[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 45 (Tuesday, March 8, 2022)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 12861-12866]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-04745]


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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS

Copyright Office

37 CFR Parts 201 and 222

[Docket No. 2021-6]


Copyright Claims Board: Initiating of Proceedings and Related 
Procedures--Designation of Agents for Service of Process

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

ACTION: Final rule.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Copyright Office is amending its regulations to 
establish procedures governing the process by which corporations, 
partnerships, and unincorporated associations may designate agents to 
receive service of the initial notice of a proceeding and claim 
asserted against them before the Copyright Claims Board. The amended 
regulations provide the requirements for designating a service agent, 
amending

[[Page 12862]]

the designation, and maintaining the directory of designated service 
agents.

DATES: Effective April 7, 2022.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Megan Efthimiadis, Assistant to the 
General Counsel, by email at <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#ee838b889aae8d819e979c8789869ac0898198"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="68050d0e1c280b0718111a010f001c460f071e">[email protected]</span></a>, or by telephone at 
202-707-8350.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On September 29, 2021, the Office published 
a notice of proposed rulemaking (``NPRM'') to establish procedures 
governing the initial stages of a proceeding before the Copyright 
Claims Board (``CCB'').\1\ The Office is finalizing aspects of that 
proposed rule addressing the CCB's designated service agent directory 
in this partial final rule. The Office anticipates publishing another 
final rule in the future addressing the remainder of the proposed 
changes.
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    \1\ 86 FR 53897 (Sept. 29, 2021).
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I. Background

    The Copyright Alternative in Small-Claims Enforcement (``CASE'') 
Act of 2020 \2\ directs the Copyright Office to establish the CCB, a 
voluntary tribunal within the Office comprised of three Copyright 
Claims Officers who have the authority to render determinations on 
certain copyright claims for economic recoveries under the statutory 
threshold. The Office issued a notification of inquiry (``NOI'') to 
describe the CASE Act's legislative background and regulatory scope and 
to ask for public input on various topics,\3\ including a provision of 
the Act permitting corporations, partnerships, and unincorporated 
associations to designate agents to receive service of notices of 
proceedings and claims asserted against them.\4\ The CASE Act provides 
that service upon an entity that has designated a service agent must be 
made by delivering a copy of the notice and claim to that agent.\5\ The 
CASE Act also provides an alternative means for service upon 
corporations, partnerships, and unincorporated associations that have 
not designated a service agent.\6\
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    \2\ Public Law 116-260, sec. 212, 134 Stat. 1182, 2176 (2020).
    \3\ 86 FR 16156, 16161 (Mar. 26, 2021).
    \4\ 15 U.S.C. 1506(g)(5)(B).
    \5\ Id. at 1506(g)(5)(A).
    \6\ Id. at 1506(g)(5)(A)(i)-(ii).
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    Under the CASE Act, such entities may designate an agent ``by 
complying with requirements that the Register of Copyrights shall 
establish by regulation'' and the Register is directed to ``maintain a 
current directory of service agents that is available to the public for 
inspection, including through the internet.'' \7\ The Register may 
require designating entities to pay a fee to cover the costs of 
maintaining the directory.\8\
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    \7\ Id. at 1506(g)(5)(B).
    \8\ Id.
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    In September 2021, the Office published a NPRM to establish 
procedures governing the initial stages of a proceeding before the 
CCB.\9\ Among the provisions proposed in that notice were rules 
governing the process for designating a service agent. In both the NOI 
and the NPRM, the Office requested input on issues related to service 
of process and other papers in general as well as the designation of 
service agents in particular. Commenting parties were encouraged to 
review the Office's designated agent directory for online service 
providers created pursuant to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act 
(``DMCA''), and to discuss to what extent the Office should use that 
directory as a model. The Office also invited comments about how the 
system should indicate corporate parent-subsidiary relationships, and 
about fees.\10\
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    \9\ 86 FR 53897.
    \10\ Id. at 53900-01; 86 FR at 16160.
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    The NPRM proposed a rule that would allow a submitter to provide 
the same designated agent information for multiple companies, 
partnerships, or unincorporated associations, but would require a 
separate submission for each entity. The proposal would have required 
that a submission include identifying information for the business, 
including contact information, principal place of business, and for 
corporations, the state of incorporation, any associated state file or 
registration number, and all other states in which the corporation is 
registered to do business. It would have permitted organizations to 
list up to five alternate names under which they are doing business, 
i.e., trade names, which would be used for indexing the designation. 
Submissions would also have to provide contact information for the 
service agent and the designating entity's consent to service by mail, 
with an option to elect, in addition, to accept service by email at an 
email address to be provided in the directory. Unlike the DMCA 
designated agent directory, the CCB's designated service agent 
directory (``DSAD'') would not have to be renewed periodically, 
although existing designations could be amended by the designating 
entity.\11\
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    \11\ 86 FR at 53900-01; see also id. at 53907-08 (proposing 
Sec.  222.5(b)).
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    Noting that the fee for designating an agent in the DMCA designated 
agent directory is $6,\12\ the Office proposed the same fee for 
submitting or amending a designation to the DSAD.\13\
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    \12\ 37 CFR 201.3(c)(23) (assigning the fee for ``[d]esignation 
of agent under 17 U.S.C. 512(c)(2) to receive notification of 
claimed infringement, or amendment or resubmission of 
designation'').
    \13\ 86 FR at 53904; see also id. at 53905 (proposing Sec.  
201.3(g)(2)).
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II. Discussion

