[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 56 (Tuesday, March 24, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 15632-15633]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-06678]
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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS
Copyright Royalty Board
[Docket No. 14-CRB-0006 DART SR (CO/FA) 2013]
Distribution of the 2013 Digital Audio Recording Technology
Royalty Funds
AGENCY: Copyright Royalty Board, Library of Congress.
ACTION: Notice announcing commencement of proceeding with request for
Petitions to Participate and comments on intention to conduct paper
proceeding.
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SUMMARY: The Copyright Royalty Board is announcing the commencement of
a proceeding to determine the distribution of the digital audio
recording technology royalty fees in the 2013 Sound Recordings Fund
(Copyright Owners and Featured Recording Artists Subfunds). The Board
is also announcing the date by which a party who wishes to participate
in this proceeding must file its Petition to Participate and the
accompanying $150 filing fee, if applicable. Finally, the Board is
announcing the Copyright Royalty Judges' intention to conduct a paper
proceeding.
DATES: Petitions to Participate, comments on the intention to conduct a
paper proceeding, and applicable filing fee are due no later than April
23, 2015.
ADDRESSES: An original, five copies, and an electronic copy in Portable
Document Format (PDF) on a CD of the Petition to Participate, along
with the $150 filing fee, if applicable, may be delivered to the
Copyright Royalty Board by either mail or hand delivery. Petitions to
Participate and the $150 filing fee may not be delivered by an
overnight delivery service other than the U.S. Postal Service Express
Mail. If by mail (including overnight delivery),
[[Page 15633]]
Petitions to Participate, along with the $150 filing fee, must be
addressed to: Copyright Royalty Board, P.O. 70977, Washington, DC
20024-0977. If hand-delivered by a private party, Petitions to
Participate, along with the $150 filing fee, must be brought to the
Library of Congress, James Madison Memorial Building, LM-401, 101
Independence Avenue SE, Washington, DC 20559-6000. If delivered by a
commercial courier, Petitions to Participate, along with the $150
filing fee, must be delivered to the Congressional Courier Acceptance
Site, located at 2nd and D Street, NE., Washington, DC. The envelope
must be addressed to: Copyright Royalty Board, Library of Congress,
James Madison Memorial Building, LM-403, 101 Independence Avenue SE,
Washington, DC 20559-6000.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: LaKeshia Keys, CRB Program Specialist.
Telephone: (202) 707-7658 or email at [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
The Audio Home Recording Act of 1992 (the ``AHRA''), Public Law
102-563, requires manufacturers and importers to pay royalties on
digital audio recording devices and media that are distributed in the
United States. 17 U.S.C. 1003. These royalties are deposited with the
Copyright Office for further distribution among interested copyright
parties by the Copyright Royalty Judges (``Judges''), provided that the
interested copyright parties file a claim with the Copyright Royalty
Board (CRB) each year during the months of January and February. 17
U.S.C. 1005, 1007.
The AHRA provides that the royalties are divided between two funds:
the Sound Recordings Fund and the Musical Works Fund. The Sound
Recordings Fund receives 66\2/3\% of the royalties and the Musical
Works Fund receives the remaining 33\1/3\%. These fees are allocated
further to specific subfunds.
The Sound Recordings Fund consists of four subfunds: the Featured
Artists Subfund, the Copyright Owners Subfund, the Nonfeatured
Musicians Subfund, and the Nonfeatured Vocalists Subfund. The royalty
fees allocated to the Sound Recordings Fund are divided among these
four subfunds according to the percentages set out in section 1006 of
the Copyright Act. 17 U.S.C. 1006(b)(1).\1\ Distribution of these fees
may occur in one of two ways. The interested copyright parties within
each subfund may either negotiate the terms of a settlement as to the
division of royalty funds, or the Judges may conduct a proceeding to
determine the distribution of the royalties that remain in controversy
in each subfund. See 17 U.S.C. 1006(c).
