100348 Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 239 / Thursday, December 12, 2024 / Rules and Regulations 

1 17 U.S.C. 111(d)(1)(B). 

2 Id. at 111(d)(2). The Office distributes those 

royalties in accordance with periodic distribution 

orders issued by the Copyright Royalty Board 

(‘‘CRB’’). Id. 

3Compulsory License for Cable Systems, 42 FR 

61051, 61054 (Dec. 1, 1977) (explaining benefits of 

using a standard SOA form, referencing the 

Copyright Royalty Tribunal, a precursor to the 

current Copyright Royalty Judges system). See 17 

U.S.C. 111(d)(1)(A). 

4 17 U.S.C. 111(d)(1)(A). 

5 17 U.S.C. 111(d)(1). 

6 37 CFR 201.17(e)(6) and (7). 

7 Id. § 201.17(d). The SOA forms are available in 

PDF and Excel format on the Office’s website at 

https://www.copyright.gov/licensing/sec_111.html. 

8 17 U.S.C. 111(d)(2) (1977). 

coordinate protest activities so that your 

message can be received without 

jeopardizing the safety or security of 

people, places, or vessels. 

List of Subjects in 33 CFR part 165 

Harbors, Marine safety, Navigation 

(water), Reporting and recordkeeping 

requirements, Security measures, 

Waterways. 

For the reasons discussed in the 

preamble, the Coast Guard amends 33 

CFR part 165 as follows: 

PART 165—REGULATED NAVIGATION 

AREAS AND LIMITED ACCESS 

AREAS. 

■ 1. The authority citation for part 165 

continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 46 U.S.C. 70034, 70051, 70124; 

33 CFR 1.05–1, 6.04–1, 6.04–6, and 160.5; 

Department of Homeland Security Delegation 

No. 00170.1, Revision No. 01.3. 

■ 2. Add § 165.T08–1055 to read as 

follows: 

§ 165.T08–1055 Safety Zone; Lower 

Mississippi River, Natchez, MS 

(a) Location. The following area is a 

temporary safety zone: All navigable 

waters on the Lower Mississippi River 

from mile marker 364.4 to mile marker 

365.5 in the vicinity of Natchez, MS. 

(b) Definitions. As used in this 

section, designated representative 

means a Coast Guard Patrol 

Commander, including a Coast Guard 

coxswain, petty officer, or other officer 

operating a Coast Guard vessel and a 

Federal, State, and local officer 

designated by or assisting the Captain of 

the Port Sector Lower Mississippi River 

(COTP) in the enforcement of the safety 

zone. 

(c) Regulations. (1) Under the general 

safety zone regulations in subpart C of 

this part, you may not enter the 

temporary safety zone described in 

paragraph (a) of this section unless 

authorized by the COTP or the COTP’s 

designated representative. 

(2) To seek permission to enter, 

contact the COTP or the COTP’s 

representative by VHF–FM channel 16 

or by telephone at 314–269–2332. Those 

in the safety zone must comply with all 

lawful orders or directions given to 

them by the COTP or the COTP’s 

designated representative. 

(d) Enforcement period. This section 

will be enforced from 6 p.m. through 7 

p.m. on December 31, 2024. 

(e) Information broadcasts. The COTP 

or a designated representative will 

inform the public of the enforcement 

times and date for this safety zone 

through Broadcast Notices to Mariners, 

Local Notices to Mariners, and/or Safety 

Marine Information Broadcasts, as 

appropriate. 

Dated: December 03, 2024. 

Kristi L. Bernstein, 

Captain, U.S. Coast Guard, Captain of the 

Port Sector Lower Mississippi River. 

[FR Doc. 2024–29089 Filed 12–11–24; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 9110–04–P 

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 

Copyright Office 

37 CFR Part 201 

[Docket No. 2005–6] 

Statutory Cable, Satellite, and DART 

License Reporting Practices 

AGENCY: U.S. Copyright Office, Library 

of Congress. 

ACTION: Final rule. 

SUMMARY: The U.S. Copyright Office 

(‘‘Office’’) is issuing a final rule 

governing royalty reporting practices of 

cable operators, and the Statement of 

Account form and filing requirements. 

This final rule makes regulatory changes 

regarding procedures for cable system 

operators. In some areas, similar 

changes are being made to the 

regulations governing statutory licenses 

for satellite carriers and digital audio 

recording devices or media. 

DATES: Effective January 27, 2025. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Rhea Efthimiadis, Assistant to the 

General Counsel, by email at meft@

copyright.gov, or by telephone at 202– 

707–8350. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Background 

A. Statutory Background 

Section 111 of the Copyright Act 

(‘‘Act’’), title 17 of the United States 

Code, provides cable operators with a 

statutory license to retransmit a 

performance or display of a work 

embodied in a ‘‘primary transmission’’ 

made by a television station licensed by 

the Federal Communications 

Commission (‘‘FCC’’). Cable operators 

that retransmit broadcast signals in 

accordance with this provision are 

required to pay royalty fees to the 

Copyright Office (‘‘Office’’), among 

other requirements. The royalty 

amounts are determined based on a 

specified percentage of cable operators’ 

reported gross receipts collected for 

secondary transmissions, as well as 

additional amounts for any distant 

signal equivalent (‘‘DSEs’’) carried by 

the cable system.1 These royalty fees are 

remitted semi-annually to the Office, 

which invests the royalties in United 

States Treasury securities pending 

distribution to copyright owners eligible 

to receive a share of the royalties.2

In conjunction with their royalty 

payments, cable operators must 

complete and file statements of account 

(‘‘SOAs’’), which provide a record 

regarding their retransmissions and 

associated royalty payments to 

‘‘promote uniform and accurate 

reporting, assist cable operators in 

meeting their obligations under the Act 

and regulations, and aid copyright 

owners, the Copyright Office, and the 

Copyright [Royalty Judges] in reviewing 

and using the information provided.’’ 3

Section 111 identifies a variety of 

information that must be reported to the 

Copyright Office on the SOA, including 

the number of channels by which the 

system made secondary transmissions, 

the names and locations of all primary 

transmitters used, and, as particularly 

relevant here, the ‘‘total number of 

[cable system] subscribers’’ and the 

‘‘gross amounts’’ paid to the cable 

system by these subscribers ‘‘for the 

basic service of providing secondary 

transmissions of primary broadcast 

transmitters.’’ 4

Section 111 tasks the Register of 

Copyrights (‘‘Register’’) with prescribing 

the specific requirements for the SOA 

by regulation.5

B. Regulatory Background 

As directed by section 111, the Office 

has adopted regulations to implement 

the statute’s reporting requirements 6 as 

well as the design of the SOA form.7 In 

1977, to address the law’s requirement 

that the ‘‘number of subscribers’’ and 

‘‘gross amounts’’ paid to cable operators 

be reported,8 the Office ‘‘proposed . . . 

that the number of subscribers be 

accompanied by certain related 

information concerning subscriber 

categories and charges in order 

reasonably to accomplish this 


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9 42 FR at 61054. 

10 43 FR 958, 959 (Jan. 5, 1978). 

11 37 CFR 201.17(e)(4), (6)(i) through (iii). 

12Paper Form SA1–2 at 2, Space E (‘‘Short Form 

SOA’’); Paper Form SA3 at 2, Space E (‘‘Long Form 

SOA’’). 

13Short Form SOA at 6, Space K; Long Form SOA 

at 7, Space K; see also 37 CFR 201.17(e)(6) and (7) 

(describing corresponding SOA requirements). 

14Short Form SOA at 2, Space F; Long Form SOA 

at 2, Space F. See 37 CFR 201.17(e)(8). 

15The Motion Picture Association of America is 

now known as the Motion Picture Association, or 

MPA. 

16The petition can be found at https://

www.copyright.gov/rulemaking/section111/ 

petition20050607.pdf (the ‘‘Petition’’). 

17Program Suppliers Initial NOI Comment at 6. 

Broadcast Music, Inc., The American Society of 

Composers, Authors and Publishers, Broadcast 

Music Inc., and SESAC, Inc. (collectively, ‘‘Music 

Claimants’’) submitted their own comments in 

response to the NOI, stating that ‘‘as a general 

matter, [they] support MPAA’s comments and 

proposed revisions to the SOAs.’’ Music Claimants 

Initial NOI Comment at 2. 

18Petition at 3; see also Program Suppliers Initial 

NOI Comment at 5–7. 

19 71 FR 45179 (Aug. 10, 2006). 

20The Office received six comments and three 

reply comments to the NOI. The initial and reply 

comments to the NOI have been posted on the 

Office’s website at https://copyright.gov/ 

rulemaking/section111. 

21See Satellite Television Extension and 

Localism Act of 2010, Public Law 111–175, 124 

Stat. 1218 (2010); STELA Reauthorization Act of 

2014, Public Law 113–200, 128 Stat. 2059 (2014). 

22 17 U.S.C. 111(d)(1)(B) through (F), (f)(4). 

23 Id. at 111(d)(6). See 37 CFR 201.16. 

24 17 U.S.C. 111(d)(6); 37 CFR 201.16(h), (1), (o). 

25 Verification of Statements of Account 

Submitted by Cable Operators and Satellite 

Carriers, 79 FR 68628 (Nov. 18, 2014). 

26Statutory Cable, Satellite, and DART License 

Reporting Practices, 82 FR 56926 (Dec. 1, 2017). 

27The comments are posted on the Office’s 

website at https://copyright.gov/rulemaking/ 

section111. 

28The majority of the ex parte meetings occurred 

in 2019 and 2020. The Office requested additional 

input in late 2022. The letters reflecting the ex parte 

discussions can be found at https://copyright.gov/ 

rulemaking/section111/ex-parte-communications. 

29The Office has adopted the organization and 

section headings in the NPRM for consistency. 

purpose.’’ 9 In the subsequent 1978 final 

rule, which adopted regulatory language 

almost identical to the present 

§ 201.17(e)(6), the Office noted that 

‘‘although this information ‘will not 

provide a definitive or detailed 

comparison with the reported gross 

receipts,’ it will be useful for at least a 

rough comparison with the reported 

gross receipts, and gives meaning to the 

statutory requirement that the ‘number 

of subscribers’ be given.’’ 10 The Office 

has consistently followed this approach 

in its subsequent rulemakings in this 

area. 

The Office’s current regulations 

require the following information, 

among other data, to be reported on 

SOAs by cable operators: ‘‘[t]he 

designation ‘Area Served’, followed by 

the name of the community or 

communities served by the system’’; ‘‘[a] 

brief description of each subscriber 

category for which a charge is made by 

the cable system for the basic service of 

providing secondary transmissions of 

primary broadcast transmitters’’; ‘‘[t]he 

number of subscribers to the cable 

system in each such subscriber 

category’’; and ‘‘[t]he charge or charges 

made per subscriber to each such 

subscriber category for the basic service 

of providing such secondary 

transmissions.’’ 11 The SOA form 

organizes this information into specific 

areas, several of which are relevant to 

this rulemaking. Space D of the SOA 

(titled ‘‘Area Served’’) requests 

information identifying ‘‘each separate 

community served by the cable system.’’ 

