65612 Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 245 / Friday, December 21, 2018 / Proposed Rules 

1See 17 U.S.C. 408(c)(1). 

2See generally 37 CFR 202.3(b)(5), 202.4. 

3H.R. Rep. No. 94–1476, at 154 (1976), reprinted 

in 1976 U.S.C.C.A.N. 5659, 5770. 

4 Id. 

5 Id. 

6 81 FR 86634 (Dec. 1, 2016). 

7 Id. at 86635. 

8See 37 CFR 202.4(b)(3). 

9See 81 FR at 86638–39. 

10See id. at 86639. 

For the reasons discussed in the 

preamble, the Coast Guard proposes to 

amend 33 CFR part 110 as follows: 

PART 110—ANCHORAGE 

REGULATIONS 

■ 1. The authority citation for part 110 

continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 33 U.S.C. 471, 1221 through 

1236, 2071; 33 CFR 1.05–1; Department of 

Homeland Security Delegation No. 0170.1. 

■ 2. In § 110.196, revise paragraph (a) to 

read as follows: 

§ 110.196 Sabine Pass Channel, Sabine 

Pass, TX. 

(a) The anchorage area. The water 

bounded by a line connecting the 

following coordinates: 

Latitude Longitude 

29°43′59.0′′ N 93°52′08.1′′ W 

29°44′06.8′′ N 93°51′57.6′′ W 

29°43′53.0′′ N 93°51′47.1′′ W 

29°43′36.7′′ N 93°51′50.9′′ W 

* * * * * 

Dated: December 3, 2018. 

Paul F. Thomas, 

Rear Admiral, U.S. Coast Guard, Commander, 

Eighth Coast Guard District. 

[FR Doc. 2018–27699 Filed 12–20–18; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 9110–04–P 

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 

Copyright Office 

37 CFR Part 202 

[Docket No. 2018–12] 

Group Registration of Short Online 

Literary Works 

AGENCY: U.S. Copyright Office, Library 

of Congress. 

ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking. 

SUMMARY: The U.S. Copyright Office is 

proposing to create a new group 

registration option for certain types of 

literary works. To qualify for this 

option, each work must contain at least 

100 but no more than 17,500 words. The 

works must be created by the same 

individual, and that individual must be 

named as the copyright claimant for 

each work. The works must all be 

published online within a threecalendar-month period. If these 

requirements have been met, the 

applicant may submit up to 50 works 

with one application and one filing fee. 

The applicant must complete the online 

application designated for a ‘‘literary 

work’’ and upload a digital copy of each 

work. The Office will examine each 

work to determine if it contains a 

sufficient amount of creative 

authorship, and if the Office registers 

the claim, the registration will cover 

each work as a separate work of 

authorship. The Office invites comment 

on this proposal. 

DATES: Comments must be made in 

writing and must be received in the U.S. 

Copyright Office no later than February 

19, 2019. 

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 https://

www.copyright.gov/rulemaking/ 

shortonline-literaryworks. 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: 

Regan A. Smith, General Counsel and 

Associate Register of Copyrights; Robert 

J. Kasunic, Associate Register of 

Copyrights and Director of Registration 

Policy and Practice; Erik Bertin, Deputy 

Director of Registration Policy and 

Practice; or Cindy Paige Abramson, 

Assistant General Counsel, by telephone 

at 202–707–8040, or by email at regans@

copyright.gov, rkas@copright.gov, 

ebertin@copyright.gov, and ciab@

copyright.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Background 

When Congress enacted the Copyright 

Act, it authorized the Register to specify 

by regulation the administrative classes 

of works for the purpose of seeking a 

registration and the deposit required for 

each class. Congress also gave the 

Register the discretion to allow groups 

of related works to be registered with 

one application and one filing fee.1 This 

procedure is known as group 

registration.2

As the legislative history explains, 

allowing ‘‘a number of related works to 

be registered together as a group 

represent[ed] a needed and important 

liberalization of the law.’’ 3 Congress 

recognized that requiring separate 

applications ‘‘where related works . . . 

are published separately’’ may impose 

‘‘unnecessary burdens and expenses on 

authors.’’ 4 Congress provided ‘‘a group 

of poems by a single author’’ as one 

example of ‘‘a group of related works’’ 

that would be suitable for group 

registration.5 When large numbers of 

literary works are included in one 

submission, however, information about 

each work may not be adequately 

captured. Therefore, group registration 

options require careful balancing of the 

need for an accurate public record and 

the need for an efficient method of 

facilitating the examination of each 

work. 

