69288 Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 228 / Monday, November 29, 2004 / Rules and Regulations 

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS

Copyright Office

37 CFR Part 259

[Docket No. 2004–7 CARP]

Filing of Claims for DART Royalty 

Funds

AGENCY: Copyright Office, Library of 

Congress.

ACTION: Waiver of regulation.

SUMMARY: The Copyright Office of the 

Library of Congress is announcing 

alternative methods for the filing of 

claims to the DART royalty funds for the 

year 2004 while it completes the 

transition to a permanent system for the 

electronic filing of claims. In order to 

ensure that claims are timely received, 

claimants are encouraged to file their 

DART claims on–line or by fax, utilizing 

the special procedures described in this 

Notice. Claims filed on–line must be 

received by the Office no later than 5 

p.m. E.S.T. on February 28, 2005.

DATES: Effective January 1, 2005.

ADDRESSES: Claims may be filed on–line 

through the Copyright Office website at 

http://www.copyright.gov/carp/dart/

index.html. Submissions by facsimile 

should be sent to (202) 252–3423. If 

hand delivered by a private party, an 

original and two copies of each claim 

should be brought to Room LM–401 of 

the James Madison Memorial Building 

and the envelope should be addressed 

as follows: Office of the General 

Counsel/CARP, U.S. Copyright Office, 

James Madison Memorial Building, 

Room LM–401, 101 Independence 

Avenue, S.E., Washington, D.C. 20559–

6000 between 8:30 a.m. and 5 p.m. If 

delivered by a commercial courier, an 

original and two copies of each claim 

must be delivered to the Congressional 

Courier Acceptance Site located at 2nd 

and D Streets, N.E. between 8:30 a.m. 

and 4 p.m. The envelope should be 

addressed as follows: Office of the 

General Counsel/CARP, Room LM–403, 

James Madison Memorial Building, 101 

Independence Avenue, S.E., 

Washington, D.C. If sent by mail 

(including overnight delivery using U.S. 

Postal Service Express Mail), an original 

and two copies of each claim should be 

addressed to: Copyright Arbitration 

Royalty Panel (CARP), P.O. Box 70977, 

Southwest Station, Washington, D.C. 

20024. Claims may not be delivered by 

means of overnight delivery services 

such as Federal Express, United Parcel 

Service, etc., due to delays in processing 

receipt of such deliveries. See 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION for 

information about on–line electronic 

filing through the Copyright Office 

website.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Gina 

Giuffreda, Attorney–Advisor, or Abioye 

Oyewole, CARP Specialist. Telephone: 

(202) 707–8380. Telefax: (202) 252–

3423.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

Chapter 10 of the Copyright Act, 17 

U.S.C., places a statutory obligation on 

manufacturers and importers of digital 

audio recording devices and media 

(‘‘DART’’) who distribute the products 

in the United States to submit royalty 

fees to the Copyright Office. 17 U.S.C. 

1003. Distribution of these royalty fees 

may be made to any interested copyright 

owner who has filed a claim and (1) 

whose sound recording was distributed 

in the form of digital musical recordings 

or analog musical recordings and (2) 

whose musical work was distributed in 

the form of digital musical recordings or 

analog musical recordings or 

disseminated to the public in 

transmissions. 17 U.S.C. 1006.

Section 1007 provides that claims to 

these royalty fees must be filed 

‘‘[d]uring the first 2 months of each 

calendar year’’ with the Librarian of 

Congress ‘‘in such form and manner as 

the Librarian of Congress shall prescribe 

by regulation.’’ 17 U.S.C. 1007. Part 259 

of title 37 of the Code of Federal 

Regulations sets forth the procedures for 

the filing of claims to the DART royalty 

funds. Section 259.5 states that in order 

for a claim to be considered timely filed 

with the Copyright Office, the claims 

either have to be hand delivered to the 

Office by the last day in February or if 

sent by mail, received by the Office by 

the last day in February or bear a 

January or February United States Postal 

Service postmark. 37 CFR 259.5(a). 