Space E (titled ‘‘Secondary 

Transmission Service: Subscribers and 

Rates’’) requests information that 

‘‘should cover all categories of 

secondary transmission service of the 

cable system,’’ including ‘‘the number of 

subscribers to the cable system, broken 

down by categories of secondary 

transmission service,’’ and the ‘‘rate 

charged for each category of service.’’ 12

Space K (titled ‘‘Gross Receipts’’) 

requires cable operators to ‘‘[e]nter the 

total of all amounts (gross receipts) paid 

to [the] cable system by subscribers for 

the system’s secondary transmission 

service (as identified in Space E) during 

the accounting period.’’ 13 Finally, 

Space F (titled ‘‘Services Other Than 

Secondary Transmissions: Rates’’) 

requires cable operators to list rate 

information ‘‘with respect to all . . . 

services that were not covered in space 

E, that is, those services that are not 

offered in combination with any 

secondary transmission service for a 

single fee.’’ 14

C. Procedural Background 

This rulemaking began after the 

Motion Picture Association of America, 

Inc. (‘‘MPA’’) 15 filed a petition on 

behalf of its member companies and 

other producers and/or distributors of 

movies and television series (hereinafter 

‘‘Program Suppliers’’) asking the Office 

to address a number of issues relating to 

the SOA reporting practices of cable 

operators under section 111.16 The 

Program Suppliers expressed concerns 

that the subscriber and rate information 

reported by cable operators under the 

Office’s regulations failed to provide 

sufficient data to support the intended 

‘‘rough comparison’’ copyright owners 

should be able to conduct between 

subscriber information and gross 

receipts. Their concerns focused on the 

relationship between the information 

provided in Space E and Space K.17

They asked the Office to ‘‘require greater 

congruity between the ‘gross receipts’ 

information and the subscriber and rate 

information provided on the SOAs,’’ 

and ‘‘greater detail concerning the 

nature of revenues that a cable operator 

includes and excludes in its ‘gross 

receipts.’ ’’ 18

After reviewing the Petition, the 

Office published a notice of inquiry 

(‘‘NOI’’) seeking comment on the 

regulatory proposals and 

recommendations raised by the Program 

Suppliers.19 Multiple parties submitted 

responsive comments and reply 

comments.20 After the NOI’s 

publication, Congress took action that 

addressed some of the issue raised by 

the Office. The Satellite Television 

Extension and Localism Act of 2010 

(‘‘STELA’’), followed by the STELA 

Reauthorization Act of 2014 

(‘‘STELARA’’),21 made amendments to 

section 111, including the royalty rate 

calculations for cable operators and 

addressing the transition to digital 

television broadcasts.22 STELA also 

added a right for copyright owners to 

conduct confidential audits to verify the 

information provided on the SOAs.23

The Register of Copyrights was directed 

to issue regulations establishing the 

procedure by which copyright owners 

could pursue a confidential audit to 

‘‘confirm the correctness of the 

calculations and royalty payments 

reported’’ on SOAs commencing on or 

after January 1, 2010.24 These 

regulations were enacted in 2014.25

In 2017, the Office published a notice 

of proposed rulemaking (‘‘NPRM’’) on 

the NOI issues that remained open after 

the intervening statutory and regulatory 

changes.26 In addition, the rulemaking 

proposed revisions to SOA forms and/ 

or the Office’s related regulations to 

streamline administration of SOAs. The 

responses to the NPRM 27 reflected 

agreement on some proposals, but also 

raised a number of issues for the Office 

to consider and address before finalizing 

this rule. The Office convened multiple 

ex parte meetings with groups of 

stakeholders to discuss these issues and 

to attempt to narrow areas of 

disagreement.28 Having reviewed and 

considered the feedback received in 

response to the NOI and NPRM, the 

Office is issuing a final rule that adopts 

certain of its proposals, withdraws 

others, and makes some 

modifications.29

II. Summary of Final Rule 

After careful consideration of the 

comments and the record as a whole, 

the Office is adopting several changes to 


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100350 Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 239 / Thursday, December 12, 2024 / Rules and Regulations 

30 37 CFR 201.17(e)(6)(i). As a result of other 

changes made in this rule, § 201.17(e)(6) will be 

renumbered as § 201.17(e)(2). 31 Id. § 201.17(e)(6)(iii)(B). 32 Id. § 201.17(e)(6)(i). 33AT&T Initial NPRM Comments at 2–5. 

34 Id. at 3–6. 

35NCTA Initial NPRM Comments at 6–7. 

36Copyright Owners I Initial NPRM Comments at 

5. In their initial NPRM comments, the Copyright 

Owners included the MPA, Joint Sports Claimants, 

the National Association of Broadcasters (‘‘NAB’’), 

Public Broadcasting Service, Settling Devotional 

Claimants, and Canadian Claimants Group 

(‘‘Copyright Owners I’’). 

37 Id. at 6. 

38 Id. at 6–7. 

39NCTA Reply NPRM Comments at 11–12, 14– 

15. 

40Letter from Mary Beth Murphy, Vice Pres. & 

Dep. Gen. Coun. NCTA to Regan A. Smith, Gen. 

Coun. & Assoc. Register of Copyrights, U.S. 

Copyright Office, May 20, 2020, attachment at 2 

(‘‘NCTA–MPA Ex Parte Letter #1’’). 

41As referenced here, the Copyright Owners no 

longer include the MPA. However, they have stated 

that they collectively received approximately 78% 

the regulations governing SOAs. First, 

the Office is revising the regulatory 

definition of ‘‘gross receipts’’ to clarify 

that equipment fees (formerly called 

‘‘converter’’ fees) and broadcast fees 

must be included and reported in Space 

E. Second, the final rule removes the 

regulatory provision requiring remitters 

to provide information regarding 

‘‘Services Other Than Secondary 

Transmissions: Rates’’ in Space F, and 

eliminates all references to Grade B 

contour in § 201.17 and on the cable 

SOAs. Third, the final rule revises 

reporting requirements related to the 

name of the community or communities 

served by requiring cable system 

operators to provide ‘‘county’’ 

information in Space D. Fourth, while 

the Office is withdrawing proposals to 

amend the regulatory definition of the 

phrase ‘‘cable system’’ and to require 

more detailed reporting of subscriber 

and rate information in Space E, it is 

amending Space E to require that 

operators fill in the spaces requesting 

information regarding categories of 

service. 

Finally, the final rule makes several 

technical amendments and revises 

certain reporting practices that are also 

pertinent to the filing of SOAs for other 

statutory licenses. For example, it 

clarifies that cable system operators 

must use the SOA form prescribed by 

the Office, and include any and all 

information requested in the 

instructions for the SOA, as well as the 

information required by the regulations. 

The final rule also includes the 

technical changes proposed in the 

NPRM relating to the processing of 

refunds, supplemental or amended 

payments, and calculation of interest, as 

well as case management procedures. 

These latter changes will be reflected in 

parallel amendments to regulations for 

satellite carrier and digital audio 

recording equipment and media. 

The amendments to the regulations 

reflected in this rule require the 

development of new SOA forms, which 

the Office is preparing. Until new forms 

are developed, cable service operators 

should use the most current forms 

posted on the Office’s website while 

complying with the new regulatory 

requirements regarding the information 

to be reported. 

III. Section 111—Specific Changes 

A. Program Suppliers’ Request for 

Greater Congruity Between Reported 

Subscriber and Rate Information (Space 

E) and Gross Receipts (Space K) 

In response to the Program Suppliers’ 

original request that cable operators 

provide more detailed information on 

the SOA, the NPRM proposed a number 

of changes to the information sought in 

Space E regarding subscribers. Having 

reviewed and considered all of the 

comments received, the Office has been 

persuaded not to make the majority of 

the proposed changes and only to make 

minor adjustments to accommodate its 

conclusions about reporting equipment 

fees and broadcast fees. Its specific 

findings and conclusions are explained 

below. 

1. Proposed Requirement To Provide 

More Detailed Reporting of Subscriber 

and Rate Information (Space E) 

37 CFR 201.17(e)(6) currently requires 

remitters to provide in Space E ‘‘[a] brief 

description of each subscriber category 

for which a charge is made by the cable 

system for the basic service of providing 

secondary transmissions of primary 

broadcast transmitters.’’ 30 The 

regulation further states that ‘‘[e]ach 

entity (for example, the owner of a 

private home, the resident of an 

apartment, the owner of a motel, or the 

owner of an apartment house) . . . shall 

be considered one subscriber’’ 31 subject 

to charges by the cable system for the 

basic service of providing secondary 

transmissions. These requirements are 

intended to complement the regulatory 

definition of ‘‘gross receipts,’’ which 

includes ‘‘the full amount of monthly 

(or other periodic) service fees for any 

and all services or tiers of services 

which include one or more secondary 

transmissions of television or radio 

broadcast signals, for additional set fees, 

and for converter fees.’’ 32

In response to the request for more 

granularity, the NPRM proposed to 

update the subscriber and rate 

information required in Space E to 

require remitters to break out 

subscription data into separate tiers of 

service and list the per-tier rate or range 

of rates. The intent was to provide 

copyright owners with more 

information when deciding whether to 

make use of the audit right included in 

section 111. 

In its initial comments to the NPRM, 

AT&T disagreed with the Office’s 

proposal.33 It stated that the availability 

of audits after passage of STELA, 

through which companies make their 

books available for inspection by 

copyright owners, rendered unnecessary 

the additional information proposed in 

the NPRM. In addition, AT&T noted that 

compliance with the proposed 

regulations would result in significant 

extra work and expense for cable 

companies.34 NCTA—The Internet and 

Television Association (‘‘NCTA’’) also 

opposed the proposal. It stated that, due 

to the bundling of services and 

‘‘promotional discounts,’’ providing the 

information proposed in the NPRM 

would be onerous and could lead to the 

disclosure of the cable companies’ 

proprietary information.35

In their initial comments, the 

Copyright Owners observed that ‘‘the 

disparities [between Space K and Space 

E] seem to rest largely, though not fully, 

on a disconnect between (1) the 

monthly rate that subscribers must 

actually pay to receive broadcast signals 

and (2) the monthly service fees that 

cable operators report in Space E.’’ 36

They questioned whether the NPRM’s 

Space E proposal would provide ‘‘rough 

comparability’’ with Space K ‘‘unless 

the rate information reflects what 

subscribers actually pay to receive 

broadcast signals.’’ 37 They suggested 

instead that cable operators report ‘‘each 

category of service that includes 

retransmitted broadcast signals, with the 

number of subscribers in each group, 

the published rate card fee for each, and 

average monthly fee actually paid.’’ 38 In 

its reply comments, NCTA opposed the 

Copyright Owners’ proposed 

requirement for reporting monthly 

subscriber information. Instead, it 

suggested reducing the number of 

categories of service reported on Space 

E.39

In subsequent ex parte meetings with 

the Office, NCTA and MPA jointly 

proposed that the current Space E 

requirements be replaced with 

requirements that cable operators report 

aggregated average number of monthly 

subscribers for the six-month 

accounting period and average monthly 

per subscriber fees collected during that 

period.40 In response to the joint NCTA– 

MPA proposal, the Copyright Owners,41


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of the royalty fees distributed in the most recent 

distribution by the CRB. Letter from Daniel A. 

Cantor, Esq., Arnold & Porter, to Anna B. Chauvet, 

Esq., Assoc. Gen. Coun., U.S. Copyright Office, 

Sept. 16, 2020, at 1 (‘‘Copyright Owners II Ex Parte 

Letter #5’’). 

42Letter from John I. Stewart, Jr., Crowell & 

Moring, to Regan A. Smith, Gen. Coun. & Assoc. 

Register of Copyrights, U.S. Copyright Office, June 

18, 2020, at 2–3 (‘‘Copyright Owners II Ex Parte 

Letter #4’’). 

43 Id. at 3. 

44Letter from Mary Beth Murphy, Esq., NCTA, 

and Dennis Lane, Esq., Stinson, LLP, to Regan A. 

Smith, Gen. Coun. & Assoc. Register of Copyrights, 

U.S. Copyright Office, July 30, 2020, at 7 (‘‘NCTA– 

MPA Ex Parte Letter #3’’). 

45 82 FR at 56930. 

46 Id. at 56931. 

47 Id. at 56937. 

48 Id. at 56931. 

49See 49 FR 13029, 13035 (1984). 

50NCTA Initial NPRM Comments at 12. 

51 Id. at 10–18. 

52 Id. at 13–14 & n.37. 

53 Id. at 14–15. NCTA stated that, under GAAP, 

the discount for the bundle would be assigned in 

a manner proportionate to the unbundled prices of 

the separate services. Id. at 14. 

54 Declaration of Prof. William Holder, October 3, 

2018, at 5, attached as Exhibit A to NCTA Initial 

NPRM Comments (‘‘Holder Declaration’’). 

in a separate ex parte meeting, stated 

that section 111 permits the Office to 

require reporting of ‘‘other data,’’ and is 

not limited to an aggregated six month 

report.42 They further stated that 

reporting monthly averages, as opposed 

to a six-month aggregate, would not be 

‘‘unduly burdensome.’’ 43 Responding to 

these statements, NCTA and MPA 

expressed concern that by providing 

monthly data, instead of a six-month 

average, ‘‘competitors could use that 

information to their competitive 

advantage by closely tracking the 

operator’s relative success and failure 

under discrete promotional 

campaigns.’’ 44

The Office appreciates the inputs 

from stakeholders, including their 

efforts to narrow their differences. It is 

apparent from the comments of the 

parties, and their statements at ex parte 

meetings, that they do not support the 

NPRM proposal to provide more detail 

in Space E. The Office is therefore 

withdrawing its proposal. At the same 

time, it declines to adopt the NCTA– 

MPA proposal to limit Space E reporting 

to a six-month aggregation of 

subscribers and average rates. It 

concludes that this proposal would not 

provide sufficient information to allow 

the Copyright Owners to make the 

‘‘rough comparison’’ between the gross 

receipts reported in Space K and the 

subscriber information reported in 

Space E. Therefore, except as described 

below, the Office is not changing the 

requirements of Space E at this time. It 

will continue to monitor the issue of 

comparability between Space E and 

Space K going forward. 

The final rule includes several 

changes to Space E that were either 

raised by the NPRM or introduced 

during the comment process and fully 

considered by stakeholders during the 

rulemaking proceeding. Specially, the 

Office is revising the regulatory 

definition of ‘‘gross receipts’’ to make 

clear that equipment fees (formerly 

called ‘‘converter’’ fees) and broadcast 

fees must be included in gross receipts 

and reported in Space E. The Office will 

revise its Section E instructions for the 

SOA accordingly. The rationale for 

these amendments is discussed in 

Section 3 below. 