II. Petition for Rulemaking 

This proposed rulemaking stems from 

a petition submitted in response to an 

earlier rulemaking. On December 1, 

2016 the Office initiated a rulemaking to 

update the regulation that governs the 

group registration option for 

contributions to periodicals (‘‘GRCP’’).6

In its proposal, the Office explained that 

GRCP may be used to register works that 

are first published in a periodical.7 For 

purposes of registration, a ‘‘periodical’’ 

is defined as a collective work that is 

published on an established schedule in 

successive issues that are intended to be 

continued indefinitely, such as a 

newspaper, magazine, newsletter, and 

other similar works.8 The Office 

explained that an electronic publication 

could be considered a periodical if it is 

fixed and distributed online or via email 

as a self-contained work, such as a 

digital version of a tangible newspaper, 

magazine, or newsletter.9 But works that 

are first published on a website cannot 

be registered under GRCP, because 

websites are typically updated on a 

continual basis, the updates are not 

distributed as discrete, self-contained 

issues, and they do not contain 

numerical or chronological designations 

that distinguish one update from the 

next. As such, websites are not 

considered ‘‘periodicals’’ for purposes 

of registration.10

In responding to the proposed rule for 

GRCP, the National Writers Union 

(NWU), the American Society of 

Journalists and Authors (ASJA), the 

Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of 

America, Inc. (SFWA), and the Horror 

Writers Association (HWA) (collectively 

‘‘Petitioners’’) jointly submitted a 

petition for a rulemaking to create a new 


amozie on DSK3GDR082PROD with PROPOSALS1
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11See NWU et al. Comments and Petition for 

Rulemaking at 4 (Jan. 30, 2017) (the ‘‘Petition’’), 

https://www.regulations.gov/contentStreamer

?documentId=COLC-2016-0013-0003&attachment

Number=1&contentType=pdf. 

12Petition at 10. 

13See id. at 4, 9. 

14See id. at 11. 

15 Id. at 4. 

16See id. at 4, 10. 

17 Id. at 13–14. The Petition echoed a similar 

request which was submitted in a previous 

rulemaking by the NWU, ASJA, and the Western 

Writers of America. See NWU et al. Comment on 

Mandatory Deposit of Electronic Books and Sound 

Recordings Available Only Online at 3–4, 8–10, 17– 

19 (Aug. 18, 2016), https://www.regulations.gov/ 

contentStreamer?documentId=COLC-2016-0005- 

0009&attachmentNumber=1&contentType=pdf. 

18Authors Guild et al. Comment at 8–9 (Nov. 17, 

2017), https://www.regulations.gov/content

Streamer?documentId=COLC-2017-0009-0108&

attachmentNumber=1&contentType=pdf. 

19See id. On November 13, 2017 the Petitioners 

renewed their request and reiterated that it 

‘‘remains prohibitively costly and time-consuming 

to register . . . most written work distributed 

online.’’ NWU et al. Comment and Renewed 

Petition for Rulemaking at 4–6 (Nov. 13, 2017), 

https://www.regulations.gov/contentStreamer

?documentId=COLC-2017-0009-0072&attachment

Number=1&contentType=pdf. 

20 82 FR 29410, 29412 (June 29, 2017). 

21 17 U.S.C. 101. 

22See 37 CFR 202.3(b)(1)(i). 

23 37 CFR 202.1(a). 

group registration option to 

accommodate works distributed online 

by individual writers, that would not 

qualify as contributions to periodicals.11

According to the petition, individual 

writers distribute more of their work ‘‘in 

electronic format on the World Wide 

Web than in any other format or through 

any other distribution channel.’’ 12

Writers routinely create ‘‘granular’’ 

content that is distributed on websites, 

blogs, social media platforms, and other 

internet publications.13 They also create 

and distribute online other ‘‘short-form 

works,’’ such as poems, short stories, 

‘‘flash’’ fiction, short-form ebooks, 

essays, articles, pamphlets, tracts, and 

research reports.14

Petitioners stated that registration is 

‘‘effectively unavailable’’ for writers 

who create ‘‘granular or frequently 

updated works [that are] distributed 

electronically, including virtually all 

Web and social media content.’’ 15 They 

stated that websites, blogs, and social 

media platforms are typically updated 

on a daily basis. To register the works 

that are distributed on these sites, a 

writer would need to complete and 

submit a separate application every day, 

which would be ‘‘prohibitively costly 

and time-consuming.’’ 16

To address these issues, the 

Petitioners asked the Office to create a 

new group registration procedure for 

‘‘short-form works’’ which would allow 

individual writers to submit one 

‘‘application and fee every three 

months.’’ 17 The Authors Guild, the 

Association of Garden Communicators 

(GWA), the Society of Children’s Book 

Authors and Illustrators (SCBWI), the 

Songwriters Guild of America (SGA), 

and the Textbook & Academic Authors 

Association endorsed this petition.18

They stated that writers ‘‘urgently need 

a group registration [option] for short 

pieces, especially those disseminated 

online,’’ including ‘‘blogs, public 

Facebook posts . . ., short articles, and 

even copyrightable tweets.’’ 19

In response, when closing the 

rulemaking for the GRCP registration 

option, the Office stated that it would 

consider the Petitioners’ requests and 

‘‘take them into account when 

developing its priorities for future 

upgrades to the electronic registration 

system.’’ 20 On May 8, 2018 the Office 

met with representatives from NWU, 

SFWA, ASJA, and the Authors Guild to 

discuss the Petition. Following 

discussions with the Authors Guild, the 

Office presently understands that the 

Petitioners would support a rule that 

provides for the registration of up to 50 

literary works per quarter and up to 100 

works per year. The Office understands 

Petitioners’ position is that the rule 

should apply to articles, short stories, 

essays, opinion pieces, columns, blog 

entries, cartoons, Facebook posts, or 

other literary works that contain at least 

50 words and no more than 40,000 

words, that are published as part of a 

website or online platform, but 

exclusive of advertising copy, computer 

programs, and emails. 

