10820 Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 34 / Tuesday, February 23, 2021 / Rules and Regulations 

1 37 CFR 202.4; see 17 U.S.C. 408(c)(1). 

2 37 CFR 202.4(c)–(k). 3 84 FR 22762 (May 20, 2019). 

TABLE 1—NADAS FOR WHICH APPROVAL IS WITHDRAWN—Continued 

Application No. Trade name 

(drug) Sponsor 

045–863 ............. PALOSEIN (orgotein) ............................................................... OXIS International, Inc., 6040 N. Cutter Circle, suite 317, 

Portland, OR 97217–3935. 

046–922 ............. SERGEANTS SURE SHOT (n-butyl chloride) Capsules ........ ConAgra Pet Products Co., 3902 Leavenworth St., Omaha, 

NE 68105. 

046–923 ............. SERGEANTS (n-butyl chloride) Puppy Worm Capsules ......... ConAgra Pet Products Co., 3902 Leavenworth St., Omaha, 

NE 68105. 

065–067 ............. Tetracycline Hydrochloride Tablets .......................................... Premo Pharmaceutical Laboratories, Inc., 111 Leuning St., 

South Hackensack, NJ 07606. 

140–850 ............. ELITE (dichlorophene and toluene) Dog and Cat Wormer ..... RSR Laboratories, Inc., 501 Fifth St., Bristol, TN 37620. 

141–107 ............. BAPTEN for Injection (+-aminopropionitrile fumarate) ............ Alaco, Inc., 1500 North Wilmot Rd., suite 290–C, Tucson, AZ 

85712. 

The Commissioner of Food and Drugs 

(the Commissioner), under section 

512(e)(2)(A) of the Federal Food, Drug, 

and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. 

360b(e)(2)(A)), finds that the holders of 

the applications listed in this document 

have repeatedly failed to submit reports 

required by § 514.80. In addition, under 

§ 514.200(b), the Commissioner finds 

that the holders of the applications have 

waived any contentions concerning the 

legal status of the drug products. 

Therefore, under these findings, 

approval of the applications listed in 

this document, and all amendments and 

supplements thereto, is hereby 

withdrawn, effective February 23, 2021. 

Elsewhere in this issue of the Federal 

Register, FDA is amending the animal 

drug regulations to reflect the 

withdrawal of approval of these 

applications. 

Dated: February 11, 2021. 

Lauren K. Roth, 

Acting Principal Associate Commissioner for 

Policy. 

[FR Doc. 2021–03250 Filed 2–22–21; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4164–01–P 

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 

Copyright Office 

37 CFR Parts 201 and 202 

[Docket No. 2019–4] 

Group Registration of Works on an 

Album of Music 

AGENCY: U.S. Copyright Office, Library 

of Congress. 

ACTION: Final rule. 

SUMMARY: The U.S. Copyright Office is 

creating a new group registration option 

for musical works, sound recordings, 

and certain other works contained on an 

album. This option will permit the 

registration of a group of musical works 

or a group of sound recordings 

distributed together, regardless of 

whether such distribution occurs via 

physical or digital media. The final rule 

generally adopts the provisions set forth 

in the May 2019 notice of proposed 

rulemaking in this proceeding, with 

certain updates to reflect the planned 

implementation of new online 

applications for this option. 

DATES: Effective March 26, 2021. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Regan A. Smith, General Counsel and 

Associate Register of Copyrights, by 

email at regans@copyright.gov; Robert 

Kasunic, Associate Register of 

Copyrights and Director of Registration 

Policy and Practice, by email at rkas@

copyright.gov; or John R. Riley, 

Assistant General Counsel, by email at 

jril@copyright.gov. Each can be 

contacted by telephone at 202–707– 

8350. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Background 

The Copyright Act authorizes the 

Register of Copyrights to specify by 

regulation the administrative classes of 

works available for the purpose of 

seeking a registration and the nature of 

the deposits required for each class. In 

addition, Congress gave the Register the 

discretion to allow registration of groups 

of related works with one application 

and one filing fee, a procedure known 

as ‘‘group registration.’’ 1 Pursuant to 

this authority, the Register has issued 

regulations permitting the Office to 

issue group registrations for certain 

types of works, including for groups of 

newspapers, unpublished works, 

newsletters and serials, unpublished 

and published photographs, 

contributions to periodicals, secure test 

items, and short online literary works.2

On May 20, 2019, the Office 

published a Notice of Proposed 

Rulemaking (‘‘NPRM’’) proposing to 

create a new group registration option 

for musical works, sound recordings, 

and associated literary, pictorial, and 

graphic works contained on an album. 

This option is referred to as ‘‘Group 

Registration of Works on an Album of 

Music,’’ or ‘‘GRAM.’’ 3 The proposed 

rule would allow an applicant to 

register up to twenty musical works and 

twenty sound recordings, i.e., forty total 

works, if the works were fixed in the 

same phonorecord, if the works were 

created by the same author or had at 

least one common author, and if the 

claimant for each work in the group was 

the same. The proposed rule also would 

permit the registration of associated 

literary, pictorial, and graphic works in 

the album, such as cover art, liner notes, 

or posters. To exercise this option, the 

Office proposed that applicants would 

be required to submit their claims 

through the online copyright 

registration system using the Standard 

Application. 

The Office received thirteen 

comments in response to the NPRM, 

eleven from individuals, one from the 

National Music Publishers Association 

(‘‘NMPA’’), and a joint comment by the 

American Association of Independent 

Music (‘‘A2IM’’) and the Recording 

Industry Association of America 

(‘‘RIAA’’). Each commenter supported 

the Office’s proposal to create the new 

group registration option, though some 

suggested various amendments to the 

proposed rule, including removing the 

proposed limit on the number of works 

that may be included in each claim and 

clarifying who could be listed as a 

claimant of a work in a GRAM 

registration. 