Claims received after the last day in 

February will be accepted as timely 

filed only upon proof that the claim was 

placed within the United States Postal 

Service during the months of January or 

February. 37 CFR 259.5(e). A January or 

February postmark of the United States 

Postal Service on the envelope 

containing the claim or, if sent by 

certified mail return receipt requested, 

on the certified mail receipt constitutes 

sufficient proof that the claim was 

timely filed. 37 CFR 259.5(e). The 

regulations do not provide for the filing 

of DART claims by alternative methods 

such as on–line submission or facsimile 

transmission.

Prior to 2002, claims to DART 

royalties generally were considered 

timely filed with the Copyright Office 

only if they were hand delivered to the 

correct location within the Copyright 

Office or mailed to the correct address 

and bore a January or February U.S. 

Postal Service postmark. However, in 

October 2001, concerns about possible 

anthrax contamination of mail 

addressed to facilities in the District of 

Columbia caused severe disruptions of 

postal service to the Copyright Office. 

See 66 FR 62942 (December 4, 2001) 

and 66 FR 63267 (December 5, 2001). 

Although mail delivery to the Copyright 

Office resumed, the Office continued to 

experience delays in the receipt of mail 

due in part to the diversion of all 

incoming mail to an off–site location for 

screening. As a result, the Copyright 

Office announced alternative methods 

for the filing of DART claim for the 

claim years 2001 through 2003. See 67 

FR 5213 (February 5, 2002), 67 FR 

71477 (December 2, 2002), and 68 FR 

74481 (December 24, 2003). 

Specifically, the Office waived its 

regulations requiring that claims bear 

the original signature of the claimant or 

of a duly authorized representative of 

the claimant, 37 CFR 259.3(b), to allow 

the electronic submission of claims, and 

prohibiting the filing of claims by 

facsimile transmission, 37 CFR 259.5(d), 

to allow the submission of claims by 

facsimile. See 67 FR 5213 (February 5, 

2002), 67 FR 71477 (December 2, 2002), 

and 68 FR 74481 (December 24, 2003).

The electronic submission of claims 

proved to be popular with claimants 

and administratively efficient for the 

Office. This coupled with the fact that 

the Office’s mail will continue to be 

diverted to an off–site location for 

screening led the Office to conclude that 

establishing a permanent system for the 

electronic filing of claims would be 

beneficial to claimants and to the Office. 

Subsequently, the Office announced its 

intention to issue such regulations in 

time for the filing of DART claims in 

January and February 2005. See 69 FR 

630577 (May 28, 2004).

Accordingly, the Office proposed and 

solicited comments on rules 

establishing a permanent system for the 

electronic filing of claims, 69 FR 61325 

(October 18, 2004), including the use of 

a Personal Identification Number 

(‘‘PIN’’) as a proxy for a signature on 

claims submitted on–line through the 

Office’s website. See 69 FR 61325, 

61326–27 (October 18, 2004). The 

comments received by the Office raised 

several issues concerning the proposed 

PIN system which the Office will not be 

able to resolve in time to issue final 

regulations prior to the submission of 

2004 DART claims starting in January 

2005.

Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 228 / Monday, November 29, 2004 / Rules and Regulations 69289

Consequently, the Office is waiving, 

for the final time, §§259.3(b) and 

259.5(d) and allowing the on–line and 

facsimile submission of DART claims to 

the 2004 DART royalty funds. On–line 

forms will be available starting on 

January 1, 2005, and may be submitted 

via the Office’s website.