In addition, as discussed in the 

NPRM, the Office will require that 

spaces on the SOA seeking information 

regarding categories of service not be 

left blank.45 If a cable operator does not 

serve a specific category, a ‘‘zero’’ or a 

‘‘N/A’’ (not applicable) must be reported 

in the appropriate space. These 

revisions are intended to facilitate the 

review of cable SOAs by the Office’s 

Licensing Division; they will be 

implemented in the instructions to 

Space E in the SOA and do not require 

amending the regulations. 

2. Reporting of Bundled Services in 

Gross Receipts (Space K) 

The NPRM also addressed how gross 

receipts should be reported when cable 

services are offered by cable operators as 

part of a ‘‘bundle’’ of services to 

subscribers. For example, many cable 

operators now offer video services plus 

internet and/or voice services together 

at a price that is less than what a 

subscriber would pay to subscribe to 

each service separately (so-called 

‘‘double play’’ and ‘‘triple play’’ 

bundles).46 Noting that the Office 

receives questions on how gross receipts 

for cable services should be reported 

when sold as part of a bundle, the 

NPRM stated that it was ‘‘considering 

whether to amend its regulations to 

provide specific guidance on how 

remitters should report cable television 

services sold as a bundled service.’’ It 

proposed the addition of the following 

new language in its regulatory definition 

of ‘‘gross receipts’’ to address bundled 

services: when cable services are 

bundled with non-cable services, ‘‘gross 

receipts shall not include any fees 

collected from subscribers for the sale of 

internet services or telephony services 

when such services are bundled 

together with cable service.’’ ‘‘[I]nstead, 

when cable services are sold as part of 

a bundle of other services, gross receipts 

shall include fees in the amount that 

would have been collected if such 

subscribers received cable services as an 

unbundled stand-alone product.’’ 47 The 

Office sought public comment on the 

proposed definition and ‘‘on how cable 

operators currently report the price of 

cable television service in gross receipts 

on their SOAs when it is sold as part of 

a bundle of services, and whether the 

Office’s regulations should be amended 

to provide more guidance.’’ 48

The NPRM proposal is consistent 

with the Office’s decades-long 

interpretation of ‘‘gross receipts’’ in 

section 111 as requiring reporting of all 

subscription fees collected by a cable 

operator when its service includes 

broadcast stations. For example, when a 

video service tier includes both 

broadcast and non-broadcast stations, 

the Office requires the cable operator to 

report all of the revenues from the 

broader tier to be included in gross 

receipts, not just the revenues that 

would have been garnered from a 

broadcast-only tier. This interpretation 

of gross receipts, barring proration of 

mixed cable channel tiers, was issued in 

1984.49 In other words, cable operators 

are not permitted to prorate gross 

receipts within tiers of service that 

contain broadcast channels according to 

the ratio of broadcast to non-broadcast 

channels in a given tier. 

In their initial comments, NCTA 

agreed that the exclusion of internet and 

voice services in the proposed rule was 

proper.50 At the same time, however, it 

suggested that the Office substantively 

change its approach to the reporting of 

revenue in this circumstance. It asked 

the Office to recognize generally 

accepted accounting principles, or 

GAAP, as the method for determining 

the amount of revenue to be reported for 

bundled services.51 It suggested that 

employing GAAP would be a more 

appropriate standard for reporting the 

video portion of the bundled revenue 

than the proposed rule and pointed out 

that other compulsory licenses use 

GAAP in their analyses.52 NCTA 

criticized the proposed rule on the 

grounds that it purportedly assigns the 

discount for the bundled services to the 

non-video services and therefore allows 

royalty payments to be computed 

against revenue from services that do 

not include broadcast video.53

In support of its comments, NCTA 

submitted the declaration of Professor 

William Holder, which states that GAAP 

is the method recognized as the most 

authoritative for businesses to prepare 

their financial statements.54 As 

explained by Prof. Holder, the 


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55Holder Declaration at 6. 

56 Id. at 7. 

57 Id. at 9. Prof. Holder’s declaration further states 

that this methodology is not limited to cable service 

bundling; it is applicable generally to businesses 

offering a group of products or services at a 

discounted price from the sum of their separate 

prices. Id. 

58 Id. 

59Thus, if the unbundled prices of cable, internet, 

and voice services were $10, $10, and $5 per month 

respectively, and the bundled price was $20 per 

month for all three, the cable portion would be 

allocated at 40% of the bundled price ($10/$25), or 

$8. The proposed rule, by contrast, would require 

reporting of $10 per month in the gross receipts. 

60As noted below, in later comments the MPA 

sided with NCTA on this issue. 

61Copyright Owners I Initial NPRM Comments, at 

7–8. 

62 Id. at 8. 

63 Id. 

64Copyright Owners I NPRM Reply Comments, at 

7. 

65Copyright Owners II NPRM Reply Comments at 

2. 

66 Id. at 3. Copyright Owners II also dispute the 

assertion in the Holder Declaration that cable 

operators ‘‘generally’’ use GAAP when reporting 

gross receipts for bundled services. Rather 

Copyright Owners II assert that their audits have 

found that ‘‘while some CSOs improperly utilize 

what they interpret to be GAAP, other CSOs 

properly follow the Office’s existing rules and have 

included in Gross Receipts the subscriber revenues 

as required by precedent and not GAAP.’’ Id. at 4. 

67Copyright Owners II NPRM Reply Comments at 

3. See id. at 4–8 (discussing the applicability of 

Cablevision). 

68 Id. at 10–11. 

69 Id. at 4, 11–14. 

70 Id. at 14. 

71 Id. at 12–13. 

72 Declaration of Sam D. Wild, CPA, October 24, 

2018, attached as Exhibit 1 to Copyright Owners II 

Reply Comments (‘‘Wild Declaration’’). 

73Wild Declaration at 2. 

74 Id. 

75 Id. at 3. 

76NCTA Reply NPRM Comments at 2–6. 

77 Id. at 3. 

78 Id. 

79 Id. at 5–6. 

80Reply Comments of Program Suppliers at 2–3 

(Oct. 25, 2018). 

81 Id. at 5. 

82 Id. at 4 (emphasis in original). 

83 Id. at 7–8. The 1988 Notice refers to the Office’s 

Notice of Policy Decision, issued on January 28, 

1988. See Compulsory License for Cable Systems, 

Reporting of Gross Receipts, 53 FR 2493 (Jan. 28, 

1988). In subsequent ex parte meetings with the 

Office, the parties reiterated their positions relating 

to the applicability of GAAP. See Letter from Mary 

Beth Murphy, Esq., NCTA and Dennis Lane, Esq., 

application of GAAP by the Financial 

Accounting Standards Board (‘‘FASB’’) 

is intended to provide financial 

information that is relevant and a 

‘‘faithful representation’’ of the financial 

status of the business that is neutral and 

non-biased.55 His declaration states that 

several regulatory bodies require 

businesses to present their financial 

statements in accordance with GAAP.56

According to Prof. Holder, applying the 

principles of GAAP, the FASB has 

created a method of allocating the 

revenue received in a bundled discount 

arrangement.57 In his view, this 

allocation is ‘‘based on the relative 

proportion of each element in the 

arrangement to the total consideration 

that is expected to be received.’’ 58 He 

concludes that using a GAAP approach 

would allocate the discount in the 

bundled price to each element 

according to its relative percentage of 

the unbundled price of the group of 

discounted goods or services.59

In their initial comments, Copyright 

Owners I, whose members then 

included the MPA, Joint Sports 

Claimants, the National Association of 

Broadcasters (‘‘NAB’’), Public 

Broadcasting Service, Settling 

Devotional Claimants, and Canadian 

Claimants Group,60 stated that there was 

disagreement among the group as to the 

proper method of reporting bundled 

services.61 They agreed with the Office 

that internet and voice services should 

not be included in gross receipts 62 and 

noted that the language of the proposed 

rule appeared to track ‘‘prior Office and 

judicial guidance concerning the 

meaning of the term Gross Receipts.’’ 63

In their first reply comments responding 

to NCTA’s proposal, the they stated that 

they ‘‘do not have a common position 

on the issue’’ and indicated that they 

would file separate comments.64

In their second reply comments, the 

Copyright Owners II—representing the 

same groups as before except for the 

MPA—stressed that the Office’s 

proposed rule ‘‘is consistent with (and 

indeed mandated by) the Office’s 

longstanding interpretation of the term 

Gross Receipts.’’ 65 They stated that 

‘‘where CSOs [cable service operators] 

offer bundled products or services that 

include broadcast signals, they must 

include in Gross Receipts the full 

amount that they charge subscribers to 

receive the Basic Service alone.’’ 66 They 

suggested that NCTA’s proposal would 

be contrary to the Cablevision decision, 

in which the court upheld the Office’s 

interpretation of gross receipts as 

including the total revenues from any 

tier of video services that includes 

broadcast services.67 They took the 

position that, whatever the merits of 

GAAP in various other contexts, the 

statutory mandate of section 111 was to 

the contrary.68 From their perspective, 

employing GAAP would permit greater 

subjectivity in the reporting of revenues 

than was implied by NCTA’s 

comments,69 and would be unfair to 

copyright owners.70 For example, 

different bundles offered by a single 

cable operator might contain a variety of 

different video services, not all of which 

would have a stand-alone price.71

Copyright Owners II submitted a 

declaration from Sam D. Wild, CPA, in 

response to Prof. Holder’s declaration 

submitted by NCTA.72 Mr. Wild stated 

that although it is appropriate to use 

GAAP in financial reporting, 

‘‘calculating royalties is different than 

and distinct from preparing financial 

statements.’’ 73 He stated that royalties 

are calculated according to contracts or 

statutory mandates, which may differ 

from the requirements of GAAP.74 He 

also stated that GAAP would not 

provide an easy answer if each service 

in the bundle does not have a separate 

stand-alone price; he asserted that in 

such a circumstance, using GAAP 

would increase the subjectivity of the 

calculation.75

In its reply comments, NCTA repeated 

its suggestion that GAAP provides the 

proper method for reporting revenues 

from bundled services.76 It reiterated 

that the proposed rule would apply the 

bundle discount to the non-video 

services only, which NCTA claimed 

would result in royalties being paid on 

non-video revenues.77 It suggested that 

using GAAP aided consumers by 

allowing cable operators to offer 

bundles in a competitive market, giving 

consumers additional choices at a 

variety of price levels.78 NCTA again 

stated that GAAP is a well-recognized 

method of accounting for revenues, and 

that it is used by the government, 

including the Office, in other contexts.79

In their separate reply comments, 

Program Suppliers also supported the 

use of GAAP for reporting bundled 

revenues. They stated that the 

circumstances in the cable industry 

today are significantly different from 

those in 1988, when Cablevision was 

decided and when the Office issued 

regulations implementing that 

decision.80 They took the position that 

the bundling of non-video with video 

services at a single price is not the same 

as combining broadcast and nonbroadcast channels in a single tier at a 

single price.81 They stated that the 

changed circumstances ‘‘demonstrates 

that the Office could adopt a new gross 

receipts interpretation to allow use of 

GAAP methodology, . . . but still leaves 

open the question of whether adoption 

of the GAAP methodology would be 

consistent with Section 111’s purpose 

and intent.’’ 82 Program Suppliers stated 

that the use of GAAP ‘‘represents a 

change from how gross receipts were 

calculated under the 1988 Notice’s 

policy,’’ but argued that GAAP now 

represents the more appropriate method 

of reporting bundled revenues.83


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Stinson, LLP, to Regan A. Smith, Gen. Coun. & 

Assoc. Register of Copyrights, U.S. Copyright 

Office, May 22, 2020, at 4–5 (‘‘NCTA–MPA Ex Parte 

Letter #2’’); NCTA–MPA Ex Parte Letter #3, at 4– 

6; Letter from Daniel A. Cantor, Esq., Arnold & 

Porter, to Regan A. Smith, Esq., Gen. Coun., U.S. 

Copyright Office, June 10, 2020, at 2–3 (‘‘Copyright 

Owners II Ex Parte Letter #2’’); Copyright Owners 

II Ex Parte Letter #5 at 3–4. 

84See generally Holder Declaration; Wild 

Declaration. 85See also Determination of Rates and Terms for 

Preexisting Subscription Services and Satellite 

Digital Audio Ratio Services, 82 FR 56725, 56734 

(CRB, Nov. 30, 2017) (discussing the economic 

effect of bundling certain types of audio services). 

86To be sure, if a consumer highly valued 

internet services and placed little value on video 

services, the calculation would work in reverse; the 

revenue maximizing cable operator would want to 

sell the internet services to that consumer at close 

to full price and add the other services at closer to 

their marginal cost. However, the record also does 

not contain information about the marginal cost of 

providing video services in addition to internet 

and/or voice services. 

87See Cablevision Systems Development Co. v. 

Motion Picture Association of America, Inc., 836 

F.2d 599, 611 (D.C. Cir. 1988) (‘‘Congress never 

contemplated a precise congruence of the royalties 

paid and the amount of distant non-network 

programming actually carried. Instead, Congress 

picked a convenient revenue base and used the 

DSEs to discount it in a reasonable manner.’’) 

(emphasis in original); id. at 612 (‘‘Congress . . . 

chose an easily calculable revenue base and used 

the DSEs to approximate the value received by the 

cable companies.’’). 