Having reviewed and carefully 

considered the submitted comments, the 

Office now issues a final rule that 

generally follows the proposed rule, 

with some modifications. First, the rule 

requires claims under this option to be 

submitted using a new online 

Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 34 / Tuesday, February 23, 2021 / Rules and Regulations 10821 

4 84 FR at 22764, 22768. 

5A2IM & RIAA Comments at 4. 

6 Id. 

7 Id. at 5. 

8NMPA Comments at 3 (citing 84 FR at 22764). 

9See Album, Dictionary.com (2021 ed.), https:// 

www.dictionary.com/browse/album (‘‘a collection 

of audio recordings released together as a collected 

work’’). 

10 84 FR at 22764 (quoting U.S. Copyright Office, 

Compendium of U.S. Copyright Office Practices, 

Third Edition (‘‘Compendium (Third)’’) sec. 1107.1). 

11 84 FR at 22764. 

12 84 FR at 22768. 

13A2IM & RIAA Comments at 7–8; Jesse Morris 

Comments at 2. 

14See A2IM & RIAA Comments at 5; NMPA 

Comments at 3; Anonymous Anonymous 

Comments at 2 (‘‘20 seems low’’ but ‘‘25 to 30 

would cover most albums and a handful of 

soundtracks’’). Other commenters appeared 

satisfied with this number. See Anonymous Artist 

Comments at 2 (‘‘As a musician most of my albums 

contain 10 to 15 songs.’’); Brian Smith Comments 

at 2 (detailing desire to register ‘‘20 songs including 

music recordings and artwork’’); Rich Turgeon 

Comments at 2 (noting that it ‘‘[w]ould be nice to 

just keep [the GRAM registration option] 

straightforward and be able to register up to 12–13 

songs at a time’’). 

15A2IM & RIAA Comments at 5; NMPA 

Comments at 3. 

16NMPA Comments at 3. 

17 84 FR at 22764–65 & n.30. 

application specifically created for 

GRAM filings, rather than on the 

Standard Application. Second, to avoid 

inefficiencies in the examination 

process and ambiguities in the public 

record, the final rule requires groups of 

musical works and groups of sound 

recordings to be registered using 

separate applications. 

II. The Final Rule 

A. Eligibility Requirements 

1. Definition of an ‘‘Album’’; Number of 

Works 

The NPRM proposed limiting this 

group registration option to musical 

works, sound recordings, and any 

associated literary, pictorial, or graphic 

works on an album of music, such as 

liner notes and cover artwork. It defined 

an ‘‘album’’ as ‘‘a single physical or 

electronic unit of distribution 

containing at least two musical works 

and/or sound recordings embodied in 

phonorecords, including any associated 

literary, pictorial, or graphic works 

distributed with the unit.’’ 4 Three 

commenters requested clarification to 

ensure that the rule is sufficiently 

flexible to accommodate streaming 

services and other distribution models 

that do not involve the purchasing of 

copies. A2IM and RIAA argued that the 

term ‘‘album’’ should be eliminated, as 

it ‘‘appear[s] to be tied to physical 

distribution and to an ownership 

model’’ of music.5 They proposed 

instead using the term ‘‘release,’’ which 

would be defined as ‘‘a collection of two 

or more sound recordings or other 

media that are grouped together as those 

terms are used in the Copyright Act.’’ 6

In their view, this approach would have 

the advantage of ‘‘avoid[ing] the single 

unit of distribution concept’’ and would 

be ‘‘generic enough to embrace new 

release formats, such as a playlist that 

contains all new recordings released by 

a single artist and grouped together for 

commerce.’’ 7 NMPA did not propose a 

change to the regulatory text but urged 

the Office to consider adding language 

to the Compendium of U.S. Copyright 

Office Practices or a circular to clarify 

that ‘‘the GRAM option extends to 

albums that are not offered for digital 

purchase.’’ 8

The proposed definition of ‘‘album’’ is 

not intended to be limited to albums 

distributed under a model in which 

copies are acquired and retained by a 

purchaser—e.g., downloads or physical 

media. A collection of musical 

recordings presented and offered to the 

public under authority of the copyright 

owner as a self-contained, fixed group 

would qualify as ‘‘a single physical or 

electronic unit of distribution’’ for 

purposes of the rule, regardless of 

whether the works are accessed via 

download, stream, or other mechanism. 

The key consideration is whether there 

is some indication of the copyright 

owner’s intention to release the works 

together as a single collection, as 

distinguished from, for example, 

releasing them over time as additions to 

an evolving playlist.9 Thus, a group of 

songs presented together on a streaming 

service may qualify as an album, 

provided the other eligibility 

requirements are met. 

It is partly for this reason that the 

final rule defines ‘‘album’’ as a ‘‘unit of 

distribution.’’ As discussed in the 

NPRM, the Office’s existing ‘‘unit of 

publication’’ option has long provided a 

vehicle for registering albums released 

in physical formats, such as a ‘‘CD 

packaged with cover art and a leaflet 

containing lyrics’’ or a ‘‘box set of music 

CDs.’’ 10 While the Office has declined 

to extend the unit of publication option 

to digital products, the GRAM option is 

intended to provide an analogous 

mechanism for digital music albums, in 

part to ensure that albums ‘‘released 

first (or only) in digital formats’’ are 

eligible for similar registration 

options.11 The final rule accordingly 

retains the proposed definition, and the 

Office intends this further guidance to 

address comments regarding the scope 

of eligibility for the GRAM option. 

