[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 245 (Monday, December 22, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 76396-76398]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-29794]


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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS

Copyright Royalty Board

[Docket No. 14-CRB-0007-CD (2010-12) In re Distribution of 2010, 2011, 
2012 Cable Royalty Funds; Docket No. 14-CRB-0008-SD (2010-12) In re 
Distribution of 2010, 2011, 2012 Satellite Royalty Funds]


Notice Announcing Commencement of Distribution Proceedings With 
Request for Petitions To Participate

AGENCY: Copyright Royalty Board, Library of Congress.

ACTION: Notice announcing commencement of distribution proceedings with 
request for Petitions to Participate.

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SUMMARY: The Copyright Royalty Judges (Judges) announce the 
commencement of proceedings to determine distribution of 2010, 2011, 
and 2012 royalties deposited with the Copyright Office under the cable 
service statutory license and the satellite carrier statutory license. 
The Judges also set the date by which all parties wishing to 
participate and share in the distribution of cable or satellite 
retransmission royalties for 2010 through 2012, inclusive, must file a 
Petition to Participate and pay the accompanying $150 filing fee. The 
Judges seek a single Petition to Participate in either or both Phase I 
and Phase II of the cable royalty proceeding and a separate Petition to 
Participate in either or both Phase I and Phase II of the satellite 
royalty proceeding. Any party that fails to file a Petition to 
Participate by the time set forth in this notice shall not be a 
participant at any stage of either proceeding.

DATES: Petitions to Participate and the filing fee are due on or before 
January 21, 2015.

ADDRESSES: This notice and request is also posted on the agency's Web 
site (www.loc.gov/crb) and on Regulations.gov (www.regulations.gov). 
Parties who plan to participate should see How to Submit Petitions to 
Participate in the Supplementary Information section below for physical 
addresses and further instructions.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kimberly N. Whittle, CRB Attorney 
Advisor, by telephone at 202-707-7658; LaKeshia Keys, CRB Program 
Specialist, by telephone at (202) 707-7658; or by email at <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#f89b8a9ab894979bd69f978e"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="adcedfcfedc1c2ce83cac2db">[email protected]</span></a>.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    Twice each year, cable services and satellite carriers deposit with 
the Copyright Office royalties payable for the privilege of 
retransmitting over-the-air television and radio broadcast signals via 
cable and satellite. 17 U.S.C. 111, 119. The Copyright Royalty Judges 
(Judges) oversee distribution of the royalties to copyright owners 
whose works are included in the retransmissions and who have filed a 
timely claim for royalties. Pursuant to 17 U.S.C. 803(b)(1), the Judges 
hereby give notice of the commencement of proceedings for distribution 
of cable and satellite royalties deposited for broadcasts retransmitted 
in 2010 through 2012 and call for interested parties to file Petitions 
to Participate.
    Any party wishing to receive royalties payable for 2010 through 
2012 must file a Petition to Participate in each proceeding no later 
than January 21, 2015. If an interested party fails to file a Petition 
to Participate in response to this notice, that party will not be 
eligible for distribution of royalties for 2010 through 2012 from 
either the cable

[[Page 76397]]

or the satellite fund. The Judges will resolve all issues relating to 
distribution of cable and satellite royalty funds for 2010 through 2012 
in these proceedings, Docket No. 14-CRB-0007-CD (2010-12) and Docket 
No. 14-CRB-0008-SD (2010-12). See 37 CFR 351.1(b)(2).

