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[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 239 (Thursday, December 12, 2024)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 100439-100440]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-29119]

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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS

U.S. Copyright Office

37 CFR Part 201

[Docket No. 2024-7]

Electronic Payment of Royalties Using Pay.gov

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

ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking.

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SUMMARY: The Copyright Office is proposing to amend its regulations 
regarding the submission of royalty fees to the Copyright Office to 
require that all such fees be paid using Pay.gov.

DATES: Written comments are due by January 13, 2025.

ADDRESSES: For reasons of government efficiency, the Copyright Office 
is using the regulations.gov system for the submission and posting of 
public comments in this proceeding. All comments are therefore to be 
submitted electronically through regulations.gov. Specific instructions 
for submitting comments are available on the Copyright Office website 
at http://copyright.gov/rulemaking/royaltypayments. If electronic 
submission of comments is not feasible due to lack of access to a 
computer and/or the internet, please contact the Office using the 
contact information below for special instructions.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Rhea Efthimiadis, Assistant to the 
General Counsel, by email at [email protected], or by telephone at 
202-707-8350.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 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. Similarly, section 119 of the 
Act provides satellite carriers with a statutory license to retransmit 
certain primary transmissions if they satisfy certain criteria, for 
which they also must pay royalty fees to the Office. In addition, 
sections 1003 and 1004 of the Act require manufacturers and importers 
of digital audio recording devices and digital audio recording media 
(``DART'') to pay royalty fees to the Office.
    In 2006, the Office issued a rule requiring those royalty payments 
to be made using electronic funds transfer (``EFT'').\1\ As noted when 
the rule was proposed, the use of EFT is beneficial to both the 
remitter and the Office for four reasons.\2\ First, with Fedwire 
transactions, remitters gain more time to transfer funds without fear 
of incurring interest assessments for late payments. Second, electronic 
payments avoid the problems associated with lost checks or delays in 
processing mail. Third, copyright owners, the ultimate recipients of 
the funds, accrue more interest because the monies go directly to the 
Department of the Treasury instead of being diverted to the Copyright 
Office for processing first. And finally, the Office benefits from the 
use of the electronic payment option because it lessens its workload by 
reducing paperwork and related administrative costs.
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    \1\ Electronic Payment of Royalties, 71 FR 45739 (Aug. 10, 2006) 
(final rule permitting remitters to choose between an Automated 
Clearing House (``ACH'') credit and a Fedwire transfer). See 37 CFR 
201.11(f)(1), 201.17(k)(1), 201.28(h)(1). In 2018, the Office issued 
a rule allowing payments to be made with multiple EFT transfers, not 
just a single payment. Streamlining Electronic Payment of DART 
Royalty Accounts and Electronic Royalty Payment Processes, 83 FR 
51840 (Oct. 15, 2018).
    \2\ See Electronic Payment of Royalties, 71 FR 24829, 24829-30 
(Apr. 27, 2006) (proposed rule).
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    Now, as part of broader efforts to make its services digitized, 
interconnected, searchable, and easier to navigate,\3\ the Office seeks 
to further simplify the royalty payment process by requiring remitters 
to use the U.S. Treasury Department's Pay.gov system to submit EFT 
payments for all royalty and filing fees. In addition to the advantages 
noted above, mandating the use of Pay.gov benefits both remitters and 
the Office by (1) ensuring that the Office can receive, reconcile, and 
post payments in the same transaction; (2) providing remitters with the 
convenience of using a variety of methods, including credit or debit

[[Page 100440]]

cards, as a form of payment; and (3) eliminating the need for remitters 
to separately complete the remittance advice form. Instead, they submit 
the remittance advice form through Pay.gov at the same time they make 
their payments. Thus, the proposed rule will allow more efficient 
collection and allocation of royalty fees. It will also harmonize 
payment regulations across services throughout the Office, which 
already mandate the use of Pay.gov for non-royalty electronic 
payments.\4\
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    \3\ As part of this effort, the Office is reviewing its 
regulations and updating them where necessary to reflect current and 
anticipated practices. Among the regulations recently revised are 
those requiring the use of Pay.gov for non-royalty payments and 
those pertaining to statements of account for cable operators, 
satellilte carriers, and DART remitters. See 37 CFR 201.6, 201.11, 
201.17, 201.28; Statutory Cable, Satellite, and DART License 
Reporting Practices (published elsewhere in this issue of the 
Federal Register).
    \4\ See 37 CFR 201.6(a)(1); Remitter Payment Options and Deposit 
Account Requirements, 87 FR 59306 (Sept. 30, 2022) (final rule).
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    The proposed rule does not alter the regulatory provisions allowing 
the Office to waive the requirement of payment by EFT. However, as the 
Office stated when it first required payment by EFT, waivers are ``for 
those situations where there may be circumstances which make it 
virtually impossible for a remitter to use the electronic payment 
option or imposes a financial or other hardship.'' \5\
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    \5\ 71 FR at 45739.
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    To assist remitters unfamiliar with Pay.gov, the Office has created 
tutorials to guide remitters, which are posted on the Licensing 
Section's website.\6\
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    \6\ United States Copyright Office, Circular 74, June 2022: How 
to Make Statutory License Royalty EFT Payments Using Pay.gov, 
https://copyright.gov/circs/circ74.pdf; United States Copyright 
Office, Make Statutory License Royalty Payments Using Pay.gov, 
https://copyright.gov/licensing/eftpayment.
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List of Subjects in 37 CFR Part 201