Some commenters expressed concern 

with the proposed requirement that an 

applicant ‘‘submit documentation . . . 

confirming that the musical works and/ 

or sound recordings were included on 

the album.’’ 12 A2IM and RIAA and an 

individual commenter, Jesse Morris, 

argued that it should be sufficient for an 

applicant to submit a sworn statement 

to that effect.13 The Office agrees with 

this recommendation. As part of the 

application, the applicant will be 

required to certify that the works being 

registered satisfy the requirements for 

this group registration option, including 

that the works in the group were all 

published on the same album. The 

language regarding documentation 

accordingly has been removed from the 

final rule. 

The NPRM also proposed to allow 

applicants to register up to twenty 

musical works or twenty sound 

recordings contained in an album. Some 

commenters requested that the Office 

remove or at least raise the twenty-work 

cap. In addition to noting that some 

albums contain more than twenty 

tracks,14 commenters pointed out that 

the Standard Application does not 

contain a title cap and voiced concern 

that applicants could include more than 

twenty tracks in error.15 NMPA 

suggested that such mistakes could 

result in a refusal to register or delays 

due to required correspondence.16 As 

discussed further below, however, the 

Office will not be using the Standard 

Application for this registration option, 

and therefore believes that such errors 

are less likely. The new application for 

claims registered under this option will 

include a system validation that should 

prevent applicants from listing more 

than twenty musical works or sound 

recordings in the application. 

More generally, the Office has 

concluded that a twenty-work cap is 

appropriate to balance the needs of 

applicants with the administrative 

capabilities of the Office. As noted in 

the NPRM, the Office believes that this 

limit will make this group option 

available to the majority of albums 

actually distributed in the market, and 

in any event, albums with more than 

twenty works would still benefit from 

this group option because applicants 

may be able to register additional works 

with a separate GRAM application.17

Removing or raising the cap would 

likely increase the average processing 

time for these applications and thereby 

undermine the efficiency of this group 

option. Indeed, there is a potential that 

even the twenty-work cap may prove 

inefficient if the average number of 

works on each application approaches 

twenty. The Office remains open to 

10822 Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 34 / Tuesday, February 23, 2021 / Rules and Regulations 

18 Id. at 22765. 

19 Id. at 22764. 

20A2IM & RIAA Comments at 8. 

21 Id. 22 84 FR at 22766. 

23A2IM & RIAA Comments at 6; Jesse Morris 

Comments at 1. 

24See Jesse Morris Comments at 1; A2IM & RIAA 

Comments at 6. 

25A2IM & RIAA Comments at 3. 

26 Id. at 3–4. 

revisiting this issue based on data that 

become available after implementation, 

including with respect to fees, staffing, 

and processing times.18

2. Custom Application; Works That May 

Be Included 

Under the proposed rule, an applicant 

could register up to twenty musical 

works and twenty sound recordings, i.e., 

forty total works, using the Standard 

Application if the works were fixed in 

the same phonorecord and the other 

regulatory requirements were met.19

A2IM and RIAA expressed concern over 

the requirement to use the Standard 

Application, urging the Office to instead 

‘‘create a dedicated GRAM application 

that runs on the existing system.’’ 20

They observed that this approach would 

‘‘[n]ot only . . . encourage use of GRAM 

by smaller, less sophisticated, less 

frequent users,’’ but also would ‘‘lead to 

fewer telephone inquiries from 

copyright owners and [would] require 

less correspondence from registration 

specialists, both of which will save the 

Office time and money.’’ 21 The Office 

agrees that decoupling GRAM 

applications from the Standard 

Application would greatly simplify the 

registration process for both applicants 

and Office staff, and therefore it has 

worked with the Library’s Office of the 

Chief Information Officer to develop 

new applications specifically for GRAM 

that can be accessed and submitted 

through the electronic registration 

system (‘‘eCO’’). The final rule has been 

updated to reflect this change. 

In the course of developing this 

functionality, the Office also determined 

that permitting the registration of both 

musical works and sound recordings 

using one application may give rise to 

complexities in the examination process 

that could hinder the Office’s efficient 

administration of the group option. For 

example, in cases where the musical 

works and sound recordings on an 

album have different authors, an 

applicant would be required to list all 

the authors of both the music and sound 

recordings, to list the titles of the works 

created by each author, and to provide 

an appropriate authorship statement to 

describe each author’s contribution(s) to 

each work. In the Registration Program’s 

experience, challenges or inaccuracies 

are likely to arise where the nature of 

the applicant’s authorship differs with 

respect to the musical work and the 

sound recording for multiple album 

tracks. For example, if an author created 

twenty sound recordings on an album, 

but wrote only ten of the musical works 

embodied in those recordings, she 

would be required to provide titles for 

all twenty works and exclude from the 

musical work claim the ten 

compositions she did not author by 

listing their titles in the Material 

Excluded field. Given the number of 

possible permutations, such 

requirements would likely lead to 

ambiguities requiring correspondence 

with the applicant, as well as potential 

inaccuracies in the public record, 

particularly where the applicant is 

unfamiliar with the distinction between 

musical works and sound recordings for 

copyright purposes. Because such 

correspondence would likely result in 

additional refusals or a higher fee for 

this group registration option to 

accommodate the additional Office 

resources needed, the Office has 

determined that it is preferable to create 

a bifurcated group option. 

The final rule accordingly provides 

for two separate types of applications. 

An applicant may register up to twenty 

musical works on an album using the 

application designated for ‘‘musical 

works from an album.’’ An applicant 

may register up to twenty sound 

recordings, as well as any associated 

literary, pictorial, or graphic works first 

published with the same album, using 

the application designated for ‘‘sound 

recordings from an album.’’ The initial 

version of the application for ‘‘musical 

works from an album’’ will not include 

an option for registration of these 

ancillary materials because the Office 

understands that typically these works 

are not authored or owned by the party 

that authored or owns the musical 

works. To the extent there is a need in 

the marketplace, however, the Office is 

open to considering a future update that 

would permit registration of such 

materials on the application for 

‘‘musical works from an album.’’ The 

Office welcomes public input on 

whether copyright owners would 

benefit from such an option. 