Commencement of Distribution Proceedings

    The Judges have determined that controversies exist with regard to 
distribution of the cable and satellite retransmission royalties that 
licensees deposited for 2010, 2011, and 2012. Therefore, pursuant to 
Section 804(b)(8) of the Copyright Act, the Judges are causing this 
notice to be published in the Federal Register to announce the 
commencement of Phase I cable and satellite distribution proceedings 
for the years 2010, 2011, and 2012.
    The Judges base their conclusion regarding 2010-11 cable funds 
controversies upon information provided by certain interested parties 
in their joint Motion to Initiate Proceedings. See Motion to Initiate a 
Phase I Proceeding for the Distribution of the 2010 and 2011 Cable 
Royalty Funds, Docket Nos. 2012-4 CRB CD 2010 and 2012-9 CRB CD 2011 
(January 18, 2013). Specifically, groups of claimants to the royalty 
funds, acting together and represented by joint counsel, have made an 
effort to negotiate a distribution scheme agreeable to all claimants. 
Unable to reach an agreement, the claimants notified the Judges of the 
existence of controversies and stated their belief that ``a hearing 
will be necessary to resolve this controversy.'' Id. at 2.
    The Judges base their conclusion regarding 2010-11 satellite funds 
controversies upon comments from parties. See, e.g., Comments of Phase 
I Parties, Docket No. 2012-5 CRB SD 2010 (September 5, 2012) 
(responding to Notice Requesting Comments regarding partial 
distribution, 77 FR 46526 (August 3, 2012)); Comments of Phase I 
Parties, Docket No. 2012-9 CRB SD 2011 (February 21, 2013) (responding 
to Notice Requesting Comments regarding partial distribution, 78 FR 
4168 (January 18, 2013).
    The Judges base their conclusion regarding 2012 cable and satellite 
royalty funds controversies upon the parties' motions for partial 
distribution and comments from parties regarding controversies.\1\ See, 
in Docket Nos. 14-CR-0007-CD (2010-12) and 14-CR-0008 SD (2010-12), 
Motion of Phase I Claimants for Partial Distribution (July 25, 2014) 
and Comments of Phase I Parties (October 2014), (responding to Notice 
requesting comments, 79 FR 59306 (October 1, 2014)) (including comments 
from the parties to the July 25 motions reiterating the existence of 
their claims to the 2012 cable and satellite funds and of controversies 
potentially in need of adjudication).
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    \1\ The Judges have the issue of partial distribution under 
advisement and will issue a separate order.
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    In the present proceedings, groups of claimants have identified 
themselves as arranged into program categories: Program Suppliers, 
Joint Sports Claimants, Public Television Claimants/Public Broadcasting 
Service, Commercial Television Claimants/National Association of 
Broadcasters, Devotional Claimants, Canadian Claimants, American 
Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP), Broadcast Music, 
Inc. (BMI), SESAC, Inc., and National Public Radio. The Judges 
recognize that other claimants might not be represented by joint 
counsel for the groups of claimants that seek to initiate this 
proceeding. The Judges, therefore, provide this public notice to alert 
anyone who claims an interest in cable or satellite retransmission 
royalties deposited for royalty years 2010 through 2012, inclusive.
    In order to share in the royalties at issue, any claimant not 
joined in one of the groups identified above must file a Petition to 
Participate, individually or jointly with other claimants. If, at a 
later point in the proceedings, a claimant chooses to join a group 
participating through joint counsel, that claimant may withdraw its 
individual Petition to Participate. The prerequisites to participation 
in a distribution proceeding are (1) the filing (individually or 
jointly) of a valid claim for each royalty year at issue and (2) the 
filing (individually or jointly) of a valid Petition to Participate.
    Only attorneys who are members in good standing of the bar of one 
or more states may represent parties before the Judges. All corporate 
parties must appear through counsel. Only if the petitioning party is 
an individual, may he or she represent himself or herself without legal 
counsel. 37 CFR 350.2.
    The Judges previously assigned separate docket numbers to the cable 
and satellite distribution proceedings for the period 2010 through 
2012. Upon receipt of all Petitions to Participate, the Judges 
anticipate consolidating all cable proceedings for the years 2010 
through 2012 under the captioned docket number 14-CRB-0007-CD (2010-12) 
and all satellite proceedings for the years 2010 through 2012 under the 
captioned docket number 14-CRB-0008-SD (2010-12).