A. Limited Scope of This Rule

    The NPRM addressed numerous issues concerning the initial stages of 
a CCB proceeding, and a final rule addressing the rest of those issues 
is forthcoming. Meanwhile, to facilitate the submission of service 
agent designations in advance of the CCB's acceptance of claims, the 
Office is publishing this final rule on designating service agents 
before publishing that forthcoming rule.

B. Overview

    With a few exceptions discussed below, commenters generally 
supported the NPRM's proposed provisions on designating service agents. 
In response to those comments and for other reasons explained herein, 
the Office has revised the proposed rule to allow, under certain 
circumstances, inclusion of multiple affiliated entities in a single 
service agent designation, to increase the number of trade names that 
may be associated with an entity making a designation, and to make 
minor modifications regarding the information that must be provided in 
a designation. The final rule also includes some nonsubstantive 
technical edits to clarify the regulatory text, as well as the 
additional minor substantive edits described below.
    The relevant proposed regulatory text in the NPRM was set forth as 
Sec.  222.5(b) of the CCB regulations. For purposes of this final rule, 
the revised text has been removed from proposed Sec.  222.5 
(``Service'') and has become a new section, Sec.  222.6 (``Designated 
service agents''). In the forthcoming final rule governing other 
aspects of the initial stages of CCB proceedings, proposed Sec.  222.6 
(addressing waiver of service) will be included as part of Sec.  222.5.

C. Inclusion of Affiliated Entities in a Single Designation

    The proposed rule would have permitted a qualifying entity to 
provide the same designated agent information for related companies, 
partnerships, or unincorporated associations, but would have required a 
separate submission for each of those related entities. The proposed 
rule followed the model of the

[[Page 12863]]