3. Title Information 

The NPRM proposed that an applicant 

be required to provide a title for the 

album, a title for each musical work 

and/or sound recording, titles for any 

associated literary, pictorial, or graphic 

works that are included in the group, 

and a title that identifies the group as a 

whole, starting with the word 

‘‘GRAM.’’ 22 Some commenters objected 

to the requirement to provide a separate 

title for the group. Among other 

concerns, they noted that the 

registration certificate would start with 

‘‘GRAM,’’ while the album offered for 

sale would not, causing potential 

confusion in the public record and in 

litigation.23

In light of these concerns, and 

because the group-title requirement was 

necessitated by the limitations of the 

Standard Application,24 the Office has 

eliminated this requirement. Instead, 

the GRAM applications will include a 

mandatory field for the title of the 

album, which will appear on the 

registration certificate and in the public 

record. The album title will be used to 

automatically generate a group title (e.g., 

‘‘Works published on the album 

[ALBUM TITLE]’’). The group title and 

the album title will both appear in the 

registration certificate and the public 

record. For applications that include 

literary, pictorial, or graphic works, the 

system will automatically generate titles 

for those works (e.g., ‘‘Liner notes, 

photograph(s), and/or artwork first 

published on the album [ALBUM 

TITLE]’’), although the applicant may 

provide a more specific title for those 

works by following the instructions 

given in the help text. The Office will 

add those titles to the public record 

when it examines the claim. 

4. Collective Work Registration 

RIAA and A2IM requested that the 

Office allow applicants to include the 

full album as a collective work as one 

of the works that can be registered on 

the GRAM application.25 They noted 

that some existing group registration 

options permit registration of both a 

collective work and the individual 

component works, citing the unit of 

publication and group serial options as 

examples.26 But these commenters did 

not explain why they believe there is a 

need for such an option in the GRAM 

application given that applicants 

already have the ability to register both 

a collective work and the individual 

works comprising it by filing a 

collective work claim using the 

Standard Application. As discussed in 

the NPRM, a collective work registration 

will extend to the individual component 

works if the copyright in those works is 

held by the owner of the collective work 

copyright, provided the component 

works contain sufficient original 

authorship and have not been 

Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 34 / Tuesday, February 23, 2021 / Rules and Regulations 10823 

27 84 FR at 22763 & n.16 (citing Compendium 

(Third) sec. 509.2; U.S. Copyright Office, Circular 

34: Multiple Works 2–3). 

28 Id. at 22765. 

29 Id. 

30NMPA Comments at 4 (quoting 84 FR at 22765– 

66). 

31 Id. 

32 37 CFR 202.3(a)(3); see also Compendium 

(Third) sec. 405.1. 

33See 17 U.S.C. 101 (‘‘A ‘transfer of copyright 

ownership’ is an assignment, mortgage, exclusive 

license, or any other conveyance, alienation, or 

hypothecation of a copyright or of any of the 

exclusive rights comprised in a copyright, whether 

or not it is limited in time or place of effect, but 

not including a nonexclusive license.’’). 

34The Office has an open rulemaking proceeding 

on this provision. See Registration of Copyright: 

Definition of Claimant, 77 FR 29257 (May 17, 2012). 

35 37 CFR 201.4; see also Document Recordation: 

Completing and Submitting Declarations of 

Ownership in Musical Works, U.S. Copyright Office, 

https://www.copyright.gov/recordation/domw/. 

36 84 FR at 22766. 

37NMPA Comments at 5. 

38 Id. 

39Because the statutory deposit requirements 

differ based on whether a work is first published 

within or outside the United States, see 17 U.S.C. 

408(b), the final rule requires that the nation of 

publication be the same for all works in the group. 

40A2IM & RIAA Comments at 7; Jesse Morris 

Comments at 2. 

previously published or registered.27

Thus, where a party seeks to register an 

album as a collective work in addition 

to registering the individual sound 

recordings and/or musical works, it may 

do so under the existing collective work 

option. The GRAM option will 

complement this option by facilitating 

registration of multiple works in cases 

where parties own copyrights in 

multiple individual works on an album 

but are ineligible for collective work 

registration—for example, because they 

are not the owner of the collective work 

copyright or because the particular 

selection and arrangement of tracks does 

not qualify as a collective work. Based 

on the record at this time, the final rule 

accordingly does not include this 

option. 