Petitions To Participate

    Parties filing Petitions to Participate must comply with the 
requirements of section 351.1(b) of the Copyright Royalty Board's 
regulations. In addition, each Petition to Participate must set forth 
for each claim year, the name of each claimant, the corresponding claim 
number, an indication of whether the claim is an individual or joint 
claim, and the program category into which the claim may fall. Each 
Petition to Participate shall be accompanied by a Microsoft Excel 
spreadsheet in electronic form consisting of the following columns: 
Claimant; Claim Year; Claim Number; Claim Type; Phase I Category. For 
``Claim Type,'' participants shall enter ``I'' for an individual 
claimant, ``J'' for a joint claimant, and ``W'' for a claimant listed 
within a joint claim. The information in the column for ``Claim 
Category'' shall be coded 1 for syndicated programming and movies, 2 
for live college and professional team sports, 3 for programs produced 
by local commercial television stations, 4 for public broadcasting, 5 
for programs of a religious or devotional character, 6 for Canadian 
programs retransmitted within the United States, 7 for musical works 
carried on broadcast television signals, and 8 for National Public 
Radio (all non-music content broadcast on NPR stations). Claimants' 
characterization of their claims at this juncture is for ease of 
administration only and is not dispositive of the ultimate disposition 
of any claim or the final composition of any Phase I claimant category.
    Petitioners who seek to categorize any claim in a category not 
listed in the previous paragraph shall assign a number (starting with 
9) to each new category, and shall include a brief description of each 
new proposed category. Claimants, or claimant representatives, that 
have filed claims in multiple years shall list the claims in separate 
rows for each year. Claimants, or claimant representatives, that will 
seek royalties in multiple claim categories shall list each claim in a 
separate row for each separate claim category. Similarly, claimants, or 
claimant representatives, that assert multiple claims in a given claim 
year shall list each claim and claim number in a separate row. 
Petitioners are responsible for making a sufficient showing of a 
``significant interest'' in the royalty funds at issue.
    Claimants whose claims do not exceed $1,000 in value and who 
include a statement in their Petitions to Participate that they will 
not seek distribution of more than $1,000 may

[[Page 76398]]

file the Petition to Participate without payment of the filing fee. The 
Judges will reject any Petition to Participate that is not accompanied 
by either the statement of limitation described in the preceding 
sentence or the $150 filing fee. The Judges will not accept cash 
payment. Parties must pay the filing fee with a check or money order 
payable to the ``Copyright Royalty Board.'' The Judges will dismiss any 
Petition to Participate that is accompanied by a check returned for 
lack of sufficient funds.

How To Submit Petitions To Participate

    Any party wishing to participate and share in the distribution of 
cable or satellite royalty funds for 2010 through 2012 shall submit to 
the Copyright Royalty Board the filing fee (US $150), if required, an 
original Petition to Participate, five paper copies, and an electronic 
copy in Portable Document Format (PDF) that contains searchable, 
accessible text (not an image) on a CD or other portable memory device 
to only one of the following addresses.
    U.S. mail: Copyright Royalty Board, P.O. Box 70977, Washington, DC 
20024-0977; or
    Overnight service (only USPS Express Mail is acceptable): Copyright 
Royalty Board, P.O. Box 70977, Washington, DC 20024-0977; or
    Commercial courier: Address package to: Copyright Royalty Board, 
Library of Congress, James Madison Memorial Building, LM-403, 101 
Independence Avenue SE., Washington, DC 20559-6000. Deliver to: 
Congressional Courier Acceptance Site, 2nd Street NE., and D Street 
NE., Washington, DC; or
    Hand delivery: Library of Congress, James Madison Memorial 
Building, LM-401, 101 Independence Avenue SE., Washington, DC 20559-
6000.
    Participants should conform filed electronic documents to the 
Judges' Guidelines for Electronic Documents, available online at 
www.loc.gov/crb/docs/Guidelinesfor_Electronic_Documents.pdf.

    Dated: December 9, 2014.
Suzanne M. Barnett,
Chief Copyright Royalty Judge.
[FR Doc. 2014-29794 Filed 12-19-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 1410-72-P


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