This Notice covers only the means by 

which claims may be accepted as timely 

filed; all other filing requirements, such 

as the content of claims, remain 

unchanged, except as noted herein. See 

37 CFR part 259.

Acceptable Methods of Filing DART 

Claims for the Year 2004

Claims to the 2004 DART royalty 

funds may be submitted as follows: a. On–line Submission

In order to best ensure the timely 

receipt by the Copyright Office of DART 

claims, the Office strongly encourages 

claimants to file their claims on–line by 

February 25, 2005, via the Copyright 

Office website. The Office has devised 

on–line electronic forms for filing both 

single and joint DART claims. Claimants 

will be able to access and complete the 

forms via the Copyright Office website 

and may submit the forms on–line as 

provided in the instructions 

accompanying the forms. DART forms 

will be posted on the Office website at 

http://www.copyright.gov/carp/dart/

index.html. Claimants filing a joint 

claim may list each of their joint 

claimants directly on the Office’s on–

line joint claim form or may submit the 

list of joint claimants as a file 

attachment to the submission page. Lists 

of joint claimants sent as an attachment 

must be in a single file in either Adobe 

Portable Document (‘‘PDF’’) format, in 

Microsoft Word Version 2000 or earlier, 

in WordPerfect 9 or earlier, or in ASCII 

text. There will be a browse button on 

the form that will allow claimants to 

attach the file containing the list of joint 

claimants and then to submit the 

completed form to the Office. The 

attachment must contain only the list of 

names of joint claimants. Joint claims 

with attachments containing 

information other than the joint 

claimants’ names will be rejected. The DART forms will be available for 

use during the months of January and 

February 2005. It is critically important 

to follow the instructions in completing 

the forms before submitting them to the 

Office. Claims submitted on–line using 

forms or formats other than those 

specified in this Notice will not be 

accepted by the Office. During the past 

three years, claims submitted on–line 

had to be received by the Office no later 

than 11:59 p.m. E.S.T. on the last day 

of February. However, some claimants 

who filed their 2003 cable and satellite 

claims on–line experienced technical 

difficulties near the end of the filing 

period. Because the Office was made 

aware of these difficulties during its 

normal business hours, the technical 

problems were rectified quickly. 

Therefore, to better ensure the swift 

resolution of technical difficulties in the 

unlikely event they occur, claims filed 

on–line must be received by the Office 

no later than 5 p.m. E.S.T. on February 

28, 2005. Specifically, the completed 

electronic forms must be received in the 

Office’s server by that time. Any claim 

received after that time will be 

considered untimely filed. As such, 

claimants submitting their claims on–

line are strongly encouraged to submit 

their claim no later than February 25, 

2005, in order to avoid any unforseen 

delays in receipt of claims by the Office. Claimants filing their claims on–line 

can ascertain the timeliness of their 

claim by the receipt of two 

confirmations. First, immediately after 

submitting the claim, a confirmation 

page will appear showing a copy of the 

claim submitted, noting the attachment 

of a file, when applicable, and 

displaying the time and date the claim 

was submitted. Second, the claimant 

will receive shortly thereafter an 

electronic mail message stating that the 

Office has received their submission. 

Therefore, claimants utilizing this filing 

option are required to provide an e–mail 

address. The electronic mail message 

will show a copy of the claim filed, will 

contain a copy of the attachment listing 

the names of joint claimants to a joint 

claim, when applicable, and will note 

the time and date of submission. Either 

confirmation will constitute sufficient 

proof of a timely filed on–line claim 

should a question arise regarding 

timeliness. Therefore, claimants should 

not consider their claims successfully 

submitted to the Office until they 

receive at least one of the two 

aforementioned forms of official 

confirmation. If for some reason neither 

confirmation is received and the 

claimant is unable to complete the 

electronic filing process, the claimant 

should immediately notify the Office of 

the problem and be prepared to submit 

a claim by other means such as by hand 

delivery or by mail in accordance with 

§259.5.

When filing claims on–line, all 

provisions set forth in 37 CFR part 259 

apply except §259.3(b), which requires 

the original signature of the claimant or 

of the claimant’s duly authorized 

representative on the claim. The Office 

is waiving this provision for this filing 

period because at this time the Office is 

not equipped to receive and process 

electronic signatures. b. Facsimile

Claims may be filed with the Office 

via facsimile transmission and such 

filings must be sent to (202) 252–3423. 

Claims filed in this manner must be 

received in the Office no later than 5 

p.m. E.S.T. on February 28, 2005. The 

fax machine will be disconnected at that 

time. Claims sent to any other fax 

number will not be accepted by the 

Office.

When filing claims via facsimile 

transmission, claimants must follow all 

provisions set forth in 37 CFR part 259 

with the exception of §259.5(d), which 

prohibits the filing of claims by 

facsimile transmission. The Office is 

waiving this provision at this time in 

order to assist claimants in the timely 

filing of their claims.

