Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 213 / Monday, November 6, 2017 / Proposed Rules 51369 

substantial direct effect on the States, on 

the relationship between the national 

Government and the States, or on the 

distribution of power and 

responsibilities among the various 

levels of government. 

For the reasons discussed above, I 

certify this proposed regulation: 

(1) Is not a ‘‘significant regulatory 

action’’ under Executive Order 12866, 

(2) Is not a ‘‘significant rule’’ under 

the DOT Regulatory Policies and 

Procedures (44 FR 11034, February 26, 

1979), 

(3) Will not affect intrastate aviation 

in Alaska, and 

(4) Will not have a significant 

economic impact, positive or negative, 

on a substantial number of small entities 

under the criteria of the Regulatory 

Flexibility Act. 

List of Subjects in 14 CFR Part 39 

Air transportation, Aircraft, Aviation 

safety, Incorporation by reference, 

Safety. 

The Proposed Amendment 

Accordingly, under the authority 

delegated to me by the Administrator, 

the FAA proposes to amend 14 CFR part 

39 as follows: 

PART 39—AIRWORTHINESS 

DIRECTIVES 

■ 1. The authority citation for part 39 

continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 49 U.S.C. 106(g), 40113, 44701. 

§ 39.13 [Amended] 

■ 2. The FAA amends § 39.13 by adding 

the following new AD: 

Viking Air Limited: Docket No. FAA–2017– 

1038; Product Identifier 2017–CE–024– 

AD. 

(a) Comments Due Date 

We must receive comments by December 

21, 2017. 

(b) Affected ADs 

None. 

(c) Applicability 

This AD applies to Viking Air Limited 

Models DHC–6–1, DHC–6–100, DHC–6–200, 

DHC–6–300, and DHC–6–400 airplanes, all 

serial numbers, certificated in any category. 

(d) Subject 

Air Transport Association of America 

(ATA) Code 27: Flight Controls. 

(e) Reason 

This AD was prompted by mandatory 

continuing airworthiness information (MCAI) 

originated by an aviation authority of another 

country to identify and correct an unsafe 

condition on an aviation product. The MCAI 

describes the unsafe condition as aileron 

cable wear or fouling at the wing root rib, 

fuselage skin, and wing root rib fairlead, or 

fraying of the cable from the root rib fairlead. 

We are issuing this AD to identify and correct 

wear on the aileron cable fuselage skin cutout and on the wing root rib fairlead, and any 

fraying of the cable from the root rib fairlead, 

which could lead to failure of the aileron 

cable and loss of control. 

(f) Actions and Compliance 

Unless already done, do the following 

actions in paragraphs (f)(1) through (5) of this 

AD: 

(1) Within the next 50 hours time-inservice (TIS) after the effective date of this 

AD or before the aileron cables have 

accumulated 300 hours TIS, whichever 

occurs later, inspect the aileron cables 

following the Accomplishment Instructions 

in Viking Air Limited Service Bulletin V6/ 

0022, Revision B, dated June 13, 2014 (SB 

V6/0022, Revision B). Inspect repetitively 

thereafter at intervals not to exceed 500 hours 

TIS, but not to exceed five inspections (the 

initial and four repetitives). 

(2) If any discrepancies are found during 

any of the inspections required in paragraph 

(f)(1) of this AD, before further flight, replace 

the aileron cable(s) following the 

Accomplishment Instructions in SB V6/0022, 

Revision B. 

(3) Upon completion of the initial and four 

repetitive inspections detailed in paragraph 

(f)(1) of this AD, resume the inspections 

specified in the maintenance program. 

(4) Within 30 days after completion of each 

inspection detailed in paragraphs (f)(1) of 

this AD, report the results of each inspection 

to Viking Air Limited in accordance with the 

reporting instructions in SB V6/0022, 

Revision B. 

(5) Installation of new aileron cables or reinstallation of existing cables that have been 

removed for any reason re-starts the 

inspections required in paragraph (f)(1) of 

this AD. 

(g) Other FAA AD Provisions 

The following provisions also apply to this 

AD: 