5. Author and Claimant 

Under the proposed rule, ‘‘all of the 

works claimed in the group must have 

a common author,’’ and ‘‘the copyright 

claimant(s) for each work must be the 

same person(s) or organization.’’ 28 The 

NPRM explained that ‘‘the claimant may 

either be (1) the author or co-author of 

all of the works, or (2) the party that 

owns all of the exclusive rights that 

initially belonged to the author or coauthors.’’ 29

NMPA asked the Office to clarify the 

definition of ‘‘claimant’’ for GRAM 

registration eligibility. Specifically, it 

expressed concern over the NPRM’s 

statement that ‘‘if the works were 

created by two or more co-authors, the 

claimant or co-claimant must own or coown all of the rights that initially 

belonged to the co-authors. If a party 

owns or co-owns the rights that initially 

belonged to some, but not all, of the coauthors, that party cannot be named as 

a copyright claimant.’’ 30 In NMPA’s 

view, this statement could ‘‘suggest that 

a claimant who has been assigned rights 

by a co-author of a work (for example, 

a music publisher to whom a songwriter 

who is a co-author of a song has 

assigned their rights) must have 

obtained all of the rights from all of the 

co-authors of a song.’’ 31

To clarify, the definition of 

‘‘claimant’’ for purposes of the GRAM 

option is not intended to differ from the 

generally applicable definition of that 

term. Under the Office’s regulations, a 

copyright claimant is either ‘‘(i) [t]he 

author of a work’’ or ‘‘(ii) [a] person or 

organization that has obtained 

ownership of all rights under the 

copyright initially belonging to the 

author.’’ 32 Thus, a publisher that is the 

transferee of all of the exclusive rights 

of a joint author of eligible works may 

be listed as a claimant for purposes of 

a GRAM application, even if the 

publisher has not received rights from 

other joint authors. If, however, only a 

subset of a joint author’s exclusive 

rights have been transferred to it, the 

publisher would not qualify as a 

claimant. While the Office cannot 

advise as to how this standard may 

apply to specific types of assignments, 

whether a given transaction constitutes 

a transfer of copyright ownership—as 

distinguished from merely a 

nonexclusive license—will be governed 

by the statutory definition of that 

term.33

To the extent NMPA’s comment is 

raising concerns regarding the 

‘‘claimant’’ definition more generally, 

the Office notes that any changes to that 

provision would have implications for a 

broader range of stakeholders than those 

affected by the GRAM option. The 

Office therefore does not believe that 

this proceeding is the appropriate forum 

for consideration of such changes, 

although it is open to considering this 

question more broadly.34 As the Office 

continues development of its nextgeneration registration system, however, 

it will continue to explore ways to better 

accommodate registrations involving 

jointly owned works, and welcomes 

input from NMPA and other interested 

parties. The Office also notes that a 

third party who is assigned a copyright 

interest but does not qualify as a 

claimant for GRAM registration 

purposes may record its ownership 

information in the Office’s public 

record.35 Moreover, as noted above, an 

author of the work may always be listed 

as a claimant. 

6. Publication Information 

Commenting parties did not object to 

the requirement that a GRAM 

application must ‘‘specify the date and 

nation of publication for the album.’’ 36

NMPA, however, expressed concern 

over the requirement that all eligible 

works in the group be published on the 

album on the same date, noting that it 

is common for a song to be published 

as a single before it is published as part 

of an album.37 It suggested that the 

Office allow previously published 

works that are later included on an 

album to be included in a GRAM 

registration ‘‘to maximize the [GRAM 

option’s] usefulness’’ and ‘‘to encourage 

an accurate public record.’’ 38 The Office 

has amended the final rule to allow for 

the registration of a musical work or 

sound recording that was previously 

published as an individual work only 

(e.g., as a single), provided that the 

application includes the statutorilyrequired date of first publication for 

each of the works.39 Applicants should 

provide this information in the ‘‘Note to 

Copyright Office’’ field in the relevant 

GRAM application. The certificate of 

registration will be annotated to reflect 

the additional publication dates. 

In addition, A2IM and RIAA and Jesse 

Morris separately asked for a 

clarification in the final rule that 

previously published or registered 

works that were later contained on an 

album may be excluded from the GRAM 

application claim.40 These parties were 

concerned that the inclusion of a 

previously published single would 

disqualify the entire album from the 

GRAM registration option. This was not 

the intent of the proposed rule. 

Applicants should disclaim ineligible 

works by listing the titles of those works 

in the Material Excluded field. 

B. Application Requirements 

As discussed, the Office is developing 

two new online applications specifically 

for this group option—one application 

for musical works, and another 

application for sound recordings and 

any associated literary, pictorial, or 

graphic works included with the same 

album. These applications are currently 

expected to be implemented into the 

eCO system this spring by the OCIO. 

Nevertheless, the availability of the 

GRAM applications is ultimately 

dependent on the completion of system 

development and may be affected by 

unanticipated delays in that process. 

10824 Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 34 / Tuesday, February 23, 2021 / Rules and Regulations 

41 84 FR at 22766. 

42U.S. Copyright Office, Proposed Schedule and 

Analysis of Copyright Fees to Go into Effect in 

Spring 2020 at 20 (2019), https://

www.copyright.gov/rulemaking/feestudy2018/ 

proposed-fee-schedule.pdf. 

43 Id. at 29. 

44See 17 U.S.C. 708(b)(5). 

45Copyright Office Fees, 85 FR 9374 (Feb. 19, 

2020). 

46 Id. at 9380–81. 

47 Id. 

48See A2IM & RIAA Comments at 6 (‘‘[W]e would 

be open to a fee structure whereby some baseline 

number of tracks (e.g., 20) can be included as part 

of the basic group registration fee and additional 

tracks can be included in the same GRAM 

application for an additional surcharge (e.g., $1–$2 

per track for each additional track).’’). 

49See Registration Modernization, 85 FR 12704, 

12706 (Mar. 3, 2020). 

50 84 FR at 22767. 

51 Id. 

52 Id. 

53 Id. 

54A2IM & RIAA Comments at 7. 

55The Copyright Act authorizes the Register of 

Copyrights to specify by regulation ‘‘the nature of 

the copies or phonorecords to be deposited’’ with 

respect to particular administrative classes 

established for purposes of registration. 17 U.S.C. 

408(c)(1); see also id. at 408(b) (establishing deposit 

requirements, ‘‘[e]xcept as provided by sub-section 

(c)’’). For purposes of this group option, the Office 

has adopted the same deposit requirements 

applicable to the relevant categories of works under 

individual applications, in order to avoid affecting 

the Library’s collections policies. 

56 Id. 

57The Copyright Act provides that, in the case of 

a work first published outside the United States, 

only one copy or phonorecord is required for 

deposit. 17 U.S.C. 408(b)(3). The final rule has been 

updated to reflect this distinction. 

58As noted, the application for ‘‘musical works 

from an album’’ will not initially permit the 

registration of ancillary materials. The final rule has 

been revised to reflect this limitation. 

