Group Registration of Newsletters
| Published date | 24 February 2020 |
| Citation | 85 FR 10349 |
| Record Number | 2020-03376 |
| Section | Proposed rules |
| Court | Copyright Office,Library Of Congress |
Federal Register, Volume 85 Issue 36 (Monday, February 24, 2020)
[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 36 (Monday, February 24, 2020)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 10349-10350]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-03376]
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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS
Copyright Office
37 CFR Parts 201 and 202
[Docket No. 2020-2]
Group Registration of Newsletters
AGENCY: U.S. Copyright Office, Library of Congress.
ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Copyright Office is proposing to amend its regulation
governing the group registration option for newsletter issues. The
proposed rule eliminates the requirement that newsletters must be
published at least two days each week to qualify for a group
registration. This will let a broader range of newsletter publishers
register a month of issues, without imposing an administrative burden
on the Office. In addition, the proposed rule updates the address where
complimentary subscriptions should be sent for purposes of satisfying
the mandatory deposit requirement for newsletters and other serials.
DATES: Written comments must be received no later than 11:59 Eastern
Time on March 25, 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://copyright.gov/rulemaking/group-newsletters-frequency/. 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: Robert J. Kasunic, Associate Register
of Copyrights and Director of Registration Policy and Practice,
[email protected];
[[Page 10350]]
Erik Bertin, Deputy Director of Registration Policy and Practice,
[email protected]; or Kevin Amer, Deputy General Counsel,
[email protected]. They can be reached by telephone at (202) 707-
3000.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Office has established a group
registration option that lets a newsletter publisher register an entire
month of issues with one application and one filing fee. A publisher
may use this option if each issue is ``an all-new issue or an all-new
collective work that has not been previously published.'' \1\ In
addition, the newsletter ``must usually'' be published ``at least two
days each week.'' \2\ The word ``usually'' was added to the regulation
``to account for occasional situations where the newsletter suspends
publication (e.g. for a holiday).'' \3\
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\1\ 37 CFR 202.4(f)(1)(iii).
\2\ 37 CFR 202.4(f)(1)(i).
\3\ 83 FR 22902, 22904 (May 17, 2018).
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It has come to the Office's attention that many newsletters are
published just once a week. The requirement that publication must
usually occur at least twice a week renders these newsletters
ineligible for this group registration option. Some newsletter
publishers may be able to use the group registration option for serials
(which is specifically intended for publications that are distributed
at intervals of a week or longer), but to do so each issue ``must be an
all-new collective work.'' \4\ Thus, if a newsletter is published once
a week and if those issues do not qualify as all-new collective works,
the publisher may not qualify for the group registration option for
newsletters or the group registration option for serials. For these
types of newsletters, the publisher must submit a separate application
and filing fee for each issue.
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\4\ 37 CFR 202.4(d)(1)(iii). See id. (d)(1)(v).
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To address this issue, the Office has decided to eliminate the
requirement that newsletters must be published at least two days a week
to qualify for the group registration option for newsletters.\5\ This
will let publishers register newsletters that otherwise would be
ineligible for this option, without imposing an administrative burden
on the Office.
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\5\ To be eligible for group registration under this rule, the
group must consist of at least two issues, and all of the issues
included in the group must be published in the same calendar month.
37 CFR 202.4(f)(1)(ii), (v).
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Newsletter publishers will still be required to complete and submit
an online application and upload a digital deposit to seek a group
registration.\6\ The online application is labeled ``Daily
Newsletters,'' but to be clear, this form may be used to register any
newsletter, even if it is not published on a daily basis, as long as
all of the issues are published within the same month.
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\6\ 37 CFR 202.4(f)(2), (3).
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Likewise, newsletter publishers will still be required to comply
with the mandatory deposit requirement if the newsletter is published
in the United States in a physical form.\7\ To satisfy this
requirement, the publisher must provide the Library of Congress with up
to two complimentary subscriptions to the newsletter.\8\ To facilitate
this process, the Office is updating the mailing address where
complimentary subscription copies should be sent.
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\7\ 37 CFR 202.19(d)(2)(xi).
\8\ Newsletters that are published solely in electronic format
remain subject to the Library's on-demand mandatory deposit regime
for electronic serials. See 37 CFR 202.19(c)(5), 202.24.
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The Office welcomes public input on the following proposed changes.
List of Subjects
37 CFR Part 201
Copyright, General Provisions.
37 CFR Part 202
Copyright, Preregistration and registration of claims to copyright.
Proposed Regulations
For the reasons set forth in the preamble, the Copyright Office
proposes amending 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. Revise Sec. 201.1(c)(6) to read as follows:
Sec. 201.1 Communication with the Copyright Office.
* * * * *
(c) * * *
(6) Mandatory Deposit Copies. Mandatory deposit copies of published
works submitted for the Library of Congress under 17 U.S.C. 407 and
Sec. 202.19 of this chapter (including serial publications that are
not being registered) should be addressed to: Library of Congress, U.S.
Copyright Office, Attn: 407 Deposits, 101 Independence Avenue SE,
Washington, DC 20559-6600, except that mandatory deposit copies
submitted as complimentary subscriptions for serial publications that
are being registered should be addressed to: Library of Congress, Group
Serials Registration, Washington, DC 20540-4161.
* * * * *
PART 202--PREREGISTRATION AND REGISTRATION OF CLAIMS TO COPYRIGHT
0
3. The authority citation for part 202 continues to read as follows:
Authority: 17 U.S.C. 408(f), 702.
0
4. Amend Sec. 202.4(f)(1)(i) by removing ``Publication must usually
occur at least two days each week and the'' and adding ``The'' in its
place.
Dated: February 5, 2020.
Regan A. Smith,
General Counsel and Associate Register of Copyrights.
[FR Doc. 2020-03376 Filed 2-21-20; 8:45 am]
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