III. The Proposed Rule 

After considering the petition for 

rulemaking, the Office finds there is a 

legitimate need for a new group 

registration option for ‘‘short online 

literary works,’’ to be known as 

‘‘GRTX.’’ Under the proposed rule, an 

applicant will be able to register up to 

50 literary works with one application 

and one filing fee. Each work must 

contain at least 100 words but no more 

than 17,500 words. The works must be 

created by the same individual and that 

individual must be named as the 

copyright claimant for each work. The 

works must be published on a website 

or online platform within a threecalendar-month period. Each of these 

requirements is discussed below. 

A. Eligibility Requirements 

Due to the number of works available 

in this group registration option, along 

with the complexity of reviewing 

copyrightability of short-form works, the 

Office will strictly apply all of the 

eligibility requirements. To facilitate 

compliance with the requirements, the 

Office will provide a checklist in the 

instructions from the Office, such as in 

a circular, Compendium update, or web 

page. Applicants must be certain to 

adhere to the requirements 

1. Works That May Be Included in the 

Group 

A ‘‘literary work’’ is defined by statute 

as a work ‘‘expressed in words, 

numbers, or other verbal or numerical 

symbols or indicia, regardless of the 

nature of the material objects . . . in 

which [it is] embodied.’’ 21 The Office’s 

regulations provide representative 

examples of works that typically fit 

within this category, such as fiction, 

nonfiction, poetry, and other types of 

textual works.22

To qualify for this group registration 

option, a work must contain sufficient 

words. A work comprised mainly of 

numbers, or other verbal or numerical 

symbols or indicia, will not qualify 

under this option. The Office will 

accept deposit copies that contain text 

combined with another form of 

authorship. But claims in any 

accompanying ‘‘artwork,’’ 

‘‘photograph,’’ or any form of 

authorship other than ‘‘text’’ will not be 

permitted on the application. Examining 

and cataloging a work that contains 

multiple forms of authorship requires a 

significant amount of time and effort. 

Given the number of works that may be 

included in each claim, the Office needs 

to limit the administrative burden that 

this option will impose on the Literary 

Division. Therefore, if an applicant 

asserts a claim in ‘‘text’’ and another 

form of authorship, the examiner may 

remove the unacceptable authorship 

statement(s) from the application and 

add an annotation describing the 

change, or the examiner may simply 

refuse registration for the group. 

For purposes of registration a ‘‘short’’ 

online literary work will be defined as 

a work that contains at least 100 words 

and no more than 17,500 words. The 

proposed rule provides representative 

examples of works that typically fit 

within this range, such as poems, short 

stories, articles, essays, columns, blog 

entries, and social media posts. The 

100-word threshold is intended to 

exclude short phrases and slogans, 

because they are not eligible for 

copyright protection, and other short 

forms of expression that contain less 

than a paragraph of text.23 While in 

some cases these types of works may 

have enough creativity to warrant 

registration, in other cases they may 

contain only a de minimis amount of 


amozie on DSK3GDR082PROD with PROPOSALS1
65614 Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 245 / Friday, December 21, 2018 / Proposed Rules 

24See Hugo Award Categories, The Hugo Awards, 

http://www.thehugoawards.org/hugo-categories/; 

Nebula Rules, Nebula Awards: Science Fiction & 

Fantasy Writers of America (Nov. 15, 2018), https:// 

nebulas.sfwa.org/about-the-nebulas/nebula-rules/; 

Award Rules, The Shirley Jackson Awards, https:// 

www.shirleyjacksonawards.org/rules. 

25Works of this length include Charles Dickens’s 

A Christmas Carol, Ernest Hemingway’s The Old 

Man and the Sea, and John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and 

Men. See, e.g., Word Counts and Other Distractions, 

Griffin Paul Jackson (July 25, 2013), https://

griffinpauljackson.com/2013/07/25/book-wordcounts/; Lawrence J. Epstein, Word Counts in 

Novels, The Best American Poetry: Blog (Mar. 20, 

2016), https://blog.bestamericanpoetry.com/the_

best_american_poetry/2016/03/word-counts-innovels-by-lawrence-j-epstein.html. 

26Works of this length include Ray Bradbury’s 

Fahrenheit 451, F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great 

Gatsby, and Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse-Five. 

Id. 

27See Petition at 4. 

28Because each work must be published ‘‘as part’’ 

of a website or online platform, the website or 

platform itself would not be eligible for this option. 

The Office intends to address website registrations 

in a separate Federal Register notice. See 83 FR 

52336, 52337 (Oct. 17, 2018). Similarly, the Office 

intends to address publication with respect to the 

internet, for purposes of registration, in a separate 

proceeding. 

29The Office will not accept claims involving a 

compilation, collective work, or database, because 

they often contain multiple works of authorship. 

Likewise, this option may not be used to register 

podcasts or audiobooks, because they contain two 

works (namely, a sound recording and the literary 

work embodied in that recording). These types of 

works also take more time to examine than 

traditional literary works, because each recording 

must be opened, buffered, and played to determine 

if it is eligible for registration. 