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\1\ Similarly, the statute prescribes that the royalty fees
allocated to the Musical Works Fund be divided equally between two
subfunds, the Publishers Subfund and the Writers Subfund. 17 U.S.C.
1006(b)(2).
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On August 18, 2014, the CRB received a motion from the Alliance of
Artists and Recording Companies (AARC) asking the Judges to authorize a
partial distribution of 98% of the 2013 digital audio recording
technology (``DART'') Sound Recordings Fund (Copyright Owners and
Featured Recording Artists subfunds). The CRB published notice of the
settlement and a solicitation of comments in the Federal Register on
October 6, 2014.\2\ On December 19, 2014, the Judges granted the
motion, finding that there was no reasonable objection to AARC's
proposed partial distribution. See Order Granting AARC's Request for
Partial Distribution of Royalties from the 2013 DART Sound Recordings
Fund (Copyright Owners and Featured Recording Artists Subfunds) at 3-4
(December 19, 2014 Order). The Judges now commence a proceeding to
resolve any existing controversies with respect to the 2013 DART Sound
Recordings Fund (Copyright Owners and Featured Recording Artists
subfunds).
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\2\ 79 FR 60185.
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Commencement of Proceeding
Consistent with 17 U.S.C. 804(b)(8), the Judges determine that a
controversy exists as to the distribution of the 2013 DART Sound
Recordings Fund. The Judges make this finding based on the fact that
AARC notified the Judges that it failed to reach settlements with three
claimants to the 2013 Featured Recording Artists Subfund and that it
failed to reach settlements with five claimants to the 2013 Copyright
Owners Subfund. December 19, 2014 Order at 1. In the December 19, 2014
Order, the Judges ordered the parties to notify the Judges whether any
remaining disputes in this matter have been resolved. Id. at 4. To
date, the Judges have not received notification that any of these
controversies have been resolved.
Intention to Conduct a Paper Proceeding
In accordance with Section 803(b)(5)(B) of the Copyright Act, the
Judges find it appropriate to conduct a paper proceeding in this matter
in light of the relatively modest amount of royalties in dispute and
the anticipated small number of non-settling claimants. In such
proceedings, the Judges determine issues solely on the basis of the
filing of a written direct statement by each participant, a response of
an opposing participant, and one additional response from the
participant. 17 U.S.C. 803(b)(5). Any party wishing to comment on the
Judges' intention to conduct a paper proceeding should include such
comments in its Petition to Participate.
Petitions to Participate
Petitions to Participate must provide all of the information
required by 37 CFR 351.1(b)(2). Petitions to Participate submitted by
interested parties whose claims do not exceed $1,000 \3\ must contain a
statement that the party will not seek a distribution of more than
$1,000. No filing fee is required for these parties. Interested parties
with claims exceeding $1,000, however, must submit a filing fee of $150
with their Petition to Participate or it will be rejected. Cash will
not be accepted; therefore, parties must pay the filing fee with a
check or money order made payable to the ``Copyright Royalty Board.''
If a check is returned for lack of sufficient funds, the corresponding
Petition to Participate will be dismissed.
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\3\ The Copyright Royalty Judge Program Technical Corrections
Act, Public Law 109-303, changed the amount from $10,000 to $1,000.
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Further procedural matters, including scheduling, will be addressed
after Petitions to Participate and comments, if any, on the Judges'
intention to conduct a paper proceeding, have been received.
In accordance with 37 CFR 350.2 (Representation), only attorneys
who are members of the bar in one or more states and in good standing
will be allowed to represent parties before the Judges, unless the
party is an individual who represents herself or himself.
Participants should conform filed electronic documents to the
Judges' Guidelines for Electronic Documents, available online at
www.loc.gov/crb/docs/Guidelinesfor_Electronic_Documents.pdf.
Dated: March 18, 2015.
Suzanne M. Barnett,
Chief U.S. Copyright Royalty Judge.
[FR Doc. 2015-06678 Filed 3-23-15; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 1410-72-P