88 82 FR at 56930. 

89 Id. 

90See generally NCTA Initial NPRM Comment. 

91Copyright Owners I Initial NPRM Comments at 

7. 

92NCTA Reply NPRM Comment at 6–7, 8–11. 

93 Id. at 10. 

94E.g., NCTA–MPA Ex Parte Letter #2, at 3–4 

(opposing inclusion of equipment fees); Copyright 

Owners II Ex Parte Letter #2, at 1, 2 (supporting 

inclusion of equipment fees); Copyright Owners II 

Ex Parte Letter #5, at 2–3 (supporting inclusion of 

equipment fees). 

95NCTA–MPA Ex Parte Letter #4, at 4. 

96Since 1978, the Office’s regulations have 

incorporated the concept that equipment fees—or 

Continued 

The Office appreciates the efforts of 

the commenters to assist its decisionmaking through their comments and by 

supplying declarations of accounting 

experts.84 After careful consideration of 

the comments and declarations, as well 

as ex parte meetings held in 2020 and 

2022 which are publicly captured in ex 

parte letters provided to the Office, the 

Office has decided that its proposal in 

the NPRM is most consistent with its 

longstanding interpretation of gross 

receipts under section 111, which it has 

applied consistently. On the current 

record, the Office believes that its 

proposed rule reflects the appropriate 

interpretation of the statute and is not 

persuaded that GAAP necessarily leads 

to a simpler and more appropriate 

calculation of the value of the video 

services in a bundle in the context of 

section 111 and congressional intent. To 

the contrary, the Office concludes that 

changing its interpretation of gross 

receipts at this time is not supported by 

the record or by the statute. 

For example, Professor Holder’s 

implementation of GAAP in his 

declaration assumes that consumer 

preferences and valuation of the 

constituent services in a bundle are 

accurately measured by the 

proportionate ‘‘rack rate’’ of each service 

sold separately. But that assumption is 

not necessarily correct.85 Bundling may 

be a reflection of the cable operator’s 

desire to maximize revenue, with the 

understanding that consumers may not 

value the other services in the bundle 

(e.g., internet and/or voice) enough to 

pay the full asking price, and that a 

discounted bundle that includes those 

other services at a price slightly higher 

than the video alone, maximizes cable 

system revenue. The record does not 

provide information on this issue, nor is 

it clear that the calculation would be the 

same for every bundle of services. 

Moreover, there is no evidence in the 

record about the cost of including the 

additional services in the bundle; if the 

marginal cost of including internet and 

voice services is very small, then a 

revenue maximizing cable system could 

increase revenue and profit by including 

those services at just above their 

marginal cost.86 Finally, the record does 

not supply information about the extent 

to which bundled services are available 

as stand-alone offerings. Thus, it is 

difficult for the Office to determine 

whether the use of GAAP in these 

circumstances would be an appropriate 

measure of the value of the video 

services that must be included in gross 

receipts. Moreover, it is not clear that 

GAAP must be interpreted as Professor 

Holder’s example indicates. If GAAP is 

more subjective than his example 

suggests—for example, because the 

bundled services are not all available at 

a stand-alone price—then one of the 

goals of section 111, namely, simplicity 

of calculating gross receipts, would be 

undermined.87 As noted by the Program 

Suppliers, the use of GAAP is not 

mandated by the statute, and using 

GAAP would represent a change from 

the Office’s existing interpretation of the 

statute. 

The Office believes that including the 

full, non-bundled value of the video 

services is consistent with Congress’ 

intent that the ‘‘gross receipts’’ reported 

serve as the baseline against which 

royalties are calculated, and further 

concludes that its proposal is consistent 

with Congress’ intent for gross receipts 

to be calculated simply (and, by 

implication, audited simply). 

3. Reporting of Equipment Fees, 

Broadcast Fees, and Franchise Fees in 

Gross Receipts (Space E) 

a. Equipment Fees 

The current regulations require cable 

operators to include ‘‘converter’’ fees in 

their gross receipts. In the NPRM, the 

Office proposed to change the 

terminology in the definition of gross 

receipts from ‘‘converter’’ fees to 

‘‘equipment’’ fees, in recognition that 

the latter is a more accurate description 

of what is currently sold or leased to 

cable subscribers.88 The Office viewed 

this proposal as a technical one 

‘‘intended to modernize regulatory 

terminology’’ to align with cable 

operator’s current practices.89

In initial comments to the NPRM, 

NCTA expressed no opposition to the 

proposal.90 At the same time, Copyright 

Owners I, which includes the MPA, 

supported the Office’s technical change, 

while adding more broadly that ‘‘if the 

cable operator charges subscribers for its 

use, and subscribers use the converter/ 

equipment/app/device to obtain the 

basic service of providing retransmitted 

broadcast signals, the subscriber 

revenues should be included in gross 

receipts.’’ 91 In its reply comments, 

NCTA opposed the inclusion of any 

equipment fees in gross receipts, 

arguing that ‘‘equipment fees are not 

service fees’’ under section 111.92 It 

contended that such fees are becoming 

less important as more cable operators 

offer free apps to allow subscribers to 

view broadcast and video services on 

different devices.93

In subsequent ex parte meetings with 

the Office, NCTA and the MPA 

announced that, as part of a compromise 

of their previous disagreements related 

to the rulemaking’s proposals, they now 

jointly opposed the inclusion of 

equipment fees in gross receipts, while 

Copyright Owners II continued to 

express support for including them.94

Specifically, NCTA and MPA argued 

that, if a subscriber is given the option 

of accessing video services (including 

broadcast signals) through a free 

software application on the subscriber’s 

television, and the subscriber still 

chooses to receive video services 

through equipment provided by the 

cable operator, then the equipment fees 

should not be included in gross 

receipts.95

Consistent with its long-held view, 

the Office believes that, regardless of the 

descriptor used, equipment fees are 

properly included in gross receipts. The 

Office’s approach in this area is wellestablished.96 It requires the fees 


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‘‘converter fees’’—would be included in gross 

receipts if they were necessary to access basic 

secondary transmissions. 43 FR 27827, 27832 (June 

27, 1978). 

97Letter from Dorothy Schrader, Gen. Coun., to 

James F. Ireland, Cole, Raywid & Braverman, 

October 11, 1989, attached as Exhibit A to NCTA 

Reply NPRM Comments. 

98See Copyright Owners II Ex Parte Letter #5, at 

3. 

99The Office notes that the record does not 

include information regarding whether cable 

operators offering subscribers a free software 

application for video services condition access to 

the application on the purchase of internet service, 

or other services, from the cable operator. 

100See Copyright Owners I Initial NPRM 

Comments at 10 (urging the Office to include 

broadcast surcharges in gross receipts ‘‘[b]ecause 

cable subscribers cannot receive broadcast signals 

without paying the broadcast surcharge (where 

imposed)’’). 

101NCTA Reply NPRM Comments at 7–8. 

102NCTA–MPA Ex Parte Letter #2, at 3. See 

NCTA–MPA Ex Parte Letter #3, at 1–2 (noting that 

their agreement to include franchise fees and 

broadcast fees in gross receipts was predicated on 

an overall settlement of the other issues in the 

rulemaking). 

103Copyright Owners II Ex Parte Letter #2, at 2. 

104See Copyright Owners I Initial NPRM 

Comments at 10 (urging the Office to include 

franchise in gross receipts ‘‘[b]ecause franchise fees 

are part of the total amount cable subscribers pay 

to receive broadcast signals’’). 

105See NCTA Reply NPRM Comments at 7 

(describing the franchise fee as ‘‘an indirect tax for 

rights-of-way’’). 

106 82 FR at 56927. 

107NCTA Initial NPRM Comment at 10; NCTA Ex 

Parte Letter Jan. 24, 2019 at 2; NCTA & MPA Ex 

Parte Letter May 22, 2020 at 8 (‘‘[T]he Office should 

not only delete Space F (and all references thereto) 

from the SOA forms, but also remove Section 

201.17(e)(8) from its rules.’’). 

108Short Form SOA at 2, Space F; Long Form 

SOA at 2, Space F. See 37 CFR 201.17(e)(8). 

109Owner Representatives Ex Parte Letter Aug. 

15, 2019 at 2. 

110Copyright Owners I Reply NPRM Comment at 

6. See NCTA & MPA Ex Parte Letter May 22, 2020 

at 10 (stating that commenting parties agree Space 

F can be eliminated); see NCTA & MPA Ex Parte 

Letter May 20, 2020 Ex. at 3 (same). 

charged to subscribers for the 

equipment necessary to access broadcast 

services be included in gross receipts.97

Due to a concern that some cable 

operators may be uncertain as to 

whether the regulations’ current 

reference to ‘‘converter fees’’ includes 

modern equipment fees, the NPRM 

proposed amended language to 

eliminate that confusion. 

NCTA and MPA’s position would 

eliminate equipment fees from gross 

receipts reported by a cable operator 

regardless of the amount of equipment 

fees that cable operators continue to 

collect from subscribers who choose the 

equipment option to access broadcast 

channels. The record does not support 

this result. 

Having fully considered all comments 

and ex parte submissions, the Office 

concludes that, when a cable operator 

offers to provide video services through 

a free software application, but a 

subscriber opts to forego the software 

application in favor of a cable box, then 

that equipment is no less necessary to 

the subscriber’s ability to receive 

broadcast signals than before.98 Thus, 

gross receipts shall include all 

equipment charges collected for any 

equipment used to access broadcast 

signals. If the cable operator charges a 

fee for the use of a software application 

to be used in lieu of physical equipment 

used to receive broadcast services, then 

that fee should be included in gross 

receipts and the final rule so indicates.99

b. Broadcast Fees/Surcharges and 

Franchise Fees 

As background, the Office is aware 

that many cable operators separately 

itemize various fees in their bills to 

subscribers. In particular, many include 

separate charges for what are often 

termed a ‘‘Broadcast fee,’’ or a 

‘‘Broadcast Surcharge,’’ as well as a 

‘‘Franchise fee.’’ Broadcast surcharges 

represent some portion of fees paid by 

cable operators to broadcasters for 

permission to retransmit their signals. 

Franchise fees represent fees paid to 

local governments for permission to 

operate a cable television service in a 

particular area. 

The NPRM did not address broadcast 

fees or franchise fees. However, 

questions about whether these fees 

should be included in gross receipts 

were raised by commenters during the 

rulemaking proceeding and all parties 

had an opportunity to be heard on the 

question. The Office accordingly 

addresses the treatment of these fees in 

this final rule. 

The question of whether broadcast 

fees should be included within the 

definition of gross receipts was raised 

by Copyright Owners I in their initial 

comments to the NPRM.100 In written 

comments, NCTA initially expressed no 

opinion on broadcast surcharges.101

However, in subsequent ex parte 

meetings with the Office, NCTA and the 

MPA stated that they agreed to the 

inclusion of franchise fees and 

broadcast fees in gross receipts as part 

of their agreement referenced above.102

The Copyright Owners, for their part, 

stated that they believe broadcast fees 

(as well as equipment fees and franchise 

fees) should be included in gross 

receipts.103

After careful consideration, the Office 

has determined that broadcast fees 

(whether denominated ‘‘broadcast fees,’’ 

broadcast surcharges,’’ or other similar 

descriptions) should be included in 

gross receipts. By their very nature, 

broadcast fees are charges for the service 

of providing broadcast transmissions. 

Subscribers cannot receive broadcast 

transmissions without paying those 

charges. Thus, they fit comfortably 

within the scope of charges that 

traditionally have been included in 

gross receipts. 

The treatment of franchise fees was 

also raised by Copyright Owners I in 

their initial comments.104 As noted 

above, franchise fees are fees paid to 

local governments for the privilege of 

operating a cable service franchise 

within the territory of that government. 

As stated by NCTA, franchise fees could 

be described as a kind of tax levied on 

cable operators.105 While a tax or 

assessment imposed on cable operators 

that is passed on to all subscribers, and 

that subscribers must pay regardless of 

their tier of service, could fit within the 

traditional bounds of the definition of 

gross receipts, franchise fees do not 

appear to be directly linked to the 

service of broadcast transmissions in the 

same way that broadcast fees are linked. 

Thus, the Office concludes that, on the 

current record, franchise fees should not 

be included in gross receipts. 