59 84 FR at 22767. 

60 Id. 

61See 37 CFR 202.4(j)(7). 

The Office will issue a public 

announcement when implementation is 

complete and this option is available to 

applicants. 

The Office will provide detailed 

information on group eligibility 

requirements and instructions on 

completing the applications on its 

website, including a video and webinar. 

C. Filing Fee 

The NPRM provided that the filing fee 

for the GRAM option would be $55, the 

fee applicable to claims submitted on 

the Standard Application. It further 

noted that the Office had recently 

proposed to increase the Standard 

Application fee to $75 and that if that 

proposal were adopted, the new fee 

would apply to GRAM claims.41

Subsequently, the Office submitted a 

final proposed schedule and analysis of 

fees to Congress in which it reduced the 

proposed increase to $65.42 Based on 

the comments received in the fee study 

proceeding, and in light of the Office’s 

inability under the current registration 

system to charge different prices for 

different types of works submitted on 

the Standard Application, at the time its 

fee study was submitted to Congress, the 

Office reiterated its recommendation 

that the GRAM fee be the same as the 

Standard Application fee.43

Following the 120-day statutory 

period for congressional review,44 the 

Office promulgated a final rule 

implementing the proposed fee 

schedule.45 The rule noted the Office’s 

expectation that GRAM registrations 

would ‘‘require a workflow similar to 

claims submitted on the Standard 

Application’’ and that commenters in 

the fee study proceeding generally 

supported linking the two fees.46 To 

avoid potential confusion, the Office did 

not adopt the GRAM fee as part of that 

rule, noting that it instead would adopt 

the fee when it issued a final rule 

implementing the GRAM option.47

Although the Office is now providing 

standalone applications for GRAM 

submissions, it continues to believe it is 

appropriate to charge the same fee as is 

charged for Standard Application 

filings. The Office believes that it is 

reasonable to set the GRAM fee, at least 

initially, at the same level as previously 

noted, given the similarities in expected 

workflow associated with examining 

these claims and the lack of additional 

data to support an alternate level. The 

final rule therefore establishes a $65 fee. 

Given, however, that the Office now has 

greater flexibility to adjust fees 

specifically for this option, it will gather 

additional data to determine if this 

amount should be adjusted once this 

option is implemented.48 The Office 

also is open to considering differential 

price options following implementation 

of its next-generation registration 

system.49

D. Deposit Requirements 

The NPRM noted that ‘‘[t]he deposit 

requirements for this group registration 

option will be the same as the 

requirements that normally apply to 

claims involving musical works, sound 

recordings, and associated album 

material.’’ 50 The Office proposed that 

for GRAM claims that include sound 

recordings, ‘‘the applicant should 

submit two physical phonorecords, 

along with two physical copies of any 

related album material,’’ if the album 

was published in physical form or in 

both physical and digital form.51 ‘‘If the 

album was published solely in digital 

form, the applicant may upload a digital 

phonorecord along with a digital copy 

of any related album material.’’ 52 For 

GRAM claims that do not include sound 

recordings, the Office proposed that 

‘‘the applicant should submit a 

complete phonorecord of each musical 

work being registered’’ and a complete 

copy of any associated literary, pictorial, 

or graphic works associated with the 

claim.53

A2IM and RIAA requested that ‘‘when 

the works are available in both physical 

and digital form the applicant be 

permitted to select whether to submit a 

physical or digital deposit,’’ reasoning 

that ‘‘digital copies are much easier and 

less expensive for record labels to 

provide than physical ones.’’ 54 These 

deposit requirements, however, are 

designed to conform to the best edition 

requirements applicable to these types 

of works generally.55 Because musical 

works published solely on 

phonorecords are not subject to the best 

edition requirement, the authors and 

owners of these works may submit 

digital phonorecords regardless of how 

the album was published.56 Conversely, 

sound recordings are subject to the best 

edition requirement, and therefore 

authors and owners of those works must 

submit copies in either physical or 

digital form, depending on how the 

work was published.57 It is beyond the 

scope of this proceeding to consider 

potential changes to those requirements. 

The final rule therefore generally retains 

the NPRM’s deposit provisions, with 

updates to reflect the two new GRAMspecific applications.58

As noted in the NPRM, for digital 

deposits, each work must be contained 

in a separate electronic file, assembled 

in an orderly form in one of the 

acceptable file formats listed on the 

Office’s website, and uploaded as 

individual electronic files (not .zip files) 

to the electronic submission system.59

The NPRM provided that a submission 

will be considered ‘‘orderly’’ if the file 

name for each work can reasonably be 

matched with the corresponding title 

entered on the application so that the 

examiner can verify that the correct 

works were uploaded.60 No party 

commented on this requirement. The 

final rule incorporates this requirement 

into the regulatory text, providing that 

‘‘[t]he file name for each work must 

match the title as submitted on the 

application.’’ This provisions tracks 

language in the recently issued final 

rule for group registration of short 

online literary works,61 and is intended 

to avoid potential confusion resulting 

from inconsistent designations. 

Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 34 / Tuesday, February 23, 2021 / Rules and Regulations 10825 

62 17 U.S.C. 408(d). 

63 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(A). 

64 JEM Broad. Co. v. F.C.C., 22 F.3d 320, 326 (D.C. 

Cir. 1994) (internal citation omitted). 

E. Supplementary Registrations 

A supplementary registration is a 

special type of registration that may be 

used ‘‘to correct an error in a copyright 

registration or to amplify the 

information given in a registration.’’ 62

The Office has created multiple versions 

of a form that may be used to correct or 

amplify information in registrations 

made under specified group registration 

options, but the Office has not yet 

created a version for a registration of a 

group of works on an album of music. 

