Office royalties payable for the privilege of retransmitting over-the-
air television and radio broadcast signals via satellite. 17 U.S.C.
119. The Copyright Royalty Judges (Judges) oversee distribution of the
royalties to copyright owners whose works are included in the
retransmissions and who have filed a timely claim for royalties.
Pursuant to 17 U.S.C. 803(b)(1), the Judges hereby give notice of the
commencement of proceedings for distribution of satellite royalties
deposited for broadcasts retransmitted in 2023 and call for interested
parties to file Petitions to Participate.
Any party wishing to receive royalties payable for 2023 must file a
Petition to Participate in each proceeding no later than September 16,
2026. If an interested party fails to file a Petition to Participate in
response to this notice, that party will not be eligible for
distribution of royalties for 2023 from the satellite fund, unless the
Judges accept a late petition to participate pursuant to 37 CFR
351.1(d). The Judges will resolve all issues relating to distribution
of satellite royalty funds for 2023, including existing motions
regarding such funds, in this proceedings, Docket No. 24-CRB-0007-SD
(2023). See 37 CFR 351.1(b)(2).
Commencement of Distribution Proceedings
The Judges have determined that controversies exist with regard to
distribution of the satellite retransmission royalties that licensees
deposited for 2023. Therefore, pursuant to Section 804(b)(8) of the
Copyright Act, the Judges are causing this notice to be published in
the Federal Register to announce the commencement of satellite
distribution proceedings for 2023.
The Judges base their conclusion regarding 2023 satellite fund
controversies upon the entirety of the records, including the initial
motion for partial distribution. Motion of the Allocation Phase Parties
for Partial Distribution of 2023 Satellite Royalty Funds (``Motion'')
(eCRB no. 79335).
In the present proceeding, groups of claimants have identified
themselves as arranged into program categories, e.g.: Program
Suppliers, Joint Sports Claimants, Commercial Television Claimants,
Devotional Claimants, and the Music Claimants, who are comprised of the
American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers, SESAC Performing
Rights, LLC, and Broadcast Music, Inc. The Judges recognize that other
claimants might not be represented by joint counsel for the groups of
claimants. The Judges, therefore, provide this public notice to alert
anyone who claims an interest in satellite retransmission royalties
deposited for royalty year 2023.
In order to share in the royalties at issue, any claimant not
joined in one of the groups identified above must file a Petition to
Participate, individually or jointly with other claimants. If, at a
later point in the proceedings, a claimant chooses to join a group
participating through joint counsel, that claimant may withdraw its
individual Petition to Participate. The prerequisites to participation
in a distribution proceeding are (1) the filing (individually or
jointly) of a timely and otherwise valid claim for each royalty year at
issue and (2) the filing (individually or jointly) of a timely and
otherwise valid Petition to Participate.
Only attorneys who are members in good standing of the bar of one
or more states may represent parties before the Judges. All corporate
parties must appear through counsel. Only if the petitioning party is
an individual, may he or she represent himself or herself without legal
counsel. 37 CFR 303.2.
The Judges hereby commence the proceedings for 2023 satellite funds
under the captioned docket number 24-CRB-0007-SD (2023).
Petitions To Participate
Parties filing Petitions to Participate must comply with the
requirements of section 351.1(b) of the Copyright Royalty Board's
regulations.
[[Page 53284]]
In addition, each Petition to Participate filing must be
accompanied by a filing that sets forth for each claim year, the name
of each claimant, the corresponding claim number, an indication of
whether the claim is an individual or joint claim, and the program
category into which the claim may fall. Each Petition to Participate
shall be accompanied by a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet in electronic
form consisting of the following columns: Claimant; Claim Year; Claim
Number; Claim Type; Allocation Phase Category. For ``Claim Type,''
participants shall enter ``I'' for an individual claimant, ``J'' for a
joint claimant, and ``W'' for a claimant listed within a joint claim.
The information in the column for ``Claim Category'' shall be coded 1
for syndicated programming and movies, 2 for live college and
professional team sports, 3 for programs produced by local commercial
television stations, 4 for public broadcasting, 5 for programs of a
religious or devotional character, 6 for Canadian programs
retransmitted within the United States, 7 for National Public Radio
(all non-music content broadcast on NPR stations), and 8 for musical
works carried on broadcast television signals. Claimants'
characterization of their claims at this juncture is for ease of
administration only and is not dispositive of the ultimate disposition
of any claim.
Petitioners who seek to categorize any claim in a category not
listed in the previous paragraph shall assign a number (starting with
9) to each new category and shall include a brief description of each
new proposed category. Claimants, or claimant representatives, that
assert multiple claims in a given claim year shall list each claim and
claim number in a separate row. Petitioners are responsible to make a
sufficient showing of a ``significant interest'' in the royalty funds
at issue to avoid dismissal of the Petition to Participate.
Claimants whose claims do not exceed $1,000 in value and who
include a statement in their Petitions to Participate that they will
not seek distribution of more than $1,000 may file the Petition to
Participate without payment of the filing fee.
Participants should conform filed electronic documents to the
Judges' Guidelines for Electronic Documents, available online at
https://www.crb.gov/docs/Guidelines_for_Electronic_Documents.pdf.
Dated: August 12, 2026.
Trevor Jefferson,
Chief Copyright Royalty Judge.
[FR Doc. 2026-16709 Filed 8-14-26; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 1410-72-P