    Copyright, General provisions.

Proposed Regulations

    For the reasons set forth in the preamble, the Copyright Office 
proposes amending 37 CFR part 201 as follows:

PART 201--GENERAL PROVISIONS

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

    Authority:  17 U.S.C. 702.

0
2. Amend Sec.  201.11 by revising paragraphs (f)(1) and (h)(3)(iv) to 
read as follows:

Sec.  201.11  Satellite carrier statements of account covering 
statutory licenses for secondary transmissions.

* * * * *
    (f) * * *
    (1) All royalty fees shall be paid by electronic funds transfer 
using Pay.gov, and payment 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 
Pay.gov, the Statement of Account form, and the Office's website.
* * * * *
    (h) * * *
    (3) * * *
    (iv)(A) All requests filed under this paragraph (h) must be 
accompanied by a filing fee in the amount prescribed in Sec.  201.3(e) 
of this part for each Statement of Account involved. Payment of this 
fee must be by EFT using Pay.gov. No request will be processed until 
the appropriate filing fees are received.
    (B) All requests that a supplemental royalty fee payment be 
received for deposit under this paragraph (h) must be accompanied by a 
remittance in the full amount of such fee. Payment of the supplemental 
royalty fee must be by EFT using Pay.gov. No such request will be 
processed until an acceptable remittance in the full amount of the 
supplemental royalty fee has been received.
* * * * *
0
3. Amend Sec.  201.17 by revising paragraphs (k)(1) and (l)(4)(iv)(A) 
and (B) to read as follows:

Sec.  201.17  Statements of Account covering compulsory licenses for 
secondary transmissions by cable systems.

* * * * *
    (k) * * *
    (1) All royalty fees must be paid by electronic funds transfer 
(EFT) using Pay.gov, 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 Pay.gov, the 
Statement of Account form and on the Office's website.
* * * * *
    (l) * * *
    (4) * * *
    (iv)(A) All requests filed under this paragraph (l) must be 
accompanied by a filing fee in the amount prescribed in Sec.  201.3(e) 
of this part for each Statement of Account involved. Payment of this 
fee must be made by an electronic payment using Pay.gov. No request 
will be processed until the appropriate filing fees are received; and
    (B) 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. Payment of the supplemental 
royalty fee must be by an electronic payment using Pay.gov. No such 
request will be processed until an acceptable remittance in the full 
amount of the supplemental royalty fee has been received.
* * * * *
0
4. Amend Sec.  201.28 by revising paragraphs (h)(1) and (j)(3)(v) to 
read as follows:

Sec.  201.28  Statements of Account for digital audio recording devices 
or media.

* * * * *
    (h) * * *
    (1) All royalty fees must be paid by electronic funds transfer 
(EFT) using Pay.gov, 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 Pay.gov, the 
Statement of Account form, and the Office's website.
* * * * *
    (j) * * *
    (3) * * *
    (v)(A) The request must be accompanied by a filing fee in the 
amount prescribed in Sec.  201.3(e) for each Statement of Account 
involved. Payment of this fee must be by EFT using Pay.gov. No request 
will be processed until the appropriate filing fees are received.
    (B) Requests that a supplemental royalty fee payment be deposited 
must be accompanied by a remittance in the full amount of such fee. 
Payment of the supplemental royalty fee must be by electronic payment 
using Pay.gov. No such request will be processed until an acceptable 
remittance in the full amount of the supplemental royalty fee has been 
received.
* * * * *

    Dated: December 5, 2024.
Suzy Wilson,
General Counsel and Associate Register of Copyrights.
[FR Doc. 2024-29119 Filed 12-11-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 1410-30-P
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