4. Elimination of Space F in the SOA 

In the NPRM, the Office invited 

‘‘suggestions on streamlining or 

otherwise improving reporting practices 

for the section 111 license.’’ 106 In 

response, NCTA suggests eliminating 

Space F, stating that the information 

collected ‘‘does not relate to the 

provision of secondary transmissions of 

broadcast service and thus its collection 

is neither mandated by Section 

111(d)(1)(A) of the Act nor relevant to 

cable operators’ payments of royalties 

pursuant to the compulsory license.’’ 107

Space F of the SOA, titled ‘‘Services 

Other Than Secondary Transmissions: 

Rates,’’ requires cable operators to list 

rate information ‘‘with respect to all 

. . . services that were not covered in 

space E, that is, those services that are 

not offered in combination with any 

secondary transmission service for a 

single fee.’’ 108 The Office of the 

Commissioner of Baseball, Public 

Broadcasting Service, and attorneys 

Dennis Lane, Philip Hochberg, John 

Stewart, Ann Mace, Dustin Cho, John 

Beiter, Brian Coleman, Matthew 

Maclean, and Benjamin Sternberg 

(collectively, ‘‘Owner Representatives’’) 

agreed that Space F can be 

eliminated 109 and Copyright Owners I 

commented they ‘‘do not object’’ to 

NCTA’s proposal.110 In light of these 

comments, the Office has determined 

that eliminating Space F would help 

streamline reporting practices for cable 


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111See 37 CFR 201.17(e)(8). 

112As noted above, cable operators may continue 

to use the Office’s existing SOA forms until the 

Office’s new forms without Space F have been 

made publicly available. Until the new SOA forms 

are provided, cable operators need not complete 

Space F. 

113See, e.g., Register of Copyrights, A Review of 

the Copyright Licensing Regimes Covering 

Retransmission of Broadcast Signals 97–99 (1997), 

https://www.copyright.gov/reports/study.pdf; 

Copyrighted Webcast Programming on the Internet: 

Hearing Before the H. Subcomm. on Courts and 

Intell. Prop., 106th Cong. 5–6 (2000) (statement of 

Marybeth Peters, Register of Copyrights and Dir., 

U.S. Copyright Office); Register of Copyrights, 

Satellite Home Viewer Extension and 

Reauthorization Act Section 109 Report 193–94 

(2008), http://www.copyright.gov/reports/ 

section109-final-report.pdf (‘‘Section 109 Report’’); 

Register of Copyrights, Satellite Home Viewer 

Extension and Localism Act Section 302 Report 47– 

49 (2011), https://www.copyright.gov/reports/ 

section302-report.pdf. 

114E.g., Fox Television Stations, Inc. v. 

Aereokiller, LLC, 851 F.3d 1002, 1013–15 (9th Cir. 

2017) (finding the Office’s view concerning the 

ineligibility of internet services under section 111 

to be longstanding, consistent, and ‘‘persuasive’’ 

and deferring to the Office’s interpretation); WPIX, 

Inc. v. ivi, Inc., 691 F.3d 275, 283–84 (2d Cir. 2012) 

(deferring to the Office’s interpretation regarding 

internet-based services and eligibility for section 

111 license); Satellite Broad. & Commc’ns Ass’n of 

Am. v. Oman, 17 F.3d 344, 346–48 (11th Cir. 1994) 

(upholding the Office’s determination that satellite 

carriers are ineligible for section 111 license). 

115 82 FR at 56931–32; see, e.g., Fox Television 

Stations, Inc. v. Aereokiller, LLC, 851 F.3d 1002, 

1007 n.1 (9th Cir. 2017) (noting that seven other 

federal courts held that ‘‘internet-based 

transmission services’’ did not qualify as a ‘‘cable 

systems’’ under the Copyright Act); WPIX, Inc. v. 

ivi, Inc., 691 F.3d 275, 276 (2d Cir. 2012); Fox 

Television Stations, Inc. v. FilmOn X, LLC, 150 F. 

Supp. 3d 1, 7 (D.D.C. 2015). 

116Copyright Owners I Initial NPRM Comments 

at 11. 117NCTA Initial NPRM Comments at 19. 118See 37 CFR 201.17(e)(4); Short Form SOA at 

1b, Space D; Long Form SOA at 1b, Space D. 119Petition at 10–11. 120 82 FR at 56932. 

121NCTA Initial NPRM Comments at 20; 

Copyright Owners I Initial NPRM Comments at 14. 

122 37 CFR 201.17(e)(4). 

123 82 FR at 56933. 

124Copyright Owners I Initial NPRM Comments 

at 14. 

125NCTA Initial NPRM Comments at 21; AT&T 

Initial NPRM Comments at 8. 

126 17 U.S.C. 111(f)(3); 37 CFR 201.17(b)(2). 

127Form 3 cable systems are cable systems that 

use the Long Form SOA. 

128See 43 FR 958 (Jan. 5, 1978) (‘‘[T]he legislative 

history of the Act indicates that the purpose of this 

sentence [in section 111(f)] is to avoid the artificial 

fragmentation of cable systems.’’). 

129 37 CFR 201.17(e)(4); see also Short Form SOA 

at 1b, Space D; Long Form SOA at 1b, Space D. 

operators. The final rule thus eliminates 

the regulatory provision requiring 

remitters to provide information 

regarding ‘‘Services Other Than 

Secondary Transmissions: Rates,’’ 111

and Space F will be removed from the 

cable SOA forms.112

B. Definition of Phrase ‘‘Cable System’’ 

The Office has maintained a 

consistent interpretation of the statutory 

definition of a cable system for many 

years, i.e., that cable systems are limited 

to systems providing only localized 

retransmissions of limited availability 

and that internet-based retransmission 

services are excluded from the section 

111 compulsory license. This 

interpretation has been included in 

testimony before Congress, as well as 

policy reports issued by the Office.113 It 

also has been accorded deference by 

courts examining whether satellite 

carriers and internet-based services are 

eligible for the section 111 license.114

In the NPRM, the Office proposed 

amending its regulatory definition of the 

phrase ‘‘cable system’’ to specifically 

reflect this position.115 In their 

comments, stakeholders expressed 

reservations about the proposed change. 

Copyright Owners I, while agreeing that 

the proposed language comported with 

the Office’s longstanding interpretation 

of the statute, stated that they ‘‘do not 

believe that an amendment is needed to 

give full effect to that consistent 

interpretation.’’ 116 NCTA also opposed 

implementation of the proposed change. 

It stated that the proposed change ‘‘may 

inadvertently create a new target for 

[people] to try to invent around in ways 

not intended by the Copyright 

Office.’’ 117

After reviewing the comments to the 

NPRM, the Office concludes that, while 

its interpretation of section 111 has not 

changed, amendment of the phrase 

‘‘cable system’’ in its regulations at this 

time may create unintended confusion 

regarding the Office’s position. To avoid 

any unintended consequences, it 

therefore has decided not to 

memorialize its longstanding 

interpretation in the regulations as part 

of this rulemaking. 

C. Interpretation of Community and 

Reporting of Area Served (Space D) 

1. Cable Headend Location 

Remitters are currently required to 

identify only the community or 

communities in which they operate and 

not the location of the headend(s) 

serving those communities.118 While the 

Program Suppliers’ original petition 

requested that Space D be revised to 

require cable operators to identify the 

location of each headend and the 

specific communities served from that 

headend,119 the Office declined to 

include this change in the NPRM, 

concluding that it was not clear that 

artificial fragmentation by cable systems 

seeking to avoid paying a higher royalty 

rate was a pressing concern.120 In 

response to the NPRM, Copyright 

Owners I and NCTA agreed that 

headend location information is not 

necessary to be reported on cable 

SOAs.121 Accordingly, the final rule 

does not require remitters to include 

headend location information in Space 

D. 

2. County Information 

The Office’s regulations currently 

require a cable operator to report the 

name of the community or communities 

served by its cable system in Space D of 

the SOA.122 A cable operator must 

identify the communities it serves, 

listing the ‘‘city or town’’ and ‘‘state’’ 

served, but not the county in which the 

given community is located (although 

some operators report counties on a 

voluntary basis). In response to a 

request by Program Suppliers, the Office 

proposed revising Space D to require 

‘‘county’’ information, noting that a 

regulatory change would not be 

necessary to implement this update to 

the SOA, but sought comment on 

whether this proposed change remained 

desirable to stakeholders.123 Copyright 

Owners I supported this proposed 

change,124 and AT&T and NCTA stated 

that they did not object.125 Accordingly, 

the Office will adopt this change by 

updating the instructions for filling out 

the SOA to require county information 

be included. 

3. Definition of the Term ‘‘Community’’ 

Under the Copyright Act and the 

Office’s regulations, two or more cable 

systems constitute a single cable system 

for purposes of section 111 if, as 

relevant here, they are under common 

ownership or control and are located in 

the same or ‘‘contiguous 

communities.’’ 126 Where common 

ownership of cable systems is 

established, defining the ‘‘community’’ 

served is important to determine 

whether two or more cable facilities 

operate in ‘‘contiguous communities,’’ 

and whether those facilities should file 

as a single cable system, preventing 

artificial fragmentation of large cable 

systems into smaller systems and 

avoiding the higher royalty payments 

that Form 3 cable systems 127 pay under 

section 111.128 The Office’s existing 

regulations state that a cable system’s 

‘‘community,’’ for purposes of section 

111, is the same geographic area as that 

specified under the definition of 

‘‘community unit’’ as defined in the 

FCC’s rules and regulations.129 FCC 

regulations define ‘‘community unit’’ as 

‘‘[a] cable television system, or portion 

of a cable television system, that 

operates or will operate within a 

separate and distinct community or 


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130 47 CFR 76.5(dd). 

131Petition at 19. 

132 82 FR at 56933. 

133 Id. 

134NCTA Initial NPRM Comments at 20. 

135Copyright Owners I Initial NPRM Comments 

at 14. (In their initial comments, the Copyright 

Owners included the MPA.) 

136 82 FR at 56934. 

137H.R. Rep. No. 94–1476, at 99 (1976), as 

reprinted in 1976 U.S.C.C.A.N. 5659, 5714. 

138 17 U.S.C. 111(f)(4). 

139 82 FR at 56934. 

140STELA at sec.104, 124 Stat. at 1235; 17 U.S.C. 

111(f)(4). 

141See 37 CFR 387.2. 

142See Long Form SOA at 13. 

143See id. All cable systems filing Long Form 

SOAs must pay at least the minimum fee which is 

1.064% of gross receipts. The cable system pays 

either the minimum fee or the sum of the base rate 

fee and the 3.75% fee, whichever is larger, and a 

Syndicated Exclusivity Surcharge, as applicable. 

Long Form SOA at 10. 

144See STELA at sec.104, 124 Stat. at 1235; 17 

U.S.C. 111(f)(4). 

145 82 FR at 56934. 

146 Id. 

147 17 U.S.C. 111(f)(5) (emphasis added). 

148 Id. 

149 Id. 

150 Id. 

151 Id. 

municipal entity (including 

unincorporated communities within 

unincorporated areas and including 

single, discrete unincorporated 

areas).’’ 130

In their original petition, Program 

Suppliers had requested that the Office 

amend the regulatory definition of 

‘‘community’’ so that a cable operator’s 

‘‘franchise area’’ would be the de facto 

regulatory boundary for defining 

communities, rather than the FCC’s 

community unit definition.131 However, 

based on comments received in 

response to the NOI, the Office 

explained in the NPRM that it was not 

proposing to replace the regulatory 

definition, because ‘‘the facts and the 

law [did] not support replacing the 

community unit definition with a 

franchise area definition,’’ 132 noting 

that it was not aware of a practice of 

fragmentation, but inviting public 

comments on whether this issue was 

still significant to stakeholders.133 In its 

comments, NCTA stated that the Office 

was correct in its decision not to amend 

the regulations to reflect a franchise 

area,134 and Copyright Owners I did not 

object.135 Accordingly, the Office 

declines to amend the regulatory 

definition of the term ‘‘community. 

D. Grade B Contour Versus NoiseLimited Contour 

In the NPRM, the Office noted that 

parts of the Long Form SOA referencing 

the ‘‘Grade B contour’’ appeared to be 

obsolete given the advent of digital 

television signals and the new ‘‘noiselimited service contour’’ 136 standard. It 

proposed two changes described below 

to delete these references. 

As background, section 111 defines 

the ‘‘local service area of a primary 

transmitter.’’ The definition establishes 

the difference between ‘‘local’’ and 

‘‘distant’’ signals and ‘‘therefore the line 

between signals which are subject to 

payment under the compulsory license 

[under section 111] and those that are 

not.’’ 137 It originally relied on an FCC 

construct, referred to as the ‘‘Grade B 

contour’’ construct, used to determine 

the local service area of certain signals. 