30 In this respect, the proposed rule is similar to 

the statutory and regulatory provisions that govern 

the group registration option for contributions to 

periodicals. See 17 U.S.C. 408(c)(3); 37 CFR 

202.4(g)(1), (3). 

expression. Examining an extremely 

short work requires careful review and 

each determination must be made on a 

case by case basis. It is not feasible to 

conduct this level of analysis when 

dozens of works are included within the 

same claim. 

The 17,500-word limit is intended to 

exclude novels, novellas, or other 

lengthy works. In drawing the line 

between ‘‘short’’ and ‘‘long’’ literary 

works, the Office considered the word 

counts specified by the prestigious 

Hugo, Nebula, and Shirley Jackson 

awards.24 The sponsors of these awards 

classify a ‘‘short story’’ as a work that 

contains less than 7,500 words and a 

‘‘novelette’’ as a work that contains 

between 7,500 and 17,500 words. The 

sponsors define a ‘‘novella’’ as a work 

that contains between 17,500 and 

40,000 words,25 and a ‘‘novel’’ as a work 

that contains more than 40,000 words.26

The Petitioners stated that writers are 

unable to register granular, frequently 

updated works that are distributed on 

websites and social media platforms on 

a daily basis.27 But they did not provide 

a compelling reason for creating a 

similar group registration option for 

novels, novellas, or other lengthy works 

of authorship. Such works are more 

likely to require significant time to 

create and do not lend themselves to a 

rapid and continuous publication 

schedule. Indeed, it seems unlikely that 

even a prolific author would be able to 

write, edit, and publish 50 ‘‘long-form’’ 

works within a three-month period. 

If a particular work appears to be less 

than 100 words, the examiner may 

perform a word count, and if it falls 

below the 100-word threshold, the 

examiner may refuse registration for the 

group. Similarly, the examiner will 

refuse registration for the group if any 

work is found to exceed the 17,500- 

word limit. 

A work will be considered an 

‘‘online’’ literary work if it was first 

published on the internet. This 

requirement may be satisfied, for 

example, if copies of the work were first 

distributed to the public as part of a 

website or online platform.28 Likewise, 

a work may be eligible for this option 

if copies were simultaneously published 

both on the internet and in a physical 

form. By contrast, a work would not be 

eligible for GRTX if copies have been 

distributed solely in a physical form, or 

if copies were first published in a 

physical form and then subsequently 

published online. 

2. Number of Works That May Be 

Included in the Group 

Under the proposed rule, an applicant 

will be allowed to include up to 50 

literary works in each submission. The 

examiner will review each individual 

work for copyrightable authorship, and 

if the claim is approved, the registration 

will cover each work on a separate 

basis. If an applicant submits more than 

50 works, the examiner may accept the 

first 50 works listed in the application 

or the examiner may refuse registration 

for the group. 

As discussed below, applicants will 

be required to submit their claims 

through the existing registration system. 

The Office does not currently have the 

ability to charge differential prices 

based on the number of works in the 

group or the complexity of the claim. 

Given the technical limitations of the 

current system and the modest filing fee 

for this option, the Office must impose 

some limit on the total number of works 

that may be included in each claim, to 

manage the administrative burden that 

this option will impose on the Literary 

Division. After consulting with the 

Petitioners, the Office has determined 

that a limit of 50 works represents an 

appropriate balance between the 

interests of the writers and the 

administrative capabilities of the 

Office.29 While each application is 

limited to 50 works, there is no limit as 

to how many applications can be 

submitted. 

3. Title Information 

The applicant will be required to 

provide a title for each work in the 

group, and a title for the group as a 

whole. The group title will be used to 

identify the registration in the online 

public record. The Office will accept 

any title that reasonably identifies the 

group. For example, the applicant may 

provide a title that describes the general 

subject matter of the works, such as 

‘‘Poems, essays, and other reflections on 

Czech culture and cuisine,’’ or a title 

that includes the author’s name, type of 

works, and publication dates, such as 

‘‘Drew McAlister’s Facebook Posts May 

through July 2018.’’ In all cases, the 

applicant will be required to append the 

term ‘‘GRTX’’ to the beginning of the 

group title, so that the Office can 

identify the claim and assign it to an 

appropriate member of the Literary 

Division. 

4. Author and Claimant 

Under the proposed rule, all of the 

works must be created by the same 

individual. Applicants will not be 

allowed to submit groups of works 

created by different authors (such as 25 

essays by Carlos Martinez and 25 poems 

by Rena Martinez). Likewise, the Office 

will not accept applications claiming 

that two or more authors jointly created 

one or more of the works in the group. 

We would like to hear from commenters 

as to whether they anticipate any issues 

with this proposed limitation. 

