Rule2024-05704
Determination of Royalty Rates and Terms for Making and Distributing Phonorecords (Phonorecords IV); Corrections
Primary source
Metadata and text below are from the Federal Register, a public-domain U.S. government work. Always verify the official published version before relying on it for any legal matter.
Published
March 18, 2024
Effective
March 18, 2024
Issuing agencies
Library of CongressCopyright Royalty Board
Abstract
On December 30, 2022, the Copyright Royalty Judges revised regulations. This document corrects the final regulations to add capitalization to certain defined terms and to correct a term regarding late fees.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 89 Issue 53 (Monday, March 18, 2024)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 53 (Monday, March 18, 2024)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 19274-19275]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2024-05704]
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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS
Copyright Royalty Board
37 CFR Part 385
[Docket No. 21-CRB-0001-PR (2023-2027)]
Determination of Royalty Rates and Terms for Making and
Distributing Phonorecords (Phonorecords IV); Corrections
AGENCY: Copyright Royalty Board, Library of Congress.
ACTION: Correcting amendment.
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SUMMARY: On December 30, 2022, the Copyright Royalty Judges revised
regulations. This document corrects the final regulations to add
capitalization to certain defined terms and to correct a term regarding
late fees.
DATES: Effective date: March 18, 2024.
Applicability Date: These terms are applicable during the period
from January 1, 2023, through December 31, 2027.
ADDRESSES: For access to the docket to read submitted background
documents go to eCRB at <a href="https://app.crb.gov/">https://app.crb.gov/</a> and search for docket
number 21-CRB-0001-PR (2023-2027).
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Anita Brown, Program Specialist, (202)
707-7658, <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#84e7f6e6c4e8ebe7aae3ebf2"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="97f4e5f5d7fbf8f4b9f0f8e1">[email protected]</span></a>.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This document corrects terms in the Final
Regulations section of the final rule and order document published in
the Federal Register on December 30, 2022 (87 FR 80448).
On January 10, 2023, Spotify USA Inc., <a href="http://Amazon.com">Amazon.com</a> Services LLC,
Google LLC, Pandora Media, LLC, and Apple Inc. (collectively, the
``Movants'') filed a motion requesting that the Copyright Royalty
Judges (Judges) issue amendments to their Determination of Royalty
Rates and Terms for Making and Distributing Phonorecords, 87 FR 80448
(Dec. 30, 2022) (Phonorecords IV Determination). Motion to Request
Issuance of Amendment to Determination . . . (Motion). The relevant
regulations for which amendments are sought are the result of a
settlement in the Phonorecords IV proceeding. The Movants noted that
National Music Publishers' Association, Inc., and the Nashville
Songwriters Association International, who were participants in the
Phonorecords IV proceeding, consent to the requested relief. Motion at
1. No participant in the Phonorecords IV proceeding opposed the Motion.
The Movants stated that 37 CFR 385.3 currently provides that late
fees should accrue from the date payment is due until payment is
received by the Copyright Owner. However, the Movants stated that the
language thus does not acknowledge that the Mechanical Licensing
Collective has responsibility for collecting payment under the blanket
license for digital uses (though payment remains owed to Copyright
Owners for non-blanket license uses). The Movants therefore proposed
amendments to 37 CFR 385.3 (reflected below) that would clarify that,
where payment is due to the Mechanical Licensing Collective under 17
U.S.C. 115(d)(4)(A)(i), late fees shall accrue from the due date until
the Mechanical Licensing Collective receives payment. Id. at 1-2.
The Movants also requested that certain capitalization be employed
where three defined terms are used in 37 CFR 385.2(d). Id. at 2.
The Movants asserted that the amendments are proper because they
correct technical errors or modify terms (not rates) of royalty
payments that might otherwise frustrate the proper implementation of
the Phonorecords IV Determination. Id. at 1, citing 17 U.S.C.
803(c)(4).
Section 803(c)(4) of the Copyright Act authorizes the Judges to
issue amendments to a written determination to correct any technical or
clerical errors in the determination or to modify the terms, but not
the rates, of royalty payments in response to unforeseen circumstances
that would frustrate the proper implementation of such determination.
The Judges find good cause to adopt the modified language and find that
the requested amendments are sufficiently technical in nature and
therefore adopt the amendments pursuant to the Judges' authority under
section 803(c)(4) of the Copyright Act.
With regard to the requested amendments to 37 CFR 385.3, the Judges
separately find that the requested modifications to the terms but not
the rates of royalty payments are in response to unforeseen
circumstances that would frustrate the proper implementation of the
Phonorecords IV Determination. The passage of the Music Modernization
Act and the resulting establishment of the Mechanical Licensing
Collective is a relatively recent development. The Judges find that
these developments, although in existence at the time of the
Phonorecords IV Determination, were unforeseen by the Settling Parties
as they arrived upon and submitted the settlement in Phonorecords
IV.\1\ Furthermore, the Judges find that the amendments fulfill the
intention of the Phonorecords IV Determination to fully recognize the
role of the Mechanical Licensing Collective, and of the Settling
Parties, to apply late fees where payment is due to the Mechanical
Licensing Collective.
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\1\ The Settling Parties who arrived upon the relevant portions
of the regulations are comprised of the Movants on the one hand, and
the National Music Publishers' Association, Inc., and the Nashville
Songwriters Association International on the other hand, who consent
to the requested relief. See 87 FR 80448 n.2.
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List of Subjects in 37 CFR Part 385
Copyright, Phonorecords, Recordings.
Accordingly, 37 CFR part 385 is corrected by making the following
correcting amendments:
PART 385--RATES AND TERMS FOR USE OF NONDRAMATIC MUSICAL WORKS IN
THE MAKING AND DISTRIBUTING OF PHYSICAL AND DIGITAL PHONORECORDS
0
1. The authority citation for part 385 continues to read as follows:
Authority: 17 U.S.C. 115, 801(b)(1), 804(b)(4).
0
2. Revise Sec. 385.3 to read as follows:
Sec. 385.3 Late payments.
A Licensee shall pay a late fee of 1.5% per month, or the highest
lawful rate, whichever is lower, for any payment owed to a Copyright
Owner and remaining unpaid after the due date established in 17 U.S.C.
115(c)(2)(I) or 17 U.S.C. 115(d)(4)(A)(i), as applicable and detailed
in part 210 of this title. Late fees shall accrue from the due date
until the Copyright Owner receives payment, except that where payment
is due to the mechanical licensing collective under 17 U.S.C.
115(d)(4)(A)(i), late fees shall accrue from the due date until the
mechanical licensing collective receives payment.
0
3. In Sec. 385.21, revise the headings of paragraphs (d)(1) through
(d)(3) to read as follows:
Sec. 385.21 Royalty rates and calculations.
* * * * *
(d) * * *
(1) Standalone Non-Portable Subscription Offerings--Streaming Only.
* * *
(2) Standalone Non-Portable Subscription Offerings--Mixed. * * *
(3) Standalone Portable Subscription Offerings. * * *
* * * * *
[[Page 19275]]
Dated: February 6, 2024.
David P. Shaw,
Chief Copyright Royalty Judge.
David R. Strickler,
Copyright Royalty Judge.
Steve Ruwe,
Copyright Royalty Judge.
Approved by:
Carla D. Hayden,
Librarian of Congress.
[FR Doc. 2024-05704 Filed 3-15-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 1410-72-P
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