Office's regulation governing the DMCA designated agent directory, 
which provides that ``[r]elated or affiliated service providers that 
are separate legal entities (e.g., corporate parents and subsidiaries) 
are considered separate service providers, and each must have its own 
separate designation.'' \14\
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    \14\ 37 CFR 201.38(b)(1)(i).
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    Multiple commenters urged that the final rule permit a corporate 
parent to designate a single designated agent for affiliated 
corporations as part of a single submission. One commenter summarized 
the position, similar to those taken by others, by noting that under 
the Office's proposed rule, ``companies with numerous subsidiaries may 
find it too burdensome to provide a separate submission for each 
subsidiary and will simply decline to designate a service agent. That 
would inconvenience copyright claimants, who will presumably rely on 
the designated service agent directory to determine where to serve 
their claim.'' \15\ Another commenter observed that its members 
anticipate needing to register service agents for many more entities 
under CCB than under the DMCA, as the range of activities relevant to 
DMCA designated agents is much narrower.\16\
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    \15\ See, e.g., Amazon.com, Inc. (``Amazon'') Initial NPRM 
Comments at 5; see also Computer & Comm's Indus. Ass'n (``CCIA'') & 
internet Ass'n Initial NPRM Comments at 4; Motion Picture Ass'n, 
Recording Indus. Ass'n of Am. & Software and Info. Ass'n of Am. 
(``MPA, RIAA & SIIA'') Initial NPRM Comments at 5-6; Verizon Initial 
NPRM Comments at 2.
    \16\ MPA, RIAA & SIIA Initial NPRM Comments at 5-6.
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    The Office finds that the arguments advanced by proponents of 
permitting affiliated business entities to file a single service agent 
designation are persuasive. It is in the interest of entities that 
designate service agents to have a system that encourages them to 
designate agents for all of their affiliated entities. It is also in 
the interest of all parties in CCB proceedings to have access to a 
directory of service agents that is comprehensive and facilitates their 
ability to take advantage of the more relaxed service requirements 
(including service by mail and, when the designating entity has agreed, 
by email) that apply to designated service agents. To implement such a 
revision, the Office finds it necessary to modify some of the other 
proposed requirements for service agent designations and impose some 
limitations.
    Because the term ``related'' entities may be considered ambiguous, 
and to offer greater guidance as to what additional entities would be 
permitted to be included in a single service agent designation by a 
corporation, partnership, or unincorporated association, the final rule 
uses the term ``affiliated,'' which connotes a closer relationship than 
``related.'' The following elaboration has been added to the regulatory 
text: ``Affiliated corporations, partnerships, or unincorporated 
associations that are separate legal entities but are under direct or 
indirect common control (e.g., parent and subsidiary companies) may 
also be included in the same service agent designation.'' The concept 
of direct or indirect common control among affiliated entities is 
common in various areas of the law.\17\
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    \17\ See, e.g., 26 U.S.C. 168(h)(4)(B)(ii) (defining ``related 
entities,'' for certain federal income tax purposes, as entities 
having ``directly or indirectly substantial common direction or 
control''); 47 U.S.C. 152(b) (withholding FCC jurisdiction over a 
``carrier engaged in interstate or foreign communication solely 
through physical connection with the facilities of another carrier 
not directly or indirectly controlling or controlled by, or under 
direct or indirect common control with such carrier''); 15 U.S.C. 
78l(b)(1) (requiring applications for registration of a security 
with SEC to include information regarding ``the issuer and any 
person directly or indirectly controlling or controlled by, or under 
direct or indirect common control with, the issuer'').
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    Because the Office's electronic DSAD system was at an advanced 
stage of development at the time the comments were received, there are 
certain constraints on the way in which affiliated entities can 
currently be included within a single designation. As discussed below, 
the system was already being built to accommodate up to five trade 
names based on a single designation. It is now being adapted to permit 
a combination of up 50 trade names and to enable affiliated entities to 
be included, indexed, and searchable based on a single designation. To 
be included as part of a single designation, affiliated entities must 
have their principal place of business in the same state and, for 
corporations, they must have the same state of incorporation. In 
addition, the names and contact information of the designated service 
agent and of the submitter must each be the same. The Office considers 
information regarding the principal place of business and state of 
incorporation to be important for purposes of providing accurate 
identification of the entity and avoiding misidentification (e.g., in 
cases involving entities from different states with identical or 
similar names), and the system can only accommodate single designations 
for multiple entities where that information is identical.
    With respect to an entity's principal place of business, the rule 
has been modified to clarify that the required information pertains to 
the state in which the entity's principal place of business is located. 
This modification has been made for three reasons: (1) To clarify 
ambiguous text in the proposed rule; (2) to facilitate the ability to 
submit designations for groups of affiliated entities, since requiring 
that the principal place of business for all affiliated entities be at 
the same address would likely disqualify many affiliated entities from 
being included in a single designation; and (3) to conform to the 
design of the electronic DSAD system.
    For corporations, the proposed rule also would have required that 
the designation provide any state file or registration numbers from the 
state of incorporation, as well as identification of all additional 
states in which the corporation is registered to do business. Because a 
parent corporation and its subsidiaries or other affiliated 
corporations are not necessarily registered to do business in the same 
group of states, retaining this requirement would be likely to restrict 
significantly the ability of affiliated corporations to be included in 
a single designation. Commenters observed that it is not clear what 
benefit would be gained by requiring corporations to include, for 
themselves and their subsidiaries, state file or registration numbers 
and information on all states in which they are registered to do 
business; that requiring such information would be burdensome; and that 
such information is already readily available elsewhere, in a form that 
is accurate and up to date.\18\ The Office is persuaded that the time 
and costs involved in requiring such information outweigh the benefits, 
and those requirements have been removed in the final rule.
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    \18\ Amazon Initial NPRM Comments at 5; Verizon Initial NPRM 
Comments at 2.
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    Finally, the rule requires that the following information be the 
same for all entities included in a single designation: Information 
pertaining to the designated agent; information pertaining to the 
person submitting the designation; and information on whether service 
may be made by email and mail or just mail.