Therefore, the final rule clarifies that 

applicants should contact the Office of 

Registration Policy & Practice to obtain 

instructions before seeking a 

supplementary registration involving 

these types of claims. 

This update constitutes a change to a 

‘‘rule[] of agency . . . procedure[] or 

practice.’’ 63 It does not ‘‘alter the rights 

or interests of parties,’’ but merely 

‘‘alter[s] the manner in which the 

parties present themselves or their 

viewpoints to the agency.’’ 64 It therefore 

is not subject to the notice and comment 

requirements of the Administrative 

Procedure Act. 

List of Subjects 

37 CFR Part 201 

Copyright, General provisions. 

37 CFR Part 202 

Copyright, Preregistration and 

registration of claims to copyright. 

Final Regulations 

For the reasons set forth in the 

preamble, the Copyright Office amends 

37 CFR parts 201 and 202 as follows: 

PART 201—GENERAL PROVISIONS 

■ 1. The authority citation for part 201 

continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 17 U.S.C. 702. 

■ 2. Amend § 201.3 by: 

■ a. Redesignating paragraphs (c)(9) 

through (c)(28) as paragraphs (c)(10) 

through (c)(29), respectively. 

■ b. Adding new paragraph (c)(9). 

The addition reads as follows: 

§ 201.3 Fees for registration, recordation, 

and related services, special services, and 

services performed by the Licensing 

Division. 

* * * * * 

(c) * * * 

* * * * * 

(9) Registration of a group of works on 

an album 65 

* * * * * 

PART 202—PREREGISTRATION AND 

REGISTRATION OF CLAIMS TO 

COPYRIGHT 

■ 3. The authority citation for part 202 

continues to read as follows: 

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

■ 4. Amend § 202.4 by: 

■ a. Redesignating paragraphs (k) 

through (n) as paragraphs (o) through 

(r), respectively. 

■ b. Adding new paragraph (k). 

■ c. Adding and reserving new 

paragraphs (l), (m), and (n). 

■ d. Amend the newly redesignated 

paragraph (r), by removing the words 

‘‘or (k)’’ and adding in its place the 

words ‘‘(k), or (o)’’. 

The addition reads as follows: 

§ 202.4 Group registration. 

* * * * * 

(k) Group registration of works on an 

album. Pursuant to the authority 

granted by 17 U.S.C. 408(c)(1), the 

Register of Copyrights has determined 

that a group of two or more musical 

works, or two or more sound recordings 

and any associated literary, pictorial, or 

graphic works, may be registered with 

one application, the required deposit, 

and the filing fee required by § 201.3 of 

this chapter, if the following conditions 

are met: 

(1) Eligible works. (i) All of the works 

in the group must be contained on the 

same album. For the purposes of this 

section, an album is a single physical or 

electronic unit of distribution 

containing at least two musical works 

and/or sound recordings embodied in a 

phonorecord, including any associated 

literary, pictorial, or graphic works 

distributed with the unit. 

(ii) The group may include: 

(A) Up to twenty musical works; or 

(B) Up to twenty sound recordings 

and any associated literary, pictorial, or 

graphic works included with the same 

album. 

(iii) The applicant must provide a title 

for the album and a title for each 

musical work or sound recording 

claimed in the group. 

(iv) All of the works in the group must 

be created by the same author or the 

works must have a common joint 

author, and the copyright claimant or 

co-claimants for each work must all be 

the same person(s) or organization. The 

works may be registered as works made 

for hire if they are identified in the 

application as such. 

(v) As a general rule, all of the works 

must be first published on the same 

album, the date and nation of 

publication for each work must be 

specified in the application, and the 

nation of publication for each work 

must be the same. A musical work or 

sound recording that was previously 

published as an individual work only 

(e.g., as a single) may be included in the 

claim if the date of first publication for 

that work is listed separately in the 

application. 

(2) Application. If the group consists 

of sound recordings and, as applicable, 

any associated literary, pictorial, or 

graphic works, the applicant must 

complete and submit the application 

designated for ‘‘sound recordings from 

an album.’’ If the group consists of 

musical works, the applicant must 

complete and submit the application 

designated for ‘‘musical works from an 

album.’’ The application may be 

submitted by any of the parties listed in 

§ 202.3(c)(1). 

(3) Deposit. (i) For claims in works 

first published in the United States 

submitted with the application for 

‘‘sound recordings from an album,’’ the 

applicant must submit two complete 

phonorecords containing the best 

edition of each recording, and two 

complete copies of any associated 

literary, pictorial, or graphic works that 

are included in the group. For claims in 

works first published outside the United 

States submitted with this application, 

the applicant must submit one complete 

phonorecord of the work either as first 

published or of the best edition. A 

phonorecord will be considered 

complete if it satisfies the requirements 

set forth in § 202.19(b)(2). The deposit 

may be submitted in a digital form if the 

album has been distributed solely in a 

digital format, and if the requirements 

set forth in paragraph (k)(3)(iii) of this 

section have been met. 

(ii) For claims submitted with the 

application for ‘‘musical works from an 

album,’’ the applicant must submit one 

complete phonorecord of each musical 

work that is included in the group. 

(iii) The deposit may be submitted in 

a digital form if the following 

requirements have been met. Each work 

must be contained in a separate 

electronic file. The files must be 

assembled in an orderly form, they must 

be submitted in one of the electronic 

formats approved by the Office, and 

they must be uploaded to the electronic 

registration system as individual 

electronic files (not .zip files). The file 

size for each uploaded file must not 

exceed 500 megabytes; the files may be 

compressed to comply with this 

requirement. The file name for each 

work must match the title as submitted 

on the application. 

10826 Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 34 / Tuesday, February 23, 2021 / Rules and Regulations 

1 In the ‘‘addresses’’ section, the proposed 

rulemaking stated: ‘‘To reduce the risk of COVID– 

19 transmission, for this action we will not be 

accepting comments submitted by mail or hand 

delivery’’ (85 FR 33052). 