The new group registration option is 

intended to benefit individual writers 

who publish their works on the internet, 

but do not have the time or resources to 

register their works with the Office. This 

is less of a concern for corporate authors 

or authors who are hired to create a 

work for another party. Therefore, the 

proposed rule expressly states that 

works made for hire cannot be 

registered with GRTX.30

The proposed rule states that in all 

cases, the author must be named as the 

copyright claimant, even if a different 

party actually owns the copyright in 

each work. If the names provided in the 

author and claimant fields do not match 

each other, the examiner may remove 

the claimant’s name and replace it with 

the author’s name or the examiner may 

simply refuse registration. This will 

improve the efficiency of the 


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31 If the author transferred the copyright to 

another person or entity, the copyright owner may 

add that information to the public record by 

recording the bill of sale, exclusive license, or other 

document that identifies the current owner of each 

work. 

32 In this respect, the proposed rule is similar to 

the regulations that govern the group registration 

options for automated databases, serials, and secure 

test items. See 37 CFR 202.3(b)(5)(i)(F), 

202.4(f)(1)(v), 202.13(d)(4). 

33The Office recently announced that it intends 

to create a new group registration option for 

unpublished works, which will be known as 

‘‘GRUW.’’ The Office also intends to release a new 

application form that will be specifically designed 

for these types of claims. See 82 FR 47415 (Oct. 12, 

2017). The Office expects to issue a final rule in the 

GRUW rulemaking before the proposed rule on 

GRTX goes into effect. If an applicant attempts to 

register a group of unpublished works under GRTX, 

the Office will instruct the applicant to resubmit the 

claim using the designated form for GRUW, which 

will require an additional filing fee and result in a 

later effective date of registration. 

34 17 U.S.C. 409(8). 

35See, e.g., 37 CFR 202.4(d)(2), (e)(5), (f)(2), (g)(6), 

(h)(8), (i)(8). 

36As the label suggests, this application is 

designed for registering one literary work, rather 

than a group of related works. 

37See, e.g., 82 FR 29410, 29410–11 (June 29, 

2017) (final rule for contributions to periodicals 

explaining policy considerations supporting onlineonly registration); 82 FR 51369, 51374 (Nov. 6, 

2017) (proposed rule for group newspapers); 83 FR 

22896, 22899–900 (May 17, 2018) (proposed rule for 

group serials); 83 FR 22902, 22905 (May 17, 2018) 

(proposed rule for group newsletters). 

38Likewise, the online-filing requirement will 

apply to the ‘‘supplementary registration’’ 

procedure, which may be used to correct or amplify 

the information in an existing registration. The 

Office has announced that if it moves ‘‘registrations 

for other classes of works into the electronic 

registration system,’’ the procedure for correcting or 

amplifying those registrations would ‘‘be subject to 

this same [online filing] requirement.’’ 81 FR 86656, 

86658 (Dec. 1, 2016). Thus, if an applicant needs 

to correct or amplify the information in a 

registration for a group of short online literary 

works, that request will need to be submitted 

through the electronic registration system, instead 

of using a paper form. See 37 CFR 202.6(e)(1). 

39See, e.g., 37 CFR 202.4(g)(9), (h)(11), (i)(11), 

202.6(e)(7). 

40The list of acceptable formats is available at 

http://copyright.gov/eco/help-file-types.html. 

examination process by allowing the 

Office to focus on the copyrightability of 

each work. It is also consistent with the 

basic principle that an author may 

always be named as the copyright 

claimant, even if she does not own any 

of the exclusive rights when the claim 

is submitted.31 See Compendium sec. 

619.7 (citing 42 FR 48944, 48945 (Sept. 

26, 1977)). We would like to hear from 

commenters as to whether they 

anticipate any issues with this proposed 

limitation. 

5. Publication Information 

As mentioned above, an applicant 

will be allowed to register a group of 

short literary works if the works were 

first published as part of a website or 

online platform. The works may be 

published on the same site or different 

sites, but they must be published within 

a three-calendar-month period.32

If the works were published on the 

same date, the applicant should provide 

that date in the application. If the works 

were published on different dates, the 

applicant should identify the first date 

that the works were published; the 

Office will assume that the rest of the 

works were published on that date or 

within three months thereafter. Claims 

with a range of publication dates 

outside of a three-calendar-month 

period will be refused, and if any works 

are later determined to be published 

outside of the three-month calendar 

period the registration may be 

cancelled. See 37 CFR 202.4(l), (m). 

The GRTX group option may only be 

used to register published works. This 

option cannot be used to register a 

group of unpublished literary works.33

Likewise, applicants will not be allowed 

to combine published and unpublished 

works in the same claim. The Copyright 

Act requires applicants to separately 

identify published and unpublished 

works for purposes of registration, and 

this requirement cannot be changed 

without amending the law.34

B. Application Requirements 

Ordinarily, when the Office creates a 

new group registration option, it 

develops a corresponding application 

form to collect the information needed 

for that type of claim.35 But the Office 

is beginning to work on the technical 

requirements for its next-generation 

registration system, and it does not 

intend to conduct any further 

development on the current system. In 

the interim, claims submitted under a 

new group registration option for short 

online literary works will need to be 

adapted to fit within the registration 

system as it currently exists. 

Under the proposed rule, applicants 

will be required to submit their claims 

through the electronic registration 

system and they will be required to use 

the Standard Application designated for 

a ‘‘Literary Work.’’ 36 Further 

instructions on how to complete this 

application will be provided by the 

Office through traditional avenues, 

including its website, circulars, or 

Chapter 1100 of the Compendium of 

U.S. Copyright Office Practices. 

