12092 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 54 / Monday, March 23, 2009 / Rules and Regulations 

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 

Copyright Office 

37 CFR Part 258 

[Docket No. RM 2009–2] 

Section 119 and Changes in the 

Consumer Price Index 

AGENCY: Copyright Office, Library of 

Congress. 

ACTION: Final rule. 

SUMMARY: The Copyright Office makes 

royalty rate adjustments for satellite 

carriers based upon changes in the 

Consumer Price Index. This year, the 

change in the Consumer Price Index for 

the relevant time period was 0.03%, a 

change so small that the rates remain 

unaffected for the 2009 licensing period. 

EFFECTIVE DATES: This regulation is 

effective March 23, 2009 and the rates 

are applicable for the period of January 

1, 2009, through December 31, 2009. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ben 

Golant, Assistant General Counsel, and 

Tanya M. Sandros, Deputy General 

Counsel, Copyright GC/I&R, P.O. Box 

70400, Washington, DC 20024. 

Telephone: (202) 707–8380. Telefax: 

(202) 707–8366. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Pursuant 

to Section 119(c) and our implementing 

rules, we are hereby giving notice to the 

public of royalty rate adjustments for 

the accounting period commencing 

January 1, 2009, based on changes in the 

Consumer Price Index. This action is 

consistent with voluntary agreements 

reached between satellite carriers and 

copyright owners under the Copyright 

Act. 

Section 119 and royalty payments for 

analog television signals. In 2004, 

Congress enacted the Satellite Home 

Viewer Extension and Reauthorization 

Act (‘‘SHVERA’’). SHVERA extended for 

an additional five years the statutory 

license for satellite carriers 

retransmitting over–the–air television 

broadcast stations to their subscribers 

and made a number of amendments to 

the Section 119 license. One of the 

amendments sets forth a process for 

adjusting the royalty fees paid by 

satellite carriers for retransmitting 

analog television network stations and 

superstations. 17 U.S.C. 119(c)(1). The 

law directed the Librarian of Congress to 

publish a notice in the Federal Register 

announcing the initiation of a voluntary 

negotiation period, the result of which 

may be a rate settlement between the 

parties. The Library published such a 

notice on December 30, 2004, and, 

pursuant to the statute, requested that 

any agreements be submitted no later 

than January 10, 2005. 69 FR 78482 

(December 30, 2004). 

The Office received one agreement, 

submitted jointly by the satellite carriers 

DirecTV, Inc. and EchoStar Satellite 

L.L.C., the copyright owners of motion 

pictures and syndicated television series 

represented by the Motion Picture 

Association of America, and the 

copyright owners of sports programming 

represented by the Office of the 

Commissioner of Baseball. Section 

119(c)(1)(D)(ii)(II) requires the Library to 

‘‘provide public notice of the royalty 

fees from the voluntary agreement and 

afford parties an opportunity to state 

that they object to those fees.’’ 17 U.S.C. 

119(c)(1)(D)(ii)(II). The Library 

published a Notice of Proposed 

Rulemaking on January 26, 2005, to 

fulfill this requirement. 70 FR 3656 

(January 26, 2005). The Library 

subsequently adopted the rates in the 

voluntary agreement as final. 70 FR 

17320 (Apr. 6, 2005). 

The terms and conditions of the 

agreement were codified at Section 

258.3 of the Copyright Office’s rules. 

Subpart (h) of this rule specifically 

states, with regard to private home 

viewing, that the 2008 rate per 

subscriber per month for distant 

superstations and network stations shall 

be adjusted for the amount of inflation 

as measured by the change in the 

Consumer Price Index for all urban 

consumers from January 2008 to January 

2009. Similarly, for viewing in 

commercial establishments, the 2008 

rate per subscriber per month for 

viewing distant superstations in 

commercial establishments shall also be 

adjusted for the amount of inflation as 

measured by the change in the 

Consumer Price Index for all urban 

consumers from January 2008 to January 

2009. 

Section 119 and royalty payments for 

digital television signals. Another 

SHVERA amendment to Section 119 set 

forth a process, for the first time, for 

adjusting the royalty fees paid by 

satellite carriers for the retransmission 

of digital broadcast signals. 17 U.S.C. 

119(c)(2). The initial rates were the rates 

set by the Librarian in 1997 for the 

retransmission of analog broadcast 

signals, 37 CFR 258.3(b)(1)&(2), reduced 

by 22.5 percent. 17 U.S.C. 119(c)(2)(A). 

These rates are to be adjusted in 

accordance with the procedures set 

forth in Section 119(c)(1) as directed by 

Section 119(c)(2) of the Copyright Act. 

On March 8, 2005, the Copyright 

Office received a letter from EchoStar 

Satellite, L.L.C., DirecTV, Inc., Program 

Suppliers, and the Joint Sports 

Claimants requesting that the Office 

begin the process of setting the rates for 

the retransmission of digital broadcast 

signals by initiating a voluntary 

negotiation period so that rates for both 

digital and analog signals would be in 

place before the July 31, 2005, deadline 

for satellite carriers to pay royalties for 

the first accounting period of 2005. The 

Office granted the request and, pursuant 

to Section 119(c)(1), published a Notice 

in the Federal Register initiating a 

voluntary negotiation period and 

requesting that any agreements reached 

during this period be submitted no later 

than April 25, 2005. See 70 FR 15368 

(March 25, 2005). 