D. The Number of Trade Names Permitted in a Single Designation

    The proposed rule would have permitted qualifying entities to list 
no more than five trade names (alternate business names or ``doing 
business as'' (d/b/a) names) under which they are doing business. 
Inspired by a similar provision in the DMCA designated agent 
regulation, this would permit persons

[[Page 12864]]

using the DSAD to more easily identify the designated agent for 
companies that might do business--and be recognized by the public--
under names other than their corporate names. The DMCA directory 
imposes no limit on the number of ``alternate names'' (the term used in 
the regulation governing that directory) \19\ that an online service 
provider may include for indexing and search purposes. However, based 
on the Office's understanding of the technical limitations of the 
electronic DSAD that it was developing at the time the NPRM was 
drafted, it proposed a five-trade-name maximum.
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    \19\ 37 CFR 201.38(b)(2).
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    Some commenters objected to the five-trade-name maximum, noting 
that if a single entity does business under different names, all such 
names should be included on the same designation and observing that 
many entities, such as record companies, operate multiple imprints or 
labels that are trade names that are part of the same legal entity.\20\ 
Those comments, as well as the comments discussed above urging that the 
Office accept designations submitted on behalf of multiple designated 
entities, have persuaded the Office to raise the permitted number of 
trade names to 50,\21\ and to permit those 50 to be either trade names 
or the names of affiliated entities.
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    \20\ MPA, RIAA & SIIA Initial NPRM Comments at 6-7; see also 
Verizon Initial NPRM Comments at 4.
    \21\ The Office has adopted a 50-trade-name maximum after 
consulting with the developers of the electronic DSAD, who are 
confident that the system will be able to accommodate up to 50 names 
per entity, but not necessarily a greater number in the available 
time before its launch.
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E. Additional Revisions