Recently the Office amended its 

regulations to require other group 

registration claims to be filed 

electronically, and the rationales 

requiring electronic submission of 

applications provided in those 

rulemakings apply equally here.37

Moreover, GRTX may only be used to 

register literary works that have been 

published as part of a website or online 

platform. It is reasonable to assume that 

individuals who create and publish 

these types of works will have access to 

the internet and will be capable of using 

the electronic registration system to 

register their claims.38

The Office will not accept claims 

submitted on a paper application. If an 

applicant attempts to use a paper form, 

the Office will refuse registration and 

instruct the applicant to resubmit the 

claim on the Standard Application, 

which will require a new filing fee and 

result in a later effective date of 

registration. But as with the other rules 

mentioned above,39 the proposed rule 

would allow the Office to waive this 

online filing requirement in exceptional 

cases. If a particular author does not 

have internet access or is unable to use 

the Standard Application, the applicant 

could request a waiver in writing. The 

Office would review each request and 

would make appropriate 

accommodations for applicants who 

receive an approved waiver. To be sure, 

since this group registration option 

involves works that were necessarily 

published online, the Office expects 

there to be few, if any, exceptional cases 

necessitating waiver of this requirement. 

The applicant must submit a 

sequentially numbered list containing a 

title/file name for each work in the 

group. The list must also include the 

publication date and word count for 

each work. The numbered list must be 

contained in an electronic file in Excel 

format (.xls), Portable Document Format 

(PDF), or other electronic format 

approved by the Office, and the file 

name for the list must contain the title 

of the group and the case number 

assigned to the application by the 

electronic registration system (e.g., 

‘‘Title Of Group Case Number 

16283927239.xls’’). 

C. Deposit Requirements 

Under the proposed rule, applicants 

will be required to submit one complete 

copy of each work in the group. The 

copies must be uploaded to the 

electronic registration system in a 

digital file, each file must be submitted 

in one of the acceptable file formats 

listed on the Office’s website, such as 

PDF, and all of the files must be 

submitted in the same format.40 Because 

this option may only be used to register 

works that have been published online, 

it is reasonable to assume that authors 

will be able to upload their works to the 

electronic system. Thus, the Office 

generally will not accept physical 


amozie on DSK3GDR082PROD with PROPOSALS1
65616 Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 245 / Friday, December 21, 2018 / Proposed Rules 

41 If an applicant is unable to upload a particular 

work to the system, the applicant may request 

special relief from the deposit requirements under 

37 CFR 202.20(d)(1)(iii)–(iv). The Office will 

consider these requests on a case-by-case basis. See 

Compendium sec. 1508.8. 

42 83 FR 25054, 24057 (May 24, 2018). 

43See 83 FR 52336, 52339 (Oct. 17, 2018). 

44 If the examiner determines that one or more of 

the works is not copyrightable, the examiner will 

require the applicant to exclude that work from the 

claim. If the applicant disagrees with that 

assessment, the applicant may resubmit that work 

on an individual basis (which will require a new 

application, deposit, and filing fee) and then appeal 

the subsequent refusal. 

45See 37 CFR 202.4(n). 

46See 17 U.S.C. 504(c)(1) (authorizing a separate 

award of statutory damages ‘‘with respect to any 

one work’’). 

copies, such as print-outs, or digital 

copies that have been saved onto an 

electronic storage device, such as a disc 

or thumb drive.41

The copies must be submitted in an 

orderly manner. A submission will be 

considered ‘‘orderly’’ if the applicant 

uploads each work in a separate digital 

file. The Office will not accept multiple 

works within the same digital file 

because of the burden on the examiner 

in distinguishing one work from the 

next. The file name for each work must 

match the corresponding title entered 

on the application so that the examiner 

can easily verify that the correct works 

were uploaded. The upload should 

contain no more than 50 files 

representing 50 complete works. If more 

than 50 files are uploaded, the examiner 

may refuse registration for the group. 

D. Filing Fee 

The filing fee for this option will be 

$55, which is the fee that currently 

applies to any claim submitted on the 

Standard Application. The Office 

recently issued a proposal to increase 

this fee from $55 to $75.42 If that 

proposal is adopted, the new fee will 

apply to any claim submitted on the 

Standard Application, including claims 

involving short online literary works. As 

mentioned above, the Office does not 

have the ability to charge differential 

prices when multiple works are 

submitted on the Standard Application. 

However, the Office will consider this 

issue as it begins to develop the 

technical and legal requirements for its 

next-generation registration system.43

E. The Scope of a Group Registration 

As mentioned above, the Office will 

review each work to determine if it 

contains a sufficient amount of original, 

creative authorship. If the legal and 

formal requirements have been met, the 

examiner will register the claim and 

will add an annotation to the certificate 

indicating that the works were 

registered in accordance with the 

eligibility requirements for GRTX.44

Under the proposed rule, a group 

registration will cover each work in the 

group and each work will be considered 

to be registered as a separate work.45

Thus, if any of the works are 

subsequently infringed, the copyright 

owner should be entitled to seek a 

separate award of statutory damages for 

each individual work.46 By contrast, the 

group itself is merely an administrative 

classification created solely for the 

purpose of registering multiple literary 

works with one application and one 

filing fee. Therefore, claims in the 

selection, coordination, or arrangement 

of the group as a whole will not be 

permitted on the application, and the 

group will not be considered a 

compilation or a collective work for 

purposes of sections 101, 103(b), or 

504(c)(1) of the Copyright Act. 

