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[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 229 (Wednesday, November 27, 2024)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Page 93477]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-27819]

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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS

Copyright Royalty Board

37 CFR Part 385

[Docket No. Docket No. 24-CRB-0010-PR-COLA (2025)]

Cost of Living Adjustment to Royalty Rates and Terms for Making 
and Distributing Phonorecords

AGENCY: Copyright Royalty Board, Library of Congress.

ACTION: Final rule; cost of living adjustment.

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SUMMARY: The Copyright Royalty Judges announce a cost of living 
adjustment (COLA) in the royalty rates for the statutory license for 
making and distributing phonorecords of nondramatic musical works 
regarding physical phonorecords and Permanent Downloads.

DATES: 
    Effective date: November 27, 2024.
    Applicability date: These rates and terms are applicable during the 
period from January 1, 2025, through December 31, 2025.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Anita Brown, Program Specialist, (202) 
707-7658, [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section 115 of the Copyright Act, title 17 
of the United States Code, creates a statutory license for making and 
distributing phonorecords of nondramatic musical works. On December 16, 
2022, the Copyright Royalty Judges (Judges) adopted final regulations 
governing the rates and terms of copyright royalty payments under that 
license for the license period 2024-2027 for making and distributing 
phonorecords of nondramatic musical works. See 87 FR 76942.
    Pursuant to those regulations, at least 25 days before January 1 of 
each year, the Judges shall publish in the Federal Register notice of a 
cost of living adjustment (COLA) applicable to the royalty fees for 
making and distributing physical phonorecords and Permanent Downloads. 
See 37 CFR 385.11.
    The adjustment in the royalty fee shall be based on a calculation 
of the percentage increase in the Consumer Price Index for All Urban 
Consumers (CPI-U) published in November 2022 (298.012) \1\ (``base 
rate'') according to the following formulas: for the per-work rate, (1 
+ (Cy-298.012 \2\)/298.012) x 12[cent], rounded to the nearest tenth of 
a cent; for the per-minute rate, (1 + (Cy-298.012)/298.012) x 
2.31[cent], rounded to the nearest hundredth of a cent; where Cy is the 
CPI-U published by the Secretary of Labor before December 1 of the 
preceding year. 37 CFR 385.11(a)(2). The CPI-U published by the 
Secretary of Labor from the most recent index published before December 
1, 2024, is 315.664.\3\ Applying the formulas in 37 CFR 385.11(a)(2) 
results in an increase in the rates for 2025.
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    \1\ The CPI-U published in November 2022 is available at https://www.bls.gov/news.release/archives/cpi_11102022.htm at Table 1.
    \2\ Base rate.
    \3\ The CPI-U announced on November13, 2024, by the Bureau of 
Labor Statistics in its Consumer Price Index News Release--Consumer 
Price Index, is available at https://www.bls.gov/news.release/archives/cpi_11142024.htm at Table 1.
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    The adjusted rates for 2025 are 12.7 cents for the per-work rate 
and 2.45 cents for the per-minute rate.

List of Subjects in 37 CFR Part 385

    Copyright, Phonorecords, Recordings.

Final Regulations

    In consideration of the foregoing, the Judges amend part 385 of 
title 37 of the Code of Federal Regulations as follows:

PART 385--RATES AND TERMS FOR USE OF NONDRAMATIC MUSICAL WORKS IN 
THE MAKING AND DISTRIBUTING OF PHYSICAL AND DIGITAL PHONORECORDS

0
1. The authority citation for part 385 continues to read as follows:

    Authority:  17 U.S.C. 115, 801(b)(1), 804(b)(4).

0
2. Section 385.11 is amended by revising paragraph (a)(1) to read as 
follows:

Sec.  385.11  Royalty fees for the public performance of sound 
recordings and the making of ephemeral recordings.

    (a) * * *
    (1) 2025 rate. For the year 2025 for every physical phonorecord and 
Permanent Download the Licensee makes and distributes or authorizes to 
be made and distributed, the royalty rate payable for each work 
embodied in the phonorecord or Permanent Download shall be either 12.7 
cents or 2.45 cents per minute of playing time or fraction thereof, 
whichever amount is larger.
* * * * *

    Dated: November 22, 2024.
David P. Shaw,
Chief Copyright Royalty Judge.
[FR Doc. 2024-27819 Filed 11-26-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 1410-72-P
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