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U.S. Copyright Office
NewsNet
December 11, 2000
Issue 111
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For additional information, visit the Copyright Office
homepage at
<a href="http://www.loc.gov/copyright">
http://www.loc.gov/copyright </a>
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CONTENTS
* News *
Federal Register
Copyright Office Amends Regulatory Definition of a
"Service" (65 FR 77292)
Copyright Office Denies DiMA Petition to Initiate
Rulemaking on Definition of a "Service" (65 FR 77330)
The Library of Congress Provides Additional Time for
Filing Notices of Intent to Participate in CARP (65 FR
77393)
Copyright Office
Library of Congress Order Consolidating CARP
Proceedings Located on Copyright Office Website
* Calendar *
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* NEWS *
--------------Federal Register---------------
COPYRIGHT OFFICE AMENDS REGULATORY DEFINITION OF A "SERVICE"
(65 FR 77292)
The Copyright Office is amending its regulatory
definition of a "service" for purposes of the statutory
license governing the public performance of sound recordings
by means of digital audio transmissions. The definition is
amended in order to clarify that transmissions of a
broadcast signal over a digital communications network such
as the Internet are not exempt from copyright liability
under section 114(d)(1)(A) of the Copyright Act.
Consequently, broadcasters must license the copyrights to
the programming contained on such radio signals either by
entering into private licensing agreements or by availing
themselves of the statutory licenses under sections 114(f)
and 112(e) of the Copyright Act.
COPYRIGHT OFFICE DENIES DIMA PETITION TO INITIATE RULEMAKING
ON DEFINITION OF A "SERVICE" (65 FR 77330)
On April 17, 2000, the Digital Media Association (DiMA)
filed a petition with the Copyright Office requesting that
the Office initiate a rulemaking proceeding to amend the
rule that defines the term "Service" for purposes of the
statutory license governing the public performance of sound
recordings by means of digital audio transmissions. DiMA
sought an amendment that, if adopted, would expand the
current definition of the term "Service" to state that a
service is not interactive simply because it offers the
consumer some degree of influence over the programming
offered by the webcaster. For the reasons set forth in this
Federal Register announcement, the Copyright Office is
denying the DiMA petition.
Please note that there is a typographical error in this
notice published in the Federal Register on December 11,
2000. Footnote 1 should read: RIAA and DiMA discussed the
services offered by Launch Media, Inc., through its
LAUNCHcast service, and MTV, through its Radio SonicNet
service, to illustrate the type of offerings that are in
dispute. See RIAA comment at 6-7; DiMA reply at 18-21. From
these descriptions, there is considerable doubt whether
either offering would qualify as a noninteractive service.
A correction to this announcement will be published in
the Federal Register later this week.
THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS PROVIDES ADDITIONAL TIME FOR FILING
NOTICES OF INTENT TO PARTICIPATE IN CARP (65 FR 77393)
Due to the ruling by the Copyright Office that
broadcasters are not exempt from copyright liability when
they retransmit over the Internet copyrighted works
contained on their AM and FM radio signals (65 FR 77292),
the Library of Congress has determined that it is
appropriate to reopen the filing period for a limited time
to allow for additional participants in these proceedings to
set rates and terms for (1) the statutory license allowing
certain eligible nonsubscription services to perform sound
recordings publicly by means of digital audio transmissions
and (2) the statutory license allowing a transmitting
organization to make an ephemeral recording of a sound
recording for the purpose of making a permitted public
performance (65 FR 55302). The Library is providing an
additional time period for filing Notices of Intent to
Participate in the rate proceeding for 1998-2000 and the
rate proceeding for 2001-2002. Notices of Intent to
Participate are now due no later than January 10, 2001. In
addition, the Library announces the precontroversy discovery
schedule for these consolidated proceedings.
--------------Copyright Office---------------
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS ORDER CONSOLIDATING CARP PROCEEDINGS
LOCATED ON COPYRIGHT OFFICE WEBSITE
The Library of Congress issued an Order consolidating
before a single Copyright Arbitration Royalty Panel (CARP)
the 1998-2000 and 2001-2002 proceedings setting rates and
terms for the digital performance right in sound recordings
and ephemeral recordings. The consolidation order may be
found on the Copyright Office's Website at
<a href="http://www.loc.gov/copyright/carp/114schedule.html"
www.loc.gov/copyright/carp/114schedule.html </a>
Parties wishing to participate in the CARP proceedings
should familiarize themselves with the contents of this
Order.
For a summary of each of the above Federal Register notices
and the consolidation order and for links to these
documents, see
<a href="http://www.loc.gov/copyright/carp/webcast.html">
http://www.loc.gov/copyright/carp/webcast.html </a>
For the complete text of Federal Register announcements,
visit the Copyright Office Website at
<a href="http://www.loc.gov/copyright/fedreg">
http://www.loc.gov/copyright/fedreg </a>
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* CALENDAR *
January 1, 2001: Effective date of change in royalty rates
paid by colleges, universities, or other nonprofit
educational institutions not affiliated with National Public
Radio for the use of copyrighted published nondramatic
musical compositions (65 FR 75167)
January 10, 2001: Due date for Notices of Intent to
Participate in CARP setting rates and terms for digital
performance right in sound recordings and ephemeral
recordings (65 FR 77393)
April 16, 2001: Close of 180-day arbitration period for
Phase II distribution of the 1997 cable royalty funds for
the syndicated programming category (65 FR 65335)
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