Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 239 / Thursday, December 12, 2024 / Proposed Rules 100439 

1Electronic 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). 

2See Electronic Payment of Royalties, 71 FR 

24829, 24829–30 (Apr. 27, 2006) (proposed rule). 

3As 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). 

appeal of a contested record is 

successful and there are no other 

disqualifying or potentially 

disqualifying records upon which to 

continue the ‘‘Did Not Pass’’ status, the 

NICS will communicate a ‘‘Pass’’ 

response to the FFL. 

(f) An individual who is the subject of 

a denied transfer may also contest the 

accuracy or validity of a disqualifying 

record by bringing an action against the 

state or political subdivision responsible 

for providing the contested information, 

or responsible for denying the transfer, 

or against the United States, as the case 

may be, for an order directing that the 

contested information be corrected or 

that the firearm transfer be approved. 

Similarly, an individual who is the 

subject of a ‘‘Did Not Pass’’ response 

during an FHC may bring an action 

against the state or political subdivision 

responsible for providing the contested 

information, or responsible for 

providing the ‘‘Did Not Pass’’ response, 

or against the United States, as the case 

may be, for an order directing that the 

contested information be corrected or 

that the FHC be passed. 

(g) An individual may provide written 

consent to the FBI to maintain 

information about the individual in a 

Voluntary Appeal File to be established 

by the FBI and checked by the NICS for 

the purpose of preventing future 

erroneous ‘‘Denied’’ or ‘‘Did Not Pass’’ 

responses or extended responses of 

‘‘Delayed’’ or ‘‘Pending’’ by the NICS. 

Such file shall be used only by the NICS 

for prospective firearm transfers and 

FHCs. The FBI shall remove all 

information in the Voluntary Appeal 

File pertaining to an individual upon 

receipt of a written request by the 

individual. However, the FBI may retain 

such information contained in the 

Voluntary Appeal File as long as needed 

to pursue cases of identified misuse of 

the system. If the FBI finds a 

disqualifying record on the individual 

after the individual’s entry into the 

Voluntary Appeal File, the FBI may 

remove the individual’s information 

from the file. 

■ 10. In § 25.11, revise paragraph (b)(1) 

to read as follows: 

§ 25.11 Prohibited Activities and Penalties 

* * * * * 

(b) * * * 

(1) State or local agencies’, FFLs’, or 

individuals’ purposefully furnishing 

incorrect information to the system to 

obtain a ‘‘Proceed’’ or ‘‘Pass’’ response. 

* * * * * 

Dated: November 29, 2024. 

Merrick B. Garland, 

Attorney General. 

[FR Doc. 2024–28711 Filed 12–11–24; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4410–02–P 

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. 

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 meft@

copyright.gov, 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. 

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 


ddrumheller on DSK120RN23PROD with PROPOSALS1
100440 Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 239 / Thursday, December 12, 2024 / Proposed Rules 

4See 37 CFR 201.6(a)(1); Remitter Payment 

Options and Deposit Account Requirements, 87 FR 

59306 (Sept. 30, 2022) (final rule). 

5 71 FR at 45739. 

6United 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. 

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

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

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

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 

■ 1. The authority citation for part 201 

continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 17 U.S.C. 702. 

■ 2. Amend § 201.11 by revising 

paragraphs (f)(1) and (h)(3)(iv) to read as 

follows: 

§ 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 

§ 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. 

* * * * * 

■ 3. Amend § 201.17 by revising 

paragraphs (k)(1) and (l)(4)(iv)(A) and 

(B) to read as follows: 

§ 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 

§ 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. 

* * * * * 

■ 4. Amend § 201.28 by revising 

paragraphs (h)(1) and (j)(3)(v) to read as 

follows: 

§ 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 § 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 

POSTAL REGULATORY COMMISSION 

39 CFR Part 3041 

[Docket Nos. RM2025–5 and K2025–491; 

Order No. 8239] 

Streamlined Negotiated Service 

Agreement Review and New Postal 

Product 

AGENCY: Postal Regulatory Commission. 

ACTION: Notification of filing. 

SUMMARY: The Commission is 

acknowledging a recent Postal Service 

filing requesting the Commission 


ddrumheller on DSK120RN23PROD with PROPOSALS1