IV. Conclusion 

The proposed rule will encourage 

broader participation in the registration 

system by establishing a new group 

registration option for individual writers 

who publish their works on the internet. 

The Office invites public comments on 

this proposal. 

* * * * * 

List of Subjects in 37 CFR Part 202 

Copyright. 

Proposed Regulation 

For the reasons set forth in the 

preamble, the Copyright Office proposes 

amending 37 CFR part 202 as follows: 

PART 202—PREREGISTRATION AND 

REGISTRATION OF CLAIMS TO 

COPYRIGHT 

■ 1. The authority citation for part 202 

continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 17 U.S.C. 408(f), 702. 

■ 2. Amend § 202.4 as follows: 

■ a. Add paragraph (j). 

■ b. In paragraph (n) remove ‘‘paragraph 

(g), (h), (i), or (k)’’ and add in their place 

‘‘paragraphs (g) through (k)’’. 

The addition reads as follows: 

§ 202.4 Group Registration. 

* * * * * 

(j) Group registration of short online 

literary works. Pursuant to the authority 

granted by 17 U.S.C. 408(c)(2), the 

Register of Copyrights has determined 

that a group of literary works may be 

registered in Class TX with one 

application, the required deposit, and 

the filing fee required by § 201.3(c) if the 

following conditions are met: 

(1) The group may include up to 50 

short online literary works. For 

purposes of this section, a short online 

literary work is a work consisting of text 

that contains at least 100 words and no 

more than 17,500 words, such as a 

poem, short story, article, essay, 

column, blog entry, or social media 

post. The work must be published as 

part of a website or online platform, 

including online newspapers, social 

media websites, and social networking 

platforms. The group may not include 

computer programs, audiobooks, 

podcasts, or emails. Claims in any form 

of authorship other than ‘‘text’’ or 

claims in the selection, coordination, or 

arrangement of the group as a whole 

will not be permitted on the application. 

(2) All of the works must be published 

within a three-calendar-month period, 

and the application must identify the 

earliest date that the works were 

published. 

(3) All the works must be created by 

the same individual and that individual 

must be named as the copyright 

claimant for each work in the group. 

(4) The works must not be works 

made for hire and must not be works of 

joint authorship. 

(5) The applicant must provide a title 

for each work and a title for the group 

as a whole, and must append the term 

‘‘GRTX’’ to the beginning of the group 

title. 

(6) The applicant must complete and 

submit the Standard Application 

designated for a ‘‘Literary Work.’’ The 

application may be submitted by any of 

the parties listed in § 202.3(c)(1). 

(7) The applicant must submit one 

complete copy of each work. The works 

must be assembled in an orderly form 

with each work in a separate digital file, 

they all must be submitted in one of the 

electronic formats approved by the 

Office, and they must be uploaded to 

the electronic registration system in no 

more than 50 files and representing no 

more than 50 complete works. The file 

name for each work must match the title 

as submitted on the application. The file 

size for each uploaded file must not 

exceed 500 megabytes; the files may be 

compressed to comply with this 

requirement. 

(8) The applicant must submit a 

sequentially numbered list containing a 

title/file name for each work in the 

group. The list must also include the 

publication date and word count for 

each work. The numbered list must be 

contained in an electronic file in Excel 

format (.xls), Portable Document Format 

(PDF), or other electronic format 

approved by the Office, and the file 

name for the list must contain the title 

of the group and the case number 

assigned to the application by the 

electronic registration system (e.g., 


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Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 245 / Friday, December 21, 2018 / Proposed Rules 65617 

‘‘Title Of Group Case Number 

16283927239.xls’’). 

(9) In an exceptional case, the 

Copyright Office may waive the online 

filing requirement set forth in paragraph 

(j)(6) of this section or may grant special 

relief from the deposit requirement 

under § 202.20(d), subject to such 

conditions as the Associate Register of 

Copyrights and Director of the Office of 

Registration Policy and Practice may 

impose on the applicant. 

* * * * * 

Dated: December 17, 2018. 

Regan A. Smith, 

General Counsel and Associate Register of 

Copyrights. 

[FR Doc. 2018–27543 Filed 12–20–18; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 1410–30–P 

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 

AGENCY 

40 CFR Part 52 

[EPA–RO5–OAR–2018–0302; EPA–RO5– 

OAR–2018–0303; EPA–R05–OAR–2018– 

0589; FRL–9988–03–Region 5] 

Air Plan Approval; Illinois; NAAQS and 

VOC Updates 

AGENCY: Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA). 

ACTION: Proposed rule. 

SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA) is proposing to approve 

revised rules submitted by the State of 

Illinois as State Implementation Plan 

(SIP) revisions. The submitted rules 

update Illinois ambient air quality rules 

to update definitions and requirements 

for handling monitoring data influenced 

by exceptional events, implementation 

rules for the 2012 primary annual 

National Ambient Air Quality Standard 

(NAAQS) for fine particulate matter 

(PM2.5), and designated reference and 

equivalent methods for multiple 

NAAQS. In addition, the submitted 

rules amend the Illinois Administrative 

Code (IAC) by updating the definition of 

volatile organic compounds (VOC). 

DATES: Comments must be received on 

or before January 22, 2019. 

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, 

identified by Docket ID No. EPA R05 

OAR 2018–0302, EPA–RO5–OAR– 

2018–0303, or EPA–RO5–OAR–2018– 

0589 at http://www.regulations.gov, or 

via email to aburano.douglas@epa.gov. 

For comments submitted at 

Regulations.gov, follow the online 

instructions for submitting comments. 

Once submitted, comments cannot be 

edited or removed from Regulations.gov. 

For either manner of submission, EPA 

may publish any comment received to 

its public docket. Do not submit 

electronically any information you 

consider to be Confidential Business 

Information (CBI) or other information 

whose disclosure is restricted by statute. 

Multimedia submissions (audio, video, 

etc.) must be accompanied by a written 

comment. The written comment is 

considered the official comment and 

should include discussion of all points 

you wish to make. EPA will generally 

not consider comments or comment 

contents located outside of the primary 

submission (i.e. on the web, cloud, or 

other file sharing system). For 

additional submission methods, please 

contact the person identified in the FOR

FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section. 

For the full EPA public comment policy, 

information about CBI or multimedia 

submissions, and general guidance on 

making effective comments, please visit 

http://www2.epa.gov/dockets/ 

commenting-epa-dockets. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Samantha Panock, Physical Scientist, 

Attainment Planning and Maintenance 

Section, Air Programs Branch (AR–18J), 

Environmental Protection Agency, 

Region 5, 77 West Jackson Boulevard, 

Chicago, Illinois 60604, (312) 353–8973, 

panock.samantha@epa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In the 

Final Rules section of this Federal 

Register, EPA is approving the State’s 

SIP submittal as a direct final rule 

without prior proposal because the 

Agency views this as a noncontroversial 

submittal and anticipates no adverse 

comments. A detailed rationale for the 

approval is set forth in the direct final 

rule. If no relevant adverse comments 

are received in response to this rule, no 

further activity is contemplated. If EPA 

receives such comments, the direct final 

rule will be withdrawn and all public 

comments received will be addressed in 

a subsequent final rule based on this 

proposed rule. EPA will not institute a 

second comment period. Any parties 

interested in commenting on this action 

should do so at this time. Please note 

that if EPA receives adverse comment 

on an amendment, paragraph, or section 

of this rule and if that provision may be 

severed from the remainder of the rule, 

EPA may adopt as final those provisions 

of the rule that are not the subject of an 

adverse comment. For additional 

information, see the direct final rule 

which is located in the Rules section of 

this Federal Register. 

Dated: December 3, 2018. 

Cathy Stepp, 

Regional Administrator, Region 5. 

[FR Doc. 2018–27609 Filed 12–20–18; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P 

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 

AGENCY 

40 CFR Part 60 

[EPA–HQ–OAR–2013–0495; FRL–9988–16– 

OAR] 

RIN 2060–AT56 

Review of Standards of Performance 

for Greenhouse Gas Emissions From 

New, Modified, and Reconstructed 

Stationary Sources: Electric Utility 

Generating Units 

AGENCY: Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA). 

ACTION: Notice of public hearing. 

SUMMARY: On December 6, 2018, the 

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) 

Acting Administrator signed a proposed 

rule titled ‘‘Review of Standards of 

Performance for Greenhouse Gas 

Emissions from New, Modified, and 

Reconstructed Stationary Sources: 

Electric Utility Generating Units.’’ The 

EPA is announcing that it will hold a 

public hearing on the proposed action. 

The hearing will provide interested 

parties the opportunity to present data, 

views, or arguments concerning the 

proposed action. 

DATES: The EPA will hold a public 

hearing on Tuesday, January 8, 2019, in 

Washington, DC. Please refer to the 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section for 

additional information on the public 

hearing. 

ADDRESSES: The hearing will be held at 

the EPA WJC East Building, 1201 

Constitution Avenue NW, Room 1153, 

Washington, DC 20004. The hearing will 

convene at 8:00 a.m. Eastern Standard 

Time (EST) and will conclude at 7:00 

p.m. EST. 

Because this hearing is being held at 

a U.S. government facility, individuals 

planning to attend the hearing should be 

prepared to show valid picture 

identification to the security staff to gain 

access to the meeting room. Please note 

that the REAL ID Act, passed by 

Congress in 2005, established new 

requirements for entering federal 

facilities. For purposes of the REAL ID 

Act, the EPA will accept governmentissued IDs, including driver’s licenses 

from the District of Columbia and all 

states and territories. Acceptable 

alternative forms of identification 

include: Federal employee badges, 


amozie on DSK3GDR082PROD with PROPOSALS1