    Other minor substantive revisions include a duty to maintain 
current information in the directory by submitting amendments when the 
information changes and a minor revision to the provision stating what 
information in a designation shall not be made publicly available on 
the DSAD website.
    Regarding the obligation to keep directory information current, one 
commenter noted that large corporations will have a long and frequently 
changing list of related or affiliated corporations as well as 
partnerships and other associations, and encouraged the Office to 
provide sufficient leniency to correct any changes to corporate 
information and acknowledge that yearly updates should be deemed to be 
reasonable compliance.\22\ While the Office understands that changes 
may not be made instantaneously, there can be serious consequences, 
such as the service of claims on a person whom the designating entity 
no longer considers to be the correct service agent, when the directory 
contains out-of-date information. Therefore, any rule that would permit 
a business to defer an update of information in the directory as long 
as a year after the information has changed would be unacceptable. The 
final rule provides that when information that is in the directory is 
no longer valid, it should be updated promptly. While the Office does 
not believe that it is necessary to require updates on a regular basis, 
a requirement to update the information whenever it changes should 
ensure that it is kept up to date. Because there may be instances where 
a brief but understandable delay in updating the information results in 
service upon someone whom the designating entity no longer considers to 
be its service agent, the final rule provides that the CCB has the 
discretion to decide in particular cases whether service of an initial 
notice and claim was effective. However, an entity that has designated 
a service agent should be aware that if service is made upon the person 
who, at the time of service, appears in the directory as the 
respondent's designated service agent, that service is likely to be 
deemed effective. This should provide sufficient incentive to update 
the information promptly.\23\
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    \22\ Verizon Initial NPRM Comment at 2.
    \23\ Although a change in the identity of the designated service 
agent is the most crucial information in the directory, delays in 
updating other information can also have consequences. Information 
such as legal name of a corporation, partnership, or unincorporated 
association, or about the principal place of business or state of 
incorporation, can be of great assistance to a claimant in 
identifying the correct respondent to be served.
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    With respect to the public availability of DSAD information, the 
proposed rule would have provided that the business address, email, and 
telephone number of the corporation, partnership, or unincorporated 
association provided in the designation would not be publicly available 
on the DSAD website, but would be available to CCB staff. As revised, 
the entity's business address is removed from that provision. Although 
the Office has no present intention to include that information in the 
directory on the website, it recognizes that the business address of a 
business entity is not generally considered to be confidential 
information and that there may be occasions where knowledge of the 
business address may be helpful in determining which of two or more 
similarly or identically named entities is the one that a claimant 
needs to serve.

F. Fee

    In the NPRM, the Office proposed a fee of $6 for designation of a 
service agent, payable upon the submission or amendment of a 
designation. The Office noted that this is the fee charged for 
submissions to the Office's similar DMCA designated agent directory. 
One comment suggested that the fee should be increased, noting that 
designations of agents for the DMCA directory must be updated every 
three years, but designations for the CCB service agent directory need 
not be renewed.\24\ While recognizing that distinction, the Office does 
not believe that a higher fee is justified at this time. The DSAD 
offers benefits not only to the entities that take advantage of the 
opportunity to designate service agents, but also to claimants in CCB 
proceedings who can use it to identify the agents to serve on behalf of 
the designating entities. Because an entity designating a service agent 
must accept service by mail and may also accept service by email, the 
directory provides claimants with a simple and inexpensive means to 
serve initial notices of proceedings and claims upon respondents who 
have designated service agents.
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    \24\ Copyright Alliance, Am. Photographic Artists, Am. Soc'y for 
Collective Rights Licensing, Am. Soc'y of Media Photographers, The 
Authors Guild, CreativeFuture, Digital Media Licensing Ass'n, 
Graphic Artists Guild, Indep. Book Pubs. Ass'n, Music Artists 
Coalition, Music Creators N. Am., Nat'l Music Council of the U.S.A., 
Nat'l Press Photographers Ass'n, N. Am. Nature Photography Ass'n, 
Prof'l Photographers of Am., Recording Acad., Screen Actors Guild-
Am. Fed. of Television & Radio Artists, Soc'y of Composers & 
Lyricists, Songwriters Guild of Am. & Songwriters of N. Am. 
(``Copyright Alliance et al.'') Initial NPRM Comments at 15-16.
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    Moreover, as previously discussed, a provision added to the final 
rule obligates designating entities to maintain current information in 
the directory by amending an existing designation (and paying an 
additional $6 fee) whenever an update is needed. As a practical matter, 
most entities with designated agents are likely to have to submit 
amendments from time to time.

G. Mandatory Service on Designated Service Agent

    The CASE Act requires that when a qualifying entity has designated 
a service agent, a claimant must serve the initial notice and claim 
upon that agent.\25\ Many commenters requested that the regulations 
clarify that this is the case.\26\ The Office agrees with that 
interpretation of the statute.