Adopted in 1976, the Grade B contour 

applies to analog television stations.138

In connection with the advent of digital 

television signals, the FCC has 

established a new ‘‘noise-limited service 

contour’’ 139 standard. In 2010, as part of 

STELA, the definition of local service 

area in section 111 was amended to 

incorporate this new standard.140

Under the FCC’s old ‘‘market quota’’ 

rules, which were incorporated by 

reference into section 111, a cable 

operator could carry a certain number of 

distant signals based upon a complex 

scheme involving the type of television 

market and signal available. A cable 

operator, however, could carry more 

signals than its market quota of distant 

signals if the station was considered 

‘‘permitted’’ by the FCC’s 1976-era 

rules. The concept of ‘‘permitted’’ 

stations was imported into the section 

111 license. Under section 111, an 

operator that carries a non-permitted 

signal above its market quota is 

generally subject to a 3.75% fee for 

carriage of that signal, in lieu of the 

minimum royalty rate.141 There are 

several bases of ‘‘permitted’’ carriage, 

however, for which retransmission will 

not trigger the 3.75% fee. One of these 

bases—basis ‘‘G’’—includes carriage of 

commercial UHF stations within a 

Grade B contour.142 On cable SOAs, 

permitted signals, including those under 

basis ‘‘G,’’ must be reported in Part 6, 

Block B, or be subject to the 3.75% fee 

calculation in Part 6/Block C.143

In the NPRM, the Office explained 

that, post-STELA, this area would 

include the area within the noise 

limited service contour; 144 thus, the 

noise limited service contour would be 

the proper standard by which to 

measure the reach of digital television 

signals with respect to the section 111 

license, including digital UHF 

signals.145 It proposed revising Part 6, 

Block B of the Long Form SOA which 

asks for information related to 

‘‘permitted’’ UHF signals carried by a 

cable operator for purposes of 

calculating royalties paid under a 3.75% 

fee. The NPRM’s proposal would 

eliminate the option in Block B of Part 

6 on the cable SOAs for commercial 

UHF stations within a Grade B contour 

(referred to as permitted basis ‘‘G’’).146

Because royalty rates under the section 

111 license are calculated based on the 

‘‘secondary transmission of any nonnetwork television programming carried 

by a cable system in whole or in part 

beyond the local service area of the 

primary transmitter of such 

programming,’’ 147 and because any 

digital signals within the noise-limited 

service contour are ‘‘local’’ and thus are 

not subject to the section 111 royalty 

rate, the Office concluded that ‘‘there is 

no need to treat any station within the 

noise limited contour as ‘permitted,’ 

because locally retransmitted stations 

do not count against the market quota in 

the first place.’’ 148

In addition, the Office noted that 

permitted basis ‘‘G’’ in Part 6/Block B is 

rarely, if ever, used, and that in the few 

cases where cable operators have 

reported the permitted basis of carriage 

category ‘‘G,’’ cable operators ‘‘may have 

used the noise-limited contour (for 

digital signals) interchangeably with the 

Grade B contour (for analog signals) 

because they historically reported ‘G’ in 

the all-analog world (prior to the 

mandated FCC digital conversion in 

2009), and continue to report the ‘G’ 

permitted basis out of habit.’’ 149

Second, the Office invited public 

comment on whether Part 7, Block B of 

the cable SOA—which allows for 

calculation of a syndicated exclusivity 

surcharge for the carriage of any 

commercial VHF station that places a 

Grade B contour, in whole or in part, 

over the cable system that would have 

been subject to the FCC’s syndicated 

exclusivity rules in effect on June 24, 

1981—should be amended, and 

whether, more generally, the Office’s 

related regulations should be amended 

to remove references to a Grade B 

contour.150 It explained that based on 

database queries of submitted SOAs, 

‘‘the last time Part 7 of the cable SOA 

[had been] used (i.e., Computation of 

the Syndicated Exclusivity Charge) was 

in 2013, on a single SOA.’’ 151

The comments received in response to 

these proposed changes were generally 

positive. While NCTA initially 

expressed concern that the Office’s 

proposal ‘‘might have more significant 

substantive ramifications,’’ such as 

eliminating the ability to rely on a 

station’s Grade B contour in assessing 

local and distant signals, it later 

acknowledged that the Office’s 


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152NCTA & MPA Ex Parte Letter May 22, 2020 

at 9; see NCTA Initial NPRM Comment at 21–23; 

NCTA Reply NPRM Comment at 15. See also 

Copyright Owners I Reply NPRM Comment at 6–7 

(noting that contrary to NCTA’s initial 

interpretation, the Office did not propose 

‘‘eliminating use of the Grade B contour in 

determining whether a signal is distant or local for 

Section 111 purposes,’’ but rather proposed ‘‘only 

two discrete, very limited places where the Grade 

B contour reference would be eliminated’’). 

153NCTA & MPA Ex Parte Letter May 22, 2020 

at 9. 

154 Id. at 9 n.41. 

155Copyright Owners I Reply NPRM Comment at 

6. See NCTA & MPA Ex Parte Letter May 20, 2020 

Ex. at 3 (stating none of the commenting parties 

opposed ‘‘the Office’s proposal to eliminate 

references to the use of the Grade B contour in the 

SOA, subject to the clarification that cable operators 

may continue to rely on the Grade B contour to 

determine the status of a broadcast signal to the 

same extent as is currently allowed’’); NCTA & 

MPA Ex Parte Letter May 22, 2020 at 9 (similar). 

156NPRM, 82 FR at 56934–35; Adjustment of 

Cable Statutory License Royalty Rates, 82 FR 24611 

(May 30, 2017). 

157NPRM, 82 FR at 56935. 

158 83 FR 62714 (Dec. 6, 2018). See 37 CFR 

387.2(e). The Sports Surcharge is calculated 

separately for each community in which a cable 

system carried one or more Sports Surcharge 

triggering programs during an accounting period 

(i.e., live, non-network broadcasts of sports events 

on a distant television station carried by the cable 

system that would have been subject to blackout 

under the FCC’s sports exclusivity rule prior to its 

repeal in 2014 and that meet certain other 

requirements established by the CRB). To calculate 

the Sports Surcharge, the system multiplies the 

gross receipts attributable to each such community 

by the number of Sports Surcharge triggering 

programs carried in the community by the Sports 

Surcharge rate of 0.025 percent (.00025). 37 CFR 

387.2(e). 

159The Sports Surcharge Addendum is available 

through pay.gov at www.copyright.gov/licensing/ 

sec_111.html, or directly at pay.gov/public/form/ 

start/584643809. Instructions for the Sports 

Surcharge Addendum are available at 

www.copyright.gov/licensing/111/sportsaddendum-instructions. 

160 82 FR at 56935. 

proposed changes ‘‘would only 

eliminate from the rules and the Form 

SA3 a handful of specific Grade B 

references, to which NCTA is not 

opposed.’’ 152 NCTA and MPA 

supported ‘‘eliminat[ing] references to 

the ‘Grade B contour’ in Sections 

201.17(i)(l)(ii) and 201.17(i)(2)(ii) and, 

with respect to the DSE Schedule in 

Form SA3, references to the ‘Grade B 

contour’ in Parts 7 and 9 (and the 

instructions for those Parts) and the ‘G’ 

category in Part 6, Block B.’’ 153 Both 

commenters asked, however, for the 

Office to clarify that ‘‘in the unlikely 

event a cable operator needs to continue 

relying on a station’s Grade B contour to 

establish its ‘permitted’ status, the 

operator may report that reliance under 

the existing ‘O—Other’ designation in 

Part 6, Block B.’’ 154 For their part, 

Copyright Owners I supported 

eliminating basis ‘‘G’’ in Part 6 and 

‘‘amend[ing] Part 7 (and the 

accompanying regulations) to remove 

references to a Grade B contour.’’ 155

After carefully considering these 

comments, the Office will eliminate the 

permitted basis ‘‘G’’ in Part 6/Block B 

on the cable SOAs (i.e., commercial 

UHF stations within a Grade B contour), 

and if a cable operator needs to continue 

relying on a station’s Grade B contour to 

establish its ‘‘permitted’’ status, it may 

report that reliance under the existing 

‘‘O—Other’’ designation. The Office will 

also eliminate references to the ‘‘Grade 

B contour’’ in §§ 201.17(i)(l)(ii) and 

201.17(i)(2)(ii) and, with respect to the 

DSE Schedule in Form SA3, references 

to the ‘‘Grade B contour’’ in Parts 7 and 

9 (and the instructions for those Parts). 

E. Changes to SOA Due to Copyright 

Royalty Board’s Rule Relating to the 

Retransmission of Sports Programming 

The NPRM noted that in response to 

the repeal of the FCC’s Sports Blackout 

Rule, the CRB had issued a notice of 

proposed settlement and proposed rule 

to require covered cable systems to pay 

a separate per-telecast royalty (a ‘‘Sports 

Surcharge’’) in addition to the other 

royalties that they must pay under 

section 111.156 The Office stated that 

‘‘[a]ssuming the CRB’s rule is adopted, 

the Office intends to amend its cable 

SOA forms to account for the new 

Sports Surcharge for semi-annual 

accounting periods,’’ and that ‘‘[n]o 

amendments to the Office’s regulations 

[would be] needed to accommodate this 

change.’’ 157

Effective January 1, 2019, the CRB 

adopted a final rule under which certain 

cable systems may be required to pay 

the Sports Surcharge.158 To facilitate 

Sports Surcharge payments, the Office 

created a Sports Surcharge Addendum 

for remitters to complete, if necessary, 

in addition to their SOAs.159 Because no 

regulatory amendments were necessary 

to implement the Sports Surcharge 

Addendum, the Office considers this 

issue closed for purposes of this 

rulemaking. 

F. Removing Outdated References to 

STELA 

In the NPRM, the Office proposed 

amending § 201.17 by deleting outdated 

references to STELA, and adding 

language directing remitters to contact 

the Licensing Division for instructions 

should they need to file SOAs for 

accounting periods further back than the 

last five years.160 The Office received no 

comments on this proposal. 

Accordingly, the proposed amendments 

are included in the final rule. 

G. Technical Amendments 

The NPRM proposed several technical 

amendments. Because certain regulatory 

provisions are duplicative of 

information provided on cable operator 

SOA forms and/or on the Office’s 

website, the proposed rule would 

remove these duplicative provisions. In 

addition, the Office’s current regulations 

instruct which information must be 

provided as part of the electronic funds 

transfer (‘‘EFT’’) to pay royalty fees. The 

Office proposed removing this language 

and incorporating it into the instruction 

for the SOA forms. There were no 

comments on either of these proposed 

changes. The final rule will include 

these changes. 

The final rule makes additional 

nonsubstantive changes to § 201.17 of 

the CFR. It clarifies the introductory 

language in § 201.17(e), which is not 

intended as a substantive change, and 

corrects references in § 2017.17(i)(3), 

and (k)(3). It reorders parts of 

§ 201.17(c), and adopts the technical 

changes of the proposed rule, by adding 

provisions to give guidance to remitters 

when a cable operator ceases to operate 

or when a cable operator is sold during 

an accounting period. 

Finally, the Office is developing a 

new enterprise information technology 

system (the ‘‘Enterprise Copyright 

System’’ or ‘‘ECS’’) that will improve its 

administration of the section 111 

license. To accommodate the planned 

technological improvements and 

integration into ECS, the final rule 

modifies language in § 201.17(d) to 

make clear that remitters must use the 

Statement of Account forms provided by 

the Office on its website when the new 

forms have been adopted. The final rule 

also updates the references to various 

provisions in § 201.17 that are contained 

in § 201.16, to conform to the changes 

being made to § 201.17, and makes 

technical changes to § 201.17 to correct 

issues within the regulation and update 

references to other regulations. 

These changes are intended to update 

the references and improve the 

readability and understanding of 

existing regulations and do not 

represent substantive changes in policy. 

IV. Reporting Practices—Cable, 

Satellite, and DART 

The NPRM proposed a number of 

regulatory changes, detailed below, 

relating to cable SOA reporting practices 

that are also pertinent to the filing of 

SOAs for other statutory licenses. After 

reviewing all comments, the Office is 

issuing a final rule amending certain 

reporting requirements for cable 

operators (under § 201.17), satellite 


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161See 83 FR 51840 (Oct. 15, 2018). 

162AT&T Initial NPRM Comments at 8; Copyright 

Owners I Initial NPRM Comments at 14; Copyright 

Owners I Reply NPRM Comments at 3. 

163 In an ex parte letter, NCTA and MPA listed 

this as an undisputed issue. NCTA–MPA Ex Parte 

Letter #1, attachment at 3. 

164AT&T Initial NPRM Comments at 8; Copyright 

Owners I Initial NPRM Comments at 14; Copyright 

Owners I Reply NPRM Comments at 3. 

165See NCTA–MPA Ex Parte Letter #1, 

attachment at 3 (all parties support this proposal). 

166 82 FR at 56936. 

167AT&T Initial NPRM Comments at 9. 

168NCTA Initial NPRM Comments at 24. 

169 Id. at 23; AT&T Initial NPRM Comments at 9. 

See NCTA–MPA Ex Parte Letter #1, attachment at 

3 (stating that all parties agree to the Office’s 

proposal). 

carriers (under § 201.11), and digital 

audio recording equipment 

manufacturers and importers (under 

§§ 201.27 and 201.28), where 

applicable, so that there are parallel 

requirements for all three licenses in the 

Office’s regulations. The final rule also 

deletes references in the proposed rules 

to payment by ‘‘a single’’ EFT to reflect 

the elimination of that requirement in 

2018.161 In addition, each of the 

following changes are reflected in the 

regulatory language below. 

