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[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 125 (Friday, June 28, 2013)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 38843-38845]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-15545]

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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS

United States Copyright Office

37 CFR Part 202

[Docket No. 2013-6]

Single Application Option

AGENCY: U.S. Copyright Office, Library of Congress.

ACTION: Interim final rule.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Copyright Office is amending its regulations on an 
interim basis in order to establish a new registration option called 
the ``single application.'' This application is being introduced in 
order to provide an additional option for individual authors/claimants 
registering a single (one) work that is not a work made for hire via 
the Copyright Office's electronic registration system (``eCO''). Such 
applications are the most administratively simple for the Copyright 
Office to process and may make copyright registration more attractive 
to individual authors of single works. This application option will be 
available on June 28, 2013, and the Copyright Office is inviting public 
comments during the first 60 days of its implementation. The single 
application option will cost the same--$35--as a standard electronic 
application.

DATES: Effective date: June 28, 2013. Comments date: Comments must be 
received by the Copyright Office of the General Counsel no later than 
August 28, 2013.

ADDRESSES: The Copyright Office strongly prefers that comments be 
submitted electronically. A comment page containing a comment form is 
posted on the Copyright Office Web site at http://www.copyright.gov/comments/single-application/comment-submission.html. The Web site 
interface requires submitters to complete a form specifying name and 
organization, as

[[Page 38844]]

applicable, and to upload comments as an attachment via a browse 
button. To meet accessibility standards, all comments must be uploaded 
in a single file not to exceed six megabytes (MB) in one of the 
following formats: The Portable Document File (PDF) format that 
contains searchable, accessible text (not an image); Microsoft Word; 
WordPerfect; Rich Text Format (RTF); or ASCII text file format (not a 
scanned document). The form and face of the comments must include both 
the name of the submitter and the organization. All comments will be 
posted publicly on the Copyright Office Web site exactly as they are 
received, along with names and organizations. If electronic submission 
of comments is not feasible, please contact the Copyright Office at 
(202) 707-8380 for special instructions.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Robert Kasunic, Associate Register of 
Copyrights and Director of Registration Policy & Practice, or Chris 
Weston, Attorney-Advisor, Office of the General Counsel, at (202) 707-
8380.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

    Prior Federal Register publications. On January 24, 2012, the 
Copyright Office (the ``Office'') published a notice of inquiry in the 
Federal Register seeking public comment on several issues (the 
``NOI''). 77 FR 3507 (Jan. 24, 2012). One--which is the subject of the 
present interim rule--was whether special consideration should be 
provided to registration of single works where the author is also the 
copyright owner and the work is not a work made for hire. (This is the 
``single application,'' as distinguished from the ``standard 
application.'') This question was asked in the context of an ongoing 
fee study by the Office. The Office received four comments to this 
notice responding to the question of a single application, all of them 
positive.
    On March 28, 2012, the Office published a comprehensive notice of 
proposed rulemaking proposing a new schedule of fees as well as 
proposing to offer a separate, easier application for ``a single author 
who is also the claimant for the online filing of a claim in a single 
work that is not a work made for hire'' (the ``NPR''). 77 FR 18743 
(Mar. 28, 2012). The notice also stated that the Office would provide 
more details on the single author/single work registration option in a 
later proposed rulemaking. The Office received 10 comments directed at 
the proposed single application. The issues raised in these comments 
are addressed below.
    Why an interim rule? As noted above, the Office previously stated 
that more details regarding the single author/single work registration 
option would be forthcoming. The present notice, then, serves the 
function of both a notice of proposed rulemaking--in that it seeks 
public comment on the rules governing the single application--and an 
interim rule--in that it simultaneously promulgates the single 
application. The Office believes that it received sufficient comment 
pursuant to its NPR that it is justified in publishing an interim rule 
regarding the implementation of the single application option. However, 
because only a description in the text of the NPR was provided, the 
Office is here providing the opportunity for the interested public to 
comment on the actual proposed text of the rule in the context of 
having the single application option available for public use and 
review. Because the rule covering this application is interim in 
nature, this allows the Office to modify it should such an action be 
warranted.