[[Page 12865]]

Accordingly, in the interests of avoiding confusion, the Office shall 
address that issue in its forthcoming final rule addressing the 
remaining portions of the rulemaking on initiating proceedings, 
including Sec.  222.5 on service.
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    \25\ 17 U.S.C. 1506(g)(5).
    \26\ See, e.g., MPA, RIAA & SIIA Initial NPRM Comments at 7-8; 
Verizon Initial NPRM Comments at 4; Copyright Alliance et al. Reply 
NPRM Comments at 14-15.
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List of Subjects

37 CFR Part 201

    Copyright, General provisions.

37 CFR Part 220

    Claims, Copyright, General.

Final Regulations

    For the reasons stated in the preamble, the U.S. Copyright Office 
amends Chapter II, Subchapters A and B, of title 37 Code of Federal 
Regulations as follows:

SUBCHAPTER A--COPYRIGHT OFFICE AND PROCEDURES

PART 201--GENERAL PROVISIONS

0
1. The authority citation for part 201 continues to read as follows:

    Authority:  17 U.S.C. 702.


0
2. In Sec.  201.3, revise the section heading and add paragraph (g) to 
read as follows:


Sec.  201.3   Fees for registration, recordation, and related services, 
special services, and services performed by the Licensing Section and 
the Copyright Claims Board.

* * * * *
    (g) Copyright Claims Board fees. The Copyright Office has 
established the following fees for specific services related to the 
Copyright Claims Board:

                        Table 4 to Paragraph (g)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
               Copyright Claims Board fees                   Fees  ($)
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(1) [Reserved]..........................................  ..............
(2) Designation of a service agent by a corporation,                   6
 partnership, or unincorporated association under 17
 U.S.C. 1506(g)(5)(B), or amendment of designation......
------------------------------------------------------------------------

SUBCHAPTER B--COPYRIGHT CLAIMS BOARD AND PROCEDURES

0
3. Add part 222 to read as follows:

PART 222--PROCEEDINGS

Sec.
222.1-222.5 [Reserved]
222.6 Designated service agents.

    Authority:  17 U.S.C. 702, 1510.


Sec.  222.1-222.5   [Reserved]


Sec.  222.6   Designated service agents.

    (a) In general. A corporation, partnership, or unincorporated 
association that is entitled under 17 U.S.C. 1506(g)(5)(B) to designate 
a service agent to receive notice of a claim may designate such an 
agent by submitting the designation electronically through the Board's 
designated service agent directory, which shall be available on the 
Board's website.
    (b) Designation fee. A service agent designation shall be 
accompanied by the fee set forth in 37 CFR 201.3.
    (c) Trade names and affiliated entities--(1) Trade names. Each 
corporation, partnership, or unincorporated association that submits a 
service agent designation may include up to 50 trade names that 
function as alternate business names (i.e., ``doing business as'' or 
``d/b/a'' names) under which such registered corporation, partnership, 
or unincorporated association is doing business.
    (2) Affiliated entities. Affiliated corporations, partnerships, or 
unincorporated associations that are separate legal entities but are 
under direct or indirect common control (e.g., parent and subsidiary 
companies) of the filing corporation, partnership, or unincorporated 
association may also be included in the same service agent designation, 
but only if all of the information required in paragraph (d)(1)(ii), 
(iii), and (v) through (vii) of this section is the same for the filing 
corporation, partnership, or unincorporated association and the 
affiliated corporation, partnership, or unincorporated association. 
Otherwise, those separate legal entities must file separate service 
agent designations, although a submitter may designate the same service 
agent for multiple corporations, partnerships, or unincorporated 
associations.
    (d) Content of submission--(1) In general. The designated service 
agent submission shall include:
    (i) The legal name, business address, email address, and telephone 
number of the corporation, partnership, or unincorporated association;
    (ii) The state in which the principal place of business of the 
corporation, partnership, or unincorporated association is located;
    (iii) For corporations, the state or territory (including the 
District of Columbia) of incorporation;
    (iv) Up to 50 additional names, consisting of either the names of 
affiliated entities or trade names, or both, as described in paragraph 
(c) of this section;
    (v) The name, business address (or, if the agent does not have a 
business address, the address of the residence of such agent), email 
address, and telephone number of the designated service agent;
    (vi) The submitter's name, email address, and telephone number; and
    (vii) The corporation, partnership, or unincorporated association's 
service method election, as described in paragraph (e) of this section.
    (2) Certification. To complete the designation, the person 
submitting the designation shall certify, under penalty of perjury, 
that the submitter is authorized by law to make the designation on 
behalf of the corporation, partnership, or unincorporated association, 
including any other affiliated entities for which the filing is made.
    (e) Service on designated agents. A corporation, partnership, or 
unincorporated association that designates a service agent shall, as a 
condition of designating a service agent, consent to receive service 
upon the agent by means of certified or priority mail at the identified 
mailing address. It may also indicate in its designation that it 
consents to receive service by email at the identified email address.
    (1) Service by mail. The corporation, partnership, or 
unincorporated association shall identify the service agent's place of 
business or, if there is no place of business, the address of the 
service agent's residence for purposes of service by mail. The service 
agent's place of business or address of the service agent's residence 
must be located within the United States.
    (2) Service by email. (i) If a corporation, partnership, or 
unincorporated association indicates that it consents to receive 
service by email, the designated service agent's email address shall be 
displayed on the designated service agent directory.