In accordance with the March 25 

Notice, the Office received one 

agreement, submitted jointly by 

EchoStar Satellite L.L.C. and DirecTV, 

Inc., the copyright owners of motion 

pictures and syndicated television series 

represented by the Motion Picture 

Association of America, and the 

copyright owners of sports programming 

represented by the Office of the 

Commissioner of Baseball. The 

agreement proposed rates for the private 

home viewing of distant superstations 

and distant network stations for the 

2005–2009 period, as well as the 

viewing of those signals for commercial 

establishments. 

As required by statute, the Library 

provided public notice of the royalty 

fees from the voluntary agreement and 

afforded parties an opportunity to state 

that they object to those fees. 17 U.S.C. 

119(c)(1)(D)(ii)(II). The Library 

published a Notice of Proposed 

Rulemaking on May 17, 2005, to fulfill 

this requirement. 70 FR 28231 (May 17, 

2005). Consequently, the Library 

adopted the rates as set forth in the 

voluntary agreement as final. 70 FR 

39178 (July. 7, 2005). 

The terms and conditions of the 

agreement were codified at Section 

258.4 of the Copyright Office’s rules. 

Subpart (d) of the rule states the royalty 

rate for secondary transmission of 

digital signals of broadcast stations by 

satellite carriers for the first three years 

of the licensing period and the process 

for readjusting the rates for the last two 

years of the five year licensing period 

(2008 and 2009). 

The Copyright Office’s regulations 

prescribe that the 2009 rates should be 

adjusted according to the following 

schedule. For private home viewing, the 

2008 rate per subscriber per month for 

distant superstations and network 

stations is to be adjusted for the amount 

of inflation as measured by the change 

in the Consumer Price Index for all 

Urban Consumers from January 2008 to 

January 2009. For viewing in 

commercial establishments, the 2008 


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Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 54 / Monday, March 23, 2009 / Rules and Regulations 12093 

rate per subscriber per month for 

viewing distant superstations in 

commercial establishments is to be 

adjusted for the amount of inflation as 

measured by the change in the 

Consumer Price Index for all Urban 

Consumers from January 2008 to 

January 2009. 

2009 rates. The purpose of this Notice 

is to announce the royalty rates for the 

secondary transmission of the analog 

and digital transmissions of network 

and superstations to reflect changes in 

the Consumer Price Index for all Urban 

Consumers from January 2008 to 

January 2009. 

The change in the cost of living as 

determined by the Consumer Price 

Index (all consumers, all items) for the 

relevant period is .03% (January 2008 

figure was 211.080; the figure for 

January 2009 is 211.143, based on 1982– 

1984=100 as a reference base). Rounding 

off to the nearest cent, the rates are as 

follows. For private home viewing of 

analog stations: 24 cents per subscriber 

per month for distant superstations and 

24 cents per subscriber per month for 

distant network stations. For viewing in 

commercial establishments: 48 cents per 

subscriber per month for distant 

superstations. For private home viewing 

of digital stations: 24 cents per 

subscriber per month for distant 

superstations and 24 cents per 

subscriber per month for distant 

network stations. For viewing in 

commercial establishments: 48 cents per 

subscriber per month for distant 

superstations. 

List of Subjects in 37 CFR Part 258 

Copyright, Satellite, Television. 

Final Regulations 

■ For the reasons set forth above, the 

Copyright Office amends 37 CFR 

chapter II as follows: 

PART 258–ADJUSTMENT OF 

ROYALTY FEE FOR SECONDARY 

TRANSMISSIONS BY SATELLITE 

CARRIERS 

■ 1. The authority citation for part 258 

continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 17 U.S.C. 119, 702, 802. 

■ 2. Section 258.3 is amended by 

revising paragraph (h) to read as 

follows: 

§ 258.3 Royalty fee for secondary 

transmission of analog signals of 

broadcast stations by satellite carriers. 

* * * * * 

(h) Commencing January 1, 2009, the 

royalty rate for secondary transmission 

of analog signals of broadcast stations by 

satellite carriers shall be as follows: 

(1) For private home viewing– 

(i) 24 cents per subscriber per month 

for distant superstations. 

(ii) 24 cents per subscriber per month 

for distant network stations. 

(2) For viewing in commercial 

establishments, 48 cents per subscriber 

per month for distant 

superstations. 

■ 3. Section 258.4 is amended by 

revising paragraph (e) to read as follows: 

§ 258.4 Royalty fee for secondary 

transmission of digital signals of 

broadcast stations by satellite carriers. 

* * * * * 

■ (e) Commencing January 1, 2009, the 

royalty rate for secondary transmission 

of digital signals of broadcast stations by 

satellite carriers shall be as follows: 

(1) For private home viewing– 

(i) 24 cents per subscriber per month 

for distant superstations. 

(ii) 24 cents per subscriber per month 

for distant network stations. 

(2) For viewing in commercial 

establishments, 48 cents per subscriber 

per month for distant superstations. 

* * * * * 

Dated: March 16, 2009 

Marybeth Peters, 

Register of Copyrights 

[FR Doc. E9–6175 Filed 3–20–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 1410–30–S 


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