II. Discussion

    The reasons for establishing a separate single registration 
application option are spelled out in detail in the NOI. Briefly, the 
Office believes that those registration applications that take the 
least time to process should enjoy a simpler online application. The 
Office hopes that providing a simplified application option will 
encourage more individual creators to register their works.
    As initially proposed, the single application would only be 
available for ``an application to register a single work when the 
application is submitted by a person who is the sole author and the 
sole copyright owner of the work, the work is not a work made for hire, 
and the work does not contain material that was previously published or 
registered.'' 77 FR 3507 (Jan. 24, 2012). It was also suggested 
initially that the single application be available only via eCO, and 
that it may be used to register collections of works by the same 
author-claimant.
    As restated in the NPR, the single application was proposed to 
apply only to ``a single author who is also the claimant for the online 
filing of a claim in a single work that is not a work made for hire.'' 
77 FR 18743 (Mar. 28, 2012). Although the single application was 
initially conceived to require that the author, claimant, and remitter 
had to be the same individual, the Office has determined to allow a 
third party to remit a claim on behalf of an author-claimant, provided 
that the third party is also listed as the correspondent, and provided 
the claim meets the single registration requirements. The Office also 
determined that a claim for a single application may contain--but will 
not cover--material that was previously published or registered, so as 
to allow for the registration of certain derivative works.
    Based on the comments received the Office has determined that the 
following will be the boundaries of the types of claims that are 
eligible for submission using the single application to be implemented 
on June 28, 2013:
     Electronic registration only.
     Single author (does not include joint works).
     Single claimant/owner (does not include works made for 
hire or works where the claimant/owner is different from the author, 
i.e., transferred ownership).
     Single work (e.g., one song, one poem, one photograph. 
Does not include collective works, unpublished collections, units of 
publication, group registrations, databases, or Web sites).
    Regarding the requirement of one work per registration, while the 
Office is aware that many individual authors, particularly 
photographers, create multiple works that they may want to register at 
one time, registering multiple works creates a more complex 
application. A single electronic application will provide a more 
simplified registration option that would benefit the many individual 
applicants who submit such claims for registration. Any expansion 
beyond the limits listed above creates more complex applications, which 
take additional time to process, and are thus poor candidates for an 
application based on simplicity.
    This rationale applies as well to those commenters who argued that 
the single application should be available both to individual creators 
who incorporate for business reasons (e.g., an author who seeks to 
register a manuscript through a self-created corporate entity for tax 
or liability reasons) and to individuals or small businesses who 
commission works made for hire. Why, ask these commenters, are such 
authors--who are as much a part of the independent creative community 
as individuals who register their works as themselves--not also offered 
the benefit of a single application option? There should be no doubt 
that the Copyright Office agrees that works registered through a 
corporate entity or created for hire are worthy of copyright 
protection. It also recognizes that the business of creating and 
licensing creative works can be a complex one, even (or especially) for 
individuals and small businesses.

[[Page 38845]]

However, every deviation from the most simplified application, whether 
it be that the claimant is a corporation where the author is an 
individual, or the work is made for hire, creates, as noted above, more 
complexity for the registration process, and frustrates the goal of 
simplicity.
    In addition to adding regulations governing the single application, 
the Copyright Office is proposing minor technical amendments to the 
current regulation governing electronic registration in general, in 
order to clarify the requirements for sending physical copies or 
phonorecords as deposit copies. These changes appear in the new sub-
paragraph 202.3(b)(2)(i)(D).
    It is important to the Copyright Office that registration be as 
simple, equitable, and economical as possible. The Office believes that 
providing an easier option for registration for those authors who file 
the simplest kind of application is worthwhile, and may encourage 
registration and foster the development of a more robust public record.

III. Request for Comments

    The new online single registration application will appear as an 
option in eCO on June 28, 2013. The Office is providing the public an 
opportunity to comment on this implementation. The interim status of 
this rule means that it is likely to be revisited by the Copyright 
Office in the near future, which will offer the Office an opportunity 
to consider and act upon comments received.

List of Subjects in 37 CFR Part 202

    Preregistration and Registration of Claims to Copyright.

Interim Regulations

    In consideration of the foregoing, the Copyright Office amends part 
202 of 37 CFR as follows:

PART 202--PREREGISTRATION AND REGISTRATION OF CLAIMS TO COPYRIGHT

0
1. The authority section for part 202 continues to read as follows:

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

0
2. Amend Sec.  202.3 by revising paragraph (b)(2)(i) to read as 
follows:

Sec.  202.3  Registration of copyright.

* * * * *
    (b) * * *
    (2) * * *
    (i) Electronic applications. (A) An applicant may submit an 
application electronically through the Copyright Office Web site 
[www.copyright.gov] For non-group registrations, an applicant may 
submit a standard electronic application, or an applicant may submit a 
``single'' application.
    (B) A ``single'' application can be made only for a single work by 
a single author that is owned by the person who created it, and is not 
a work made for hire. The claimant and the author must be the same. A 
third party may remit a ``single'' application on behalf of the author/
claimant, provided that party lists itself as the correspondent. The 
following categories of work may not be registered using the ``single'' 
application: collective works, unpublished collections, units of 
publication, group registration options, databases, Web sites, works by 
more than one author, and works with more than one owner. The 
designation of a work as eligible for a ``single'' registration does 
not include work characterized as a ``single work'' under paragraph 
(b)(4) of this section.
    (C) An online submission requires a payment of the application fee 
through an electronic fund transfer, credit or debit card, or through a 
Copyright Office deposit account.
    (D) Deposit materials in support of an online application may be 
submitted electronically in a digital format (if eligible) along with 
the application and payment, or a remitter may send physical copies or 
phonorecords as necessary to satisfy the best edition requirements, by 
mail to the Copyright Office, using the required shipping slip 
generated during the online registration process.
* * * * *

    Dated: June 24, 2013.
Maria Strong,
Acting General Counsel, U.S. Copyright Office.
[FR Doc. 2013-15545 Filed 6-27-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4110-30-P
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