c. Hand Delivery by Private Party

The Office encourages claimants who 

do not file their claims electronically or 

by facsimile to deliver their claims 

personally by 5 p.m. E.S.T. on any 

business day, during the months of 

January and February 2005 and no later 

than February 28, 2005. Claimants are 

reminded that on June 30, 2004, the 

Office amended its regulations to reflect 

the new procedures for delivering items 

to the Copyright Office, including the 

filing of claims. 69 FR 39331 (June 30, 

2004). Therefore, claimants personally 

delivering their claims should deliver 

their claims to the Copyright Office’s 

Public Information Office located at 

LM–401 of the James Madison Memorial 

Building. To ensure that the claims are 

directed to the Office of the General 

Counsel, an original and two copies of 

each claim should be placed in an 

envelope addressed in the following 

manner: Office of the General Counsel/

CARP, U.S. Copyright Office, James 

Madison Memorial Building, LM–401, 

First and Independence Avenue, S.E., 

Washington, D.C. 20559–6000. The 

Public Information Office is open 

Monday–Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., 

except federal holidays. 37 CFR 

259.5(a)(1).

If a claimant does not address the 

envelope in accordance with the 

instructions herein and the envelope is 

misdirected and consequently does not 

reach the Public Information Office by 

5 p.m. on Monday, February 28, 2005, 

such claims will be considered as 

untimely filed and will be rejected. 

Claimants should also note that the 

Public Information Office closes 

promptly at 5 p.m. The Copyright Office 

will not accept any claim that a 

claimant attempts to deliver after the 

Public Information Office has closed.

In addition, claimants hand delivering 

their claims should note that they must

69290 Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 228 / Monday, November 29, 2004 / Rules and Regulations 

follow all provisions set forth in 37 CFR 

part 259.

d. Hand Delivery by Commercial 

Courier

Section 259.5(a)(2) directs that claims 

delivered by a commercial courier must 

be delivered directly to the 

Congressional Courier Acceptance Site 

(‘‘CCAS’’) located at 2nd and D Streets, 

N.E. The CCAS will accept items from 

couriers with proper identification, e.g., 

a valid driver’s license, Monday through 

Friday, between 8:30 a.m. and 4 p.m. 

The envelope containing an original and 

two copies of each claim should be 

addressed as follows: Office of the 

General Counsel/CARP, Room LM–403, 

James Madison Memorial Building, 101 

Independence Avenue, S.E., 

Washington, D.C. The date of receipt as 

documented by CCAS will be 

considered the date of receipt by the 

Copyright Office for purposes of timely 

filing. Any claim received by CCAS 

which does not have a date stamp of 

February 28, 2005, or earlier, will be 

considered untimely for this filing 

period and will be rejected by the 

Copyright Office.

Claimants delivering their claims by 

commercial courier should note that 

they must follow all provisions set forth 

in 37 CFR part 259.

e. By Mail

Section 259.5(a)(3) directs claimants 

filing their claims by mail to send the 

claims to the Copyright Arbitration 

Royalty Panel, P.O. Box 70977, 

Southwest Station, Washington, DC 

20024. Claimants electing to send their 

claims by mail are encouraged to send 

their claims by certified mail return 

receipt requested, to have the certified 

mail receipt (PS Form 3800) stamped by 

the United States Postal Service, and to 

retain the certified mail receipt in order 

to provide proof of timely filing, should 

the claim reach the Office after February 

28, 2005. In the event there is a question 

as to whether the claim was deposited 

with the United States Postal Service 

during the months of January or 

February, the claimant must produce 

the certified mail receipt (PS Form 

3800) which bears a United States Postal 

Service postmark, indicating an 

appropriate date. 37 CFR 259.5(e). 

Claims received after February 28, 2005, 

dated with only a business meter mark 

will be rejected as untimely unless the 

claimant is able to produce the certified 

mail receipt. See Universal Studios 

LLLP v. Peters, 308 F.Supp.2d 1 (D.D.C. 

2004); Metro–Goldwyn–Mayer Studios, 

Inc. v. Peters, 309 F.Supp.2d 48 (D.D.C. 

2004).

Claimants should also note that 

§259.5(a)(4) prohibits the filing of 

claims by overnight delivery services 

such as Federal Express, United Parcel 

Service, etc. Claimants opting to file 

their claims by means of overnight 

delivery must use the Express Mail 

service provided by the U.S. Postal 

Service and address the envelope as 

instructed in this section. Using this 

service will better ensure the 

procurement of a January or February 

postmark and the receipt of the claim by 

the Office in a timely manner.