(4) Special relief. In an exceptional 

case, the Copyright Office may waive 

the online filing requirement set forth in 

paragraph (k)(2) 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. 

* * * * * 

§ 202.6 [Amended] 

■ 5. Amend § 202.6(e)(2) by: 

■ a. Removing ‘‘or for’’ after and adding 

‘‘,’’ in its place and adding ‘‘, or a group 

of works published on the same album 

registered under § 202.4(k),’’ after 

‘‘§ 202.4(j)’’. 

Dated: February 11, 2021. 

Shira Perlmutter, 

Register of Copyrights and Director of the 

U.S. Copyright Office. 

Approved by: 

Carla D. Hayden, 

Librarian of Congress. 

[FR Doc. 2021–03533 Filed 2–22–21; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 1410–30–P 

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 

AGENCY 

40 CFR Part 52 

[EPA–R08–OAR–2019–0643; FRL–10018– 

17–Region 8] 

Air Quality State Implementation 

Plans; Approval and Promulgation of 

Implementation Plans; Utah; 

Infrastructure Requirements for the 

2015 Ozone National Ambient Air 

Quality Standards; Correction 

AGENCY: Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA). 

ACTION: Final rule; correction. 

SUMMARY: On June 1, 2020, the 

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) 

published a rulemaking proposing to 

approve multiple elements of the 

infrastructure SIP requirements for the 

2015 ozone NAAQS for the State of 

Utah, while taking no action on three 

infrastructure elements (85 FR 33052). 

On September 16, 2020, we published a 

rulemaking taking final action on the 

proposal. The final rulemaking 

incorrectly stated that there were no 

comments received during the public 

comment period for the proposed 

rulemaking (85 FR 57731). One 

comment, submitted electronically on 

July 1, 2020, had been received but was 

inadvertently overlooked in the 

preparation of the September 16 final 

rule. In this correction document we 

will respond to the comment received. 

DATES: This rule is effective on February 

23, 2021. 

ADDRESSES: The EPA has established a 

docket for this action under Docket ID 

No. EPA–R08–OAR–2019–0643. All 

documents in the docket are listed at 

http://www.regulations.gov. Although 

listed in the index, some information is 

not publicly available, e.g., CBI or other 

information whose disclosure is 

restricted by statute. Certain other 

material, such as copyrighted material, 

is not placed on the internet and will be 

publicly available only in hard copy 

form. Publicly available docket 

materials are available through http://

www.regulations.gov, or you may 

contact the person identified in the FOR

FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section 

for additional availability information. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kate 

Gregory, (303) 312–6175, gregory.kate@

epa.gov. Mail can be directed to the Air 

and Radiation Division, U.S. EPA, 

Region 8, Mail-code 8ARD–QP, 1595 

Wynkoop Street, Denver, Colorado 

80202–1129. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Throughout this document ‘‘we,’’ ‘‘us,’’ 

and ‘‘our’’ means the EPA. 

I. Response to Comments 

Comment 

We received one anonymous 

comment on the proposed rulemaking. 

The commenter asserts that in stating 

that hard copy comments would not be 

accepted,1 the EPA was attempting to 

preclude submission of comments by 

‘‘post mail,’’ without prior public 

notification or rulemaking, in violation 

of the Administrative Procedure Act 

(APA). The commenter cited in 

particular 5 U.S.C. 553(c): ‘‘After notice 

required by this section, the agency 

shall give interested persons an 

opportunity to participate in the rule 

making through submission of written 

data, views, or arguments with or 

without opportunity for oral 

presentation.’’ The commenter stated 

that the EPA must re-propose the rule 

without excluding comments submitted 

by mail. 

The commenter also stated that they 

submitted a separate comment by postal 

mail. 

Response 

The EPA does not agree that the 

comment method offered was in 

violation of the APA, or that the 

comment period was otherwise legally 

insufficient in any way. The agency did 

not eliminate the opportunity for public 

comment, but rather temporarily 

eliminated one method of transmission 

of public comment, in light of public 

health concerns related to the COVID– 

19 pandemic. We provided notice of 

that temporary change in the proposed 

rule published at 85 FR 57731, in full 

compliance with the APA’s ‘‘prior 

public notification’’ requirement. 

Additionally, the proposed rule 

describes CAA comment submission 

requirements: 

‘‘The written comment is considered 

the official comment and should 

include discussion of all points you 

wish to make. The 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, 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.’’ (This site 

directs commenters to regulations.gov as 

our preferred method for submitting 

comments.) 

The APA requires agencies to provide 

an opportunity for public comment, but 

it does not dictate the form in which 

comments may be submitted, nor does 

it preclude agencies from imposing 

reasonable limitations or structures on 

comment submissions. Accordingly, the 

commenter’s assertion that the APA 

required the Agency here to accept 

comments on this proposal by postal 

mail is incorrect. In addition, the eGovernment Act of 2002 requires 

agencies to create electronic dockets for 

rulemakings and make those e-dockets 

available to the public; the EPA satisfied 

that requirement in this case by 

employing the Federal Rulemaking 

Portal at regulations.gov as an option for 

submitting comments on the proposed 

rulemaking. Further, the fact that the 

commenter was successfully able to 

submit a written comment by electronic 

means demonstrates that the notice and 

comment method used did not interfere 

with the commenter’s ability to 

comment on this action. 

As noted, the EPA was not required 

to accept comments by postal mail in 

this matter and did not do so. Even if 

we had chosen to accept a comment 

submitted by postal mail, the comment 

that the commenter claimed was 

submitted by postal mail was not found 

at the address listed in the proposed 

rule, or at any of the other agency