[[Page 12866]]

    (ii) In cases where the designation states that service may be made 
by email, the person submitting the designation shall affirm under 
penalty of perjury that the corporation, partnership, or unincorporated 
association for which the agent has been designated waives the right to 
personal service by means other than email and that the person making 
the designation has been authorized to waive that right on behalf of 
the corporation, partnership, or unincorporated association and any 
other affiliated entity for which the filing is made for Board 
proceedings.
    (f) Amendments. A corporation, partnership, or unincorporated 
association shall have a duty to maintain current information in the 
directory. A corporation, partnership, or unincorporated association 
may amend a designation of a service agent by following directions on 
the Board's website. Such amendment shall be accompanied by the fee set 
forth in 37 CFR 201.3. The requirements found in paragraph (d) of this 
section shall apply to the service agent designation amendment. If 
current information is not timely maintained and, as a result, the 
identification or address of the service agent in the directory is no 
longer accurate, the Board may, in its discretion and subject to any 
reasonable conditions that the Board may decide to impose, determine 
whether service upon that agent or at that address was effective.
    (g) Public directory--(1) In general. After a corporation, 
partnership, or unincorporated association submits a service agent 
designation, such designation shall be made available on the public 
designated service agent directory after payment has been remitted and 
the Board has reviewed the submission to determine whether the 
submission qualifies for the designated agent provision.
    (2) Removal from directory. If the Board determines that a 
submitted service agent designation does not qualify under this section 
or if it has reason to believe that the submitter was not authorized by 
law to make the designation on behalf of the corporation, partnership, 
or unincorporated association, it shall notify the submitter that it 
intends not to add the record to the directory, or that it intends to 
remove the record from the directory, and shall provide the submitter 
10 calendar days to respond. If the submitter fails to respond, or if, 
after reviewing the response, the Board determines that the submission 
does not qualify for the designated service agent directory, the entity 
shall not be added to, or shall be removed from, the directory.
    (3) Content of public listing. The designation shall be indexed 
under the names of each corporation, partnership, or unincorporated 
association for which an agent has been designated and shall be made 
available on the Board's website. The email address and telephone 
number of the corporation, partnership, or unincorporated association 
provided under paragraph (d)(1)(i) of this section shall not be made 
publicly available on the designated service agent directory website, 
but such information shall be made available to Board staff.
    (4) Designation date. A designation filed in accordance with this 
section before April 7, 2022 will become effective on that date.

    Dated: February 28, 2022.
Shira Perlmutter,
Register of Copyrights and Director of the U.S. Copyright Office.

    Approved by:
Carla D. Hayden,
Librarian of Congress.
[FR Doc. 2022-04745 Filed 3-7-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 1410-30-P


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