However, as noted above, disruption 

of the mail service and delivery of 

incoming mail to an off–site screening 

center have reduced the timeliness of 

receipt of mail by the Copyright Office. 

Therefore, the Office suggests that 

claimants use the mail only if none of 

the other methods outlined above are 

feasible.

When filing claims by this method, 

claimants must follow all provisions set 

forth in 37 CFR part 259.

Waiver of Regulation

The regulations governing the filing of 

DART claims require ‘‘the original 

signature of the claimant or of a duly 

authorized representative of the 

claimant,’’ 37 CFR 259.3(b), and do not 

allow claims to be filed by ‘‘facsimile 

transmission,’’ 37 CFR 259.5(d). This 

Notice, however, waives these 

provisions as set forth herein solely for 

the purpose of filing claims to the 2004 

DART royalties. The Office is not 

waiving the statutory deadline for the 

filing of DART claims, a deadline the 

Office has no power to waive. See, 

United States v. Locke, 471 U.S. 84, 101 

(1985). Thus, claimants are still required 

to file their claims by February 28, 2005.

Waiver of an agency’s rules is 

‘‘appropriate only if special 

circumstances warrant a deviation from 

the general rule and such deviation will 

serve the public interest.’’ Northeast 

Cellular Telephone Company v. FCC, 

897 F.2d 1164, 1166 (D.C. Cir. 1990); see 

also, Wait Radio v. FCC, 418 F.2d 1153 

(D.C. Cir. 1969), cert. denied, 409 U.S. 

1027 (1972). Under ordinary 

circumstances, the Office is reluctant to 

waive its regulations. However, due to 

the continuing delays in the delivery of 

mail and the transition to an electronic 

filing system, the Office believes under 

these special circumstances the public 

interest will best be served by waiving, 

for this filing period, for the final time 

the requirement that DART claims bear 

the original signature of the claimant or 

of a duly authorized representative of 

the claimant, when, and only when, 

such claim is filed on–line through the 

Office’s website. See 67 FR at 5214.

Since the Office cannot waive the 

statutory deadline set forth in 17 U.S.C. 

1007 and accept claims filed after 

February 25, 2005, see Locke, supra, the 

Office believes the public interest will 

be served by providing claimants with 

alternative methods of filing, in addition 

to those set forth in the regulations, in 

order to assist them in timely filing their 

claims. By allowing claims to be filed 

on–line and by facsimile transmission, 

the Office is affording to all claimants 

an equal opportunity to meet the 

statutory deadline.

Dated: November 22, 2004.

Marybeth Peters,

Register of Copyrights.

[FR Doc. 04–26266 Filed 11–26–04; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 1410–33–S

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 

AGENCY 

40 CFR Part 51

[FRL–7840–7] 

RIN 2060–AK37

Air Quality: Revision to Definition of 

Volatile Organic Compounds—

Exclusion of Four Compounds

AGENCY: Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Final rule.

SUMMARY: This action revises EPA’s 

definition of volatile organic 

compounds (VOC) for purposes of 

preparing State implementation plans 

(SIPs) to attain the national ambient air 

quality standards (NAAQS) for ozone 

under title I of the Clean Air Act (CAA). 

This revision would add four 

compounds to the list of compounds 

excluded from the definition of VOC on 

the basis that these compounds make a 

negligible contribution to tropospheric 

ozone formation. This revision will 

modify the definition of VOC to say 

that: 1,1,1,2,2,3,3-heptafluoro-3-

methoxy-propane (n-C3F7OCH3) (known 

as HFE–7000); 3-ethoxy1,1,1,2,3,4,4,5,5,6,6,6-dodecafluoro-2-

(trifluoromethyl) hexane (known as 

HFE–7500, HFE-s702, T–7145, and L–

15381); 1,1,1,2,3,3,3-heptafluoropropane 

(known as HFC 227ea); and methyl 

formate (HCOOCH3) will be considered 

to be negligibly reactive. If you use or 

produce any of these four compounds 

and are subject to EPA regulations 

limiting the use of VOCs in your 

product, limiting the VOC emissions 

from your facility, or otherwise 

controlling your use of VOCs, then you 

will not count these four compounds as 

a VOC in determining whether you meet 

these regulatory obligations. This action 

may also affect whether these four 

compounds are considered to be VOCs