A. Closing Out Statements of Account 

To streamline the administrative 

process and encourage timely responses 

to Office inquiries, the NPRM proposed 

closing out SOA examination if a filer 

fails to reply to an Office 

correspondence request after 90 days 

from the date of the last correspondence 

with the Office. After the SOA is closed, 

it will be placed with other publicly 

available SOA records. At that point, a 

cable operator wishing to submit a reply 

or pay additional royalties or make 

necessary corrections will need to file 

an amended SOA along with a filing fee 

as prescribed in 37 CFR 201.3(e). To be 

clear, operators failing to respond 

within the prescribed 90-day window 

will forfeit any potential refund of an 

overpayment associated with any issue 

with the SOA identified by the Office in 

its correspondence. 

AT&T and Copyright Owners I 

supported this proposal.162 There were 

no other comments on this issue.163

After reviewing all comments, the Office 

adopts these changes in the final rule. 

B. Royalty Refunds 

The NPRM proposed that royalty 

refunds for amounts of $50.00 or less 

would issue only where the refund is 

specifically requested before the SOA is 

closed and made available for public 

inspection. It further proposed that, if a 

refund is not requested before the SOA 

is closed, the amount will be added to 

the relevant royalty pool. The Office 

proposed harmonizing this practice 

across the regulations affecting royalty 

refunds for cable operators, satellite 

carriers, and digital audio recording 

equipment manufacturers and 

importers. 

AT&T and Copyright Owners I 

submitted comments agreeing with 

these proposals.164 There were no other 

comments on this issue.165 Accordingly, 

these changes are adopted into the final 

rule. 

C. Payment of Supplemental Royalty 

Fees and Filing Fees by EFT 

The NPRM proposed that all 

payments of supplemental royalty fees 

and filing fees by cable operators, 

satellite carriers, and digital audio 

recording equipment manufacturers and 

importers be made only by EFT.166 In its 

comments, AT&T supported the Office’s 

proposal.167 NCTA was generally 

supportive, but suggested that operators 

filing Form 1 and Form 2 be allowed to 

request a waiver of the EFT 

requirement.168 The Office’s records 

indicate that almost no Form 1 and 

Form 2 cable operators have insisted on 

remitting payment by other than EFT. 

Moreover, the use of EFT has proven to 

be a more efficient and effective means 

for the Office to receive and invest 

payments than payment by check or 

other means. Therefore, in the final rule, 

the Office has decided to retain the 

original proposal and require all 

payments to be made by EFT. 

D. Interest Assessment 

In the NPRM, the Office proposed 

harmonizing the regulations relating to 

the assessment of interest for late 

payments or underpayments of royalties 

among cable operators, satellite carriers, 

and digital audio equipment 

manufacturers and importers, including 

the specification of the relevant Current 

Value of Funds Rate. Interest payments 

shall not be required if the interest 

charge is less than $5.00. 

Only NCTA and AT&T submitted 

comments in response to this proposal 

and supported the Office’s proposals.169

As there were no other comments on 

this proposal, the final rule adopts the 

proposed changes. 

List of Subjects in 37 CFR Part 201 

Cable television, Copyright, 

Recordings, Satellites. 

For the reasons set forth in the 

preamble, the Copyright Office amends 

37 CFR part 201 as follows: 

PART 201—GENERAL PROVISIONS 

■ 1. The authority citation for part 201 

continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 17 U.S.C. 702. 

Section 201.10 also issued under 17 U.S.C. 

304. 

■ 2. Amend § 201.11 by: 

■ a. Revising paragraph (f)(1). 

■ b. Revising paragraph (h)(3)(iv). 

■ c. Adding paragraph (h)(3)(vii). 

■ d. Adding paragraphs (h)(5) and (6). 

The revisions and additions read as 

follows: 

§ 201.11 Satellite carrier statements of 

account covering statutory licenses for 

secondary transmissions. 

* * * * * 

(f) * * * 

(1) All royalty fees, including 

supplemental royalty payments, must be 

paid by electronic funds transfer (EFT), 

and must be received in the designated 

bank by the filing deadline for the 

relevant accounting period. Satellite 

carriers must provide specific 

information as part of the EFT and as 

part of the remittance advice, as listed 

in the instructions for the Statement of 

Account form. 

* * * * * 

(h) * * * 

(3) * * * 

(iv) All requests for correction or 

refunds must be accompanied by a filing 

fee in the amount prescribed in 

§ 201.3(e) for each Statement of Account 

involved, paid by EFT. No request will 

be processed until the appropriate filing 

fees are received, and no supplemental 

royalty fee will be deposited until an 

acceptable remittance in the full amount 

of the supplemental royalty fee has been 

received. 

* * * * * 

(vii) A refund payment in the amount 

of fifty dollars ($50.00) or less will not 

be refunded unless specifically 

requested before the statement of 

account is closed, at which point any 

excess payment will be treated as part 

of the royalty fee. A request for a refund 

payment in an amount of over fifty 

dollars ($50.00) is not necessary where 

the Licensing Division, during its 

examination of a Statement of Account 

or related document, discovers an error 

that has resulted in a royalty 

overpayment. In this case, the Licensing 

Division will affirmatively send the 

royalty refund to the satellite carrier 

owner named in the Statement of 

Account without regard to the time 

limitations provided for in paragraph 

(h)(3)(i) of this section. 

* * * * * 

(5) Royalty fee payments submitted as 

a result of late or amended filings shall 


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Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 239 / Thursday, December 12, 2024 / Rules and Regulations 100359 

include interest. Interest shall begin to 

accrue beginning on the first day after 

the close of the period for filing 

statements of account for all 

underpayments or late payments of 

royalties for the satellite carrier 

statutory license for secondary 

transmissions for private home viewing 

and viewing in commercial 

establishments occurring within that 

accounting period. The accrual period 

shall end on the date the full payment 

submitted by a remitter is received by 

the Copyright Office. The interest rate 

applicable to a specific accounting 

period beginning with the 1992/2 period 

shall be the Current Value of Funds 

Rate, as posted on the Treasury 

Department’s website and published in 

the Federal Register, in effect on the 

first business day after the close of the 

filing deadline for that accounting 

period. Satellite carriers wishing to 

obtain the interest rate for a specific 

accounting period may do so by 

consulting the Federal Register for the 

applicable Current Value of Funds Rate, 

or by consulting the Copyright Office 

website. Interest is not required to be 

paid on any royalty underpayment or 

late payment from a particular 

accounting period if the interest charge 

is less than or equal to five dollars 

($5.00). 

(6) A statement of account shall be 

considered closed in cases where a 

licensee fails to reply within ninety 

days to the request for further 

information from the Copyright Office 

or, in the case of subsequent 

correspondence that may be necessary, 

ninety days from the date of the last 

correspondence from the Office. 

* * * * * 

§ 201.16 [Amended] 

■ 3. Amend § 201.16 by: 

■ a. Removing ‘‘201.17(m)’’ from 

paragraph (b)(8), and adding in its place 

‘‘201.17(l)’’; 

■ b. Removing ‘‘§ 201.17(e)(9)(iv)’’ from 

paragraph (e)(2), and adding in its place 

‘‘§ 201.17(e)(4)(iv)’’; 

■ c. Removing ‘‘§ 201.17(e)(9)(iv)’’ from 

paragraph (h)(1), and adding in its place 

‘‘§ 201.17(e)(4)(iv)’’; 

■ d. Removing ‘‘201.17(m)’’ from 

paragraph (j)(1), and adding in its place 

‘‘201.17(l)’’; and 

■ e. Removing ‘‘201.17(m)(4)(i)’’ and 

adding in its place ‘‘201.17(l)(4)(i)’’ and 

removing ‘‘201.17(m)(4)’’ and adding in 

its place ‘‘201.17(l)(4)’’ in paragraph 

(j)(2). 

■ 4. Amend § 201.17 by: 

■ a. Revising paragraph (b)(1); 

■ b. Revising the heading to paragraph 

(c) and paragraph (c)(3); 

■ c. Redesignating paragraph (c)(4) as 

paragraph (c)(5) and adding a new 

paragraph (c)(4); 

■ d. Revising paragraph (d) and the 

introductory text of paragraph (e); 

■ e. Removing paragraphs (e)(1), (2), (3), 

(4), (8), (10), (12), and (13);. 

■ f. Redesignating paragraphs (e)(5), (6), 

(7), (9), (11), and (14) as paragraphs 

(e)(1) through (6), respectively; 

■ g. Removing ‘‘ ‘‘Secondary 

Transmission Service: Subscribers and 

Rates’’,’’ and adding in its place 

‘‘ ‘‘Secondary Transmission Service: 

Subscribers and Rates,’’ ’’ in the newly 

redesignated paragraph (e)(2); 

■ h. Adding ‘‘or, in the case of a cable 

system ceasing operations during the 

accounting period, the facts existing on 

the last day of operations’’ after the 

word ‘‘Statement’’ in the newly 

redesignated paragraph (e)(2)(iii)(A); 

■ i. Removing ‘‘ ‘‘Gross Receipts’’,’’ and 

adding in its place ‘‘ ‘‘Gross Receipts,’’ ’’ 

in the newly redesignated paragraph 

(e)(3) introductory text; 

■ j. Removing ‘‘Television’’,’’ and 

adding in its place ‘‘Television,’’ ’’ and 

removing ‘‘(e)(11)’’ and adding in its 

place ‘‘(e)(5)’’ in the newly redesignated 

paragraph (e)(4) introductory text; 

■ k. Revising the newly redesignated 

paragraphs (e)(4)(iv) and (vi); 

■ l. Removing ‘‘(e)(9), paragraphs (v) 

through (viii) of this section’’ and 

adding in its place ‘‘paragraphs (e)(4)(v) 

through (viii) of this section’’ in newly 

redesignated paragraph (e)(4)(ix); 

■ m. Revising newly redesignated 

paragraphs (e)(5) introductory text, 

(e)(5)(i), and (e)(5)(ii) introductory text; 

■ n. Removing paragraphs (g)(2) and (4); 

■ o. Redesignating paragraph (g)(3) as 

paragraph (g)(2); 

■ p. Revising paragraphs (i)(1)(ii) and 

(i)(2)(ii); 

■ q. Removing ‘‘37 CFR 308.2(c)’’ from 

paragraph (i)(3) introductory text and 

adding in its place ‘‘37 CFR 387.2(c)’’; 

■ r. Revising paragraphs (k)(1) and (2); 

■ s. Removing ‘‘(i)(1)’’ from paragraph 

(k)(3) and replacing it with ‘‘(k)(1)’’; 

■ t. Removing ‘‘satellite carrier’’ and 

adding in its place ‘‘cable operator’’ in 

paragraph (k)(4). 

■ u. Revising paragraph (l)(1); 

■ v. Removing ‘‘(m)(4)’’ and adding in 

its place ‘‘(l)(4)’’ in paragraph (l)(2) 

introductory text; 

■ w. Removing ‘‘, for any reason except 

that mentioned in paragraph (m)(2)(iii) 

of this section,’’ from paragraph 

(l)(2)(ii); 

■ x. Removing ‘‘(m)(2)’’ and adding in 

its place ‘‘(l)(2)’’ in paragraph (l)(4) 

introductory text; 

■ y. Removing ‘‘(m)(2)(i)’’ and adding in 

its place ‘‘(l)(2)(i)’’ in paragraph 

(l)(4)(iii)(A); 

■ z. Removing ‘‘(m)(2)(ii)’’ and adding 

in its place ‘‘(l)(2)(ii)’’ in paragraph 

(l)(4)(iii)(B); 

■ aa. Revising paragraph (l)(4)(iv); 

■ bb. Removing ‘‘(m)’’ and adding in its 

place ‘‘(l)’’ and removing ‘‘(e)(14)’’ and 

adding in its place ‘‘(e)(6)’’ in paragraph 

(l)(4)(v); 

■ cc. Removing ‘‘(m)(4)(i)’’ and adding 

in its place ‘‘(l)(4)(i)’’ in paragraph 

(l)(4)(vi); 

■ dd. Adding paragraph (l)(4)(vii); 

■ ee. Redesignating paragraph (l)(5) as 

(l)(7); 

■ ff. Adding new paragraph (l)(5) and 

paragraph (l)(6); and 

■ gg. Removing ‘‘(m)’’ and adding in its 

place ‘‘(l)’’ in newly redesignated 

paragraph (l)(7). 

The revisions and additions read as 

follows: 

§ 201.17 Statements of Account covering 

compulsory licenses for secondary 

transmissions by cable systems. 

* * * * * 

(b) * * * 

(1) Gross receipts for the ‘‘basic 

service of providing secondary 

transmissions of primary broadcast 

transmitters’’ include the full amount of 

monthly (or other periodic) service fees 

for any and all services or tiers of 

services which include one or more 

secondary transmissions of television or 

radio broadcast signals. For these 

purposes, the full amount of such 

service fees includes separately 

itemized fees, such as broadcast fees or 

broadcast surcharges, that are directly 

related to the provision of basic service 

and that a subscriber is required to pay 

to the cable operator in order to receive 

secondary transmissions of television or 

radio broadcast signals. Gross receipts 

also include fees for non-broadcast 

tier(s) of services if such purchase is 

required to obtain tiers of services with 

broadcast signals, and fees for any other 

type of equipment, device, or software 

necessary to receive broadcast signals 

that is supplied by the cable operator, 

even if the cable operator offers to 

provide services through a free software 

application. In no case shall gross 

receipts be less than the cost of 

obtaining the signals of primary 

broadcast transmitters for subsequent 

retransmission. All such gross receipts 

shall be aggregated and the distant 

signal equivalent (DSE) calculations 

shall be made against the aggregated 

amount. Gross receipts for secondary 

transmission services do not include 

installation (including connection, 

relocation, disconnection, or 

reconnection) fees, franchise fees, 

separate charges for security, alarm or 

facsimile services, charges for late 


ddrumheller on DSK120RN23PROD with RULES1
100360 Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 239 / Thursday, December 12, 2024 / Rules and Regulations 

payments, or charges for pay cable or 

other program origination services: 

Provided that, the origination services 

are not offered in combination with 

secondary transmission service for a 

single fee. In addition, gross receipts 

shall not include any fees collected from 

subscribers for the sale of internet 

services or telephony services when 

such services are bundled together with 

cable service; instead, when cable 

services are sold as part of a bundle of 

other services, gross receipts shall 

include fees in the amount that would 

have been collected if such subscribers 

received cable service as an unbundled 

stand-alone product. 

* * * * * 

(c) Submission of Statement of 

Account, accounting periods, and 

deposit. 

* * * * * 

(3) Statements of Account and royalty 

fees received before the end of the 

particular accounting period they 

purport to cover will not be processed 

by the Copyright Office except for cases 

where the cable system has ceased 

operation before the account period 

closes. Statements of Account and 

royalty fees received after the filing 

deadlines of August 29 or March 1, 

respectively, will be accepted for 

whatever legal effect they may have, if 

any. 

(4) A cable system that changes 

ownership during an accounting period 

is obligated to file only a single 

Statement of Account at the end of the 

accounting period. Statements of 

Account and royalty fees received after 

the filing deadlines of August 29 or 

March 1, respectively, will be accepted 

for whatever legal effect they may have, 

if any. 

* * * * * 

(d) Statement of Account forms and 

submission. Cable systems shall submit 

each Statement of Account using an 

appropriate form provided by the 

Copyright Office on its website and 

following the instructions for 

completion and submission provided on 

the Office’s website or the form itself. 

To file a Statement of Account for an 

accounting period that includes dates 

prior to five years from submission of 

the form, please contact the Licensing 

Division for instructions. 

(e) Contents. In addition to the 

information requested by the 

instructions for completion and 

submission provided on the Office’s 

website or the form itself, each 

Statement of Account shall contain the 

following information: 

* * * * * 

(4) * * * 

(iv) A designation as to whether that 

primary transmitter is a ‘‘network 

station,’’ an ‘‘independent station,’’ or a 

‘‘noncommercial educational station.’’ 

* * * * * 

(vi) If that primary transmitter is a 

‘‘distant’’ station, a specification of 

whether the signals of that primary 

transmitter are carried: 

(A) On a part-time basis where fulltime carriage is not possible because the 

cable system lacks the activated channel 

capacity to retransmit on a full-time 

basis all signals which it is authorized 

to carry; or 

(B) On any other basis. If the signals 

of that primary transmitter are carried 

on a part-time basis because of lack of 

activated channel capacity, the 

Statement shall also include a log 

showing the dates on which such 

carriage occurred, and the hours during 

which such carriage occurred on those 

dates. Hours of carriage shall be 

accurate to the nearest quarter-hour, 

except that, in any case where such 

part-time carriage extends to the end of 

the broadcast day of the primary 

transmitter, an approximate ending hour 

may be given if it is indicated as an 

estimate. 

* * * * * 

(5) A special statement and program 

log, which shall consist of the 

information indicated below for all 

nonnetwork television programming 

that, during the period covered by the 

Statement, was carried in whole or in 

part beyond the local service area of the 

primary transmitter of such 

programming under: 

(i) Rules or regulations of the FCC 

requiring a cable system to omit the 

further transmission of a particular 

program and permitting the substitution 

of another program in place of the 

omitted transmission; or 

(ii) Rules, regulations, or 

authorizations of the FCC in effect on 

October 19, 1976, permitting a cable 

system, at its election, to omit the 

further transmission of a particular 

program and permitting the substitution 

of another program in place of the 

omitted transmission: 

* * * * * 

(i) * * * 

(1) * * * 

(ii) If the 3.75% rate does not apply 

to certain DSE’s in the case of a cable 

system located wholly or in part within 

a top 100 television market, the current 

base rate together with the surcharge 

shall apply. However, the surcharge 

shall not apply for carriage of a 

particular signal first carried prior to 

March 31, 1972. The surcharge will not 

apply if the signal is exempt from the 

syndicated exclusivity rules in effect on 

June 24, 1981. 

(2) * * * 

(ii) If the 3.75% rate does not apply 

to certain DSE’s in the case of a cable 

system located wholly or in part within 

a top 100 television market, the current 

base rate together with the surcharge 

shall apply. However, the surcharge 

shall not apply for carriage of a 

particular signal first carried prior to 

March 31, 1972. The surcharge will not 

apply if the signal is exempt from the 

syndicated exclusivity rules in effect on 

June 24, 1981. 

* * * * * 

(k) * * * 

(1) All royalty fees, including 

supplemental royalty fees, must be paid 

by electronic funds transfer (EFT), and 

must be received in the designated bank 

by the filing deadline for the relevant 

accounting period. Cable systems must 

provide specific information as part of 

the EFT and as part of the remittance 

advice, as listed in the instructions for 

the Statement of Account form and on 

the Office’s website. 

(2) A copy of the remittance advice 

shall be attached to the Statement(s) of 

Account. In addition, if payment is not 

made by pay.gov, a copy of the 

remittance advice shall be emailed or 

sent by facsimile to the Licensing 

Division. 

* * * * * 

(l) * * * 

(1) To amend or request a refund 

relating to a Statement of Account for an 

accounting period that includes dates 

prior to five years from submission of 

the form, please contact the Licensing 

Division for instructions. 

* * * * * 

(4) * * * 

(iv) All requests for correction or 

refunds must be accompanied by a filing 

fee in the amount prescribed in 

§ 201.3(e) for each Statement of Account 

involved, and all requests that a 

supplemental royalty fee payment be 

received for deposit under this 

paragraph (l) must be accompanied by a 

remittance in the full amount of such 

fee, paid by EFT. No request will be 

processed until the appropriate filing 

fees are received, and no supplemental 

royalty fee will be deposited until an 

acceptable remittance in the full amount 

of the supplemental royalty fee has been 

received. 

* * * * * 

(vii) A refund payment in the amount 

of fifty dollars ($50.00) or less will not 

be refunded unless specifically 

requested before the statement of 

account is closed, at which point any 

excess payment will be treated as part 


ddrumheller on DSK120RN23PROD with RULES1
Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 239 / Thursday, December 12, 2024 / Rules and Regulations 100361 

of the royalty fee. A request for a refund 

payment in an amount of over fifty 

dollars ($50.00) is not necessary where 

the Licensing Division, during its 

examination of a Statement of Account 

or related document, discovers an error 

that has resulted in a royalty 

overpayment. In this case, the Licensing 

Division will affirmatively send the 

royalty refund to the cable system 

owner named in the Statement of 

Account. 

* * * * * 

(5) Royalty fee payments submitted as 

a result of late or amended filings shall 

include interest. Interest shall begin to 

accrue beginning on the first day after 

the close of the period for filing 

statements of account for all 

underpayments or late payments of 

royalties for the cable statutory license 

occurring within that accounting period. 

The accrual period shall end on the date 

the payment submitted by a remitter is 

received by the Copyright Office. The 

interest rate applicable to a specific 

accounting period beginning with the 

1992/2 period shall be the Current 

Value of Funds Rate, as posted on the 

Treasury Department website, in effect 

on the first business day after the close 

of the filing deadline for that accounting 

period. Cable operators wishing to 

obtain the interest rate for a specific 

accounting period may do so by 

consulting the Federal Register for the 

applicable Current Value of Funds Rate, 

or by consulting the Copyright Office 

website. Interest is not required to be 

paid on any royalty underpayment or 

late payment from a particular 

accounting period if the interest charge 

is less than or equal to five dollars 

($5.00). 

(6) A statement of account shall be 

considered closed in cases where a 

licensee fails to reply within ninety 

days to the request for further 

information from the Copyright Office 

or, in the case of subsequent 

correspondence that may be necessary, 

ninety days from the date of the last 

correspondence from the Office. 

* * * * * 

■ 5. Amend 201.28 by: 

■ a. Revising paragraph (e)(7); 

■ b. Revising paragraph (h)(1); 

■ c. Revising paragraph (j)(3)(v); 

■ d. Adding paragraph (j)(3)(viii); and 

■ e. Adding paragraphs (j)(4) and (5). 

The revisions and additions read as 

follows: 

§ 201.28 Statement of Account for digital 

audio recording devices or media. 

* * * * * 

(e) * * * 

(7) Oath and signature. (i) Each 

Statement of Account shall include a 

legally binding signature, including an 

electronic signature as defined in 15 

U.S.C. 7006, of an authorized officer, 

principal, or agent of the filing party. 

The signature shall be accompanied by: 

(A) The printed or typewritten name 

of the person signing the quarterly 

Statement of Account; 

(B) The date the document is signed; 

(C) The following certification: 

I, the undersigned, hereby certify that 

I am an authorized officer, principal, or 

agent of the ‘‘manufacturing or 

importing party’’ identified in Space B. 

(ii) Penalties for fraud and false 

statements are provided under 18 U.S.C. 

1001 et seq. 

* * * * * 

(h) * * * 

(1) All royalty fees, including 

supplemental royalty fee payments, 

must be paid by electronic funds 

transfer (EFT), and must be received in 

the designated bank by the filing 

deadline for the relevant accounting 

period. Remitters must provide specific 

information as part of the EFT and as 

part of the remittance advice, as listed 

in the instructions for the Statement of 

Account form. 

* * * * * 

(j) * * * 

(3) * * * 

(v) All requests for correction or 

refunds must be accompanied by a filing 

fee in the amount prescribed in 

§ 201.3(e) for each Statement of Account 

involved, paid by EFT. No request will 

be processed until the appropriate filing 

fees are received, and no supplemental 

royalty fee will be deposited until an 

acceptable remittance in the full amount 

of the supplemental royalty fee has been 

received. 

* * * * * 

(viii) A refund payment in the amount 

of fifty dollars ($50.00) or less will not 

be refunded unless specifically 

requested before the statement of 

account is closed, at which point any 

excess payment will be treated as part 

of the royalty fee. A request for a refund 

payment in an amount of over fifty 

dollars ($50.00) is not necessary where 

the Licensing Division, during its 

examination of a Statement of Account 

or related document, discovers an error 

that has resulted in a royalty 

overpayment. In this case, the Licensing 

Division will affirmatively send the 

royalty refund to the manufacturing or 

importing party named in the Statement 

of Account. 

(4) Interest on late payments or 

underpayments. Royalty fee payments 

submitted as a result of late or amended 

filings shall include interest. Interest 

shall begin to accrue beginning on the 

first day after the close of the period for 

filing statements of account for all 

underpayments or late payments of 

royalties for the digital audio recording 

obligation occurring within that 

accounting period. The accrual period 

shall end on the date the payment 

submitted by a remitter is received by 

the Copyright Office. The interest rate 

applicable to a specific accounting 

period beginning with the 1992/2 period 

shall be the Current Value of Funds 

Rate, as posted on the Treasury 

Department website, in effect on the 

first business day after the close of the 

filing deadline for that accounting 

period. Manufacturers or importing 

parties wishing to obtain the interest 

rate for a specific accounting period 

may do so by consulting the Federal 

Register for the applicable Current 

Value of Funds Rate, or by consulting 

the Copyright Office website. Interest is 

not required to be paid on any royalty 

underpayment or late payment from a 

particular accounting period if the 

interest charge is less than or equal to 

five dollars ($5.00). 

(5) A statement of account shall be 

considered closed in cases where a 

licensee fails to reply within ninety 

days to the request for further 

information from the Copyright Office 

or, in the case of subsequent 

correspondence that may be necessary, 

ninety days from the date of the last 

correspondence from the Office. 

Dated: December 3, 2024. 

Shira Perlmutter, 

Register of Copyrights and Director of the 

U.S. Copyright Office. 

Approved by: 

Carla D. Hayden, 

Librarian of Congress. 

[FR Doc. 2024–28984 Filed 12–11–24; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 1410–30–P 

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 

AGENCY 

40 CFR Parts 9 and 721 

[EPA–HQ–OPPT–2022–0771; FRL–11912– 

02–OCSPP] 

RIN 2070–AB27 

Significant New Use Rules on Certain 

Chemical Substances (22–4.5e) 

AGENCY: Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA). 

ACTION: Final rule. 

SUMMARY: EPA is issuing significant new 

use rules (SNURs) under the Toxic 

Substances Control Act (TSCA) for 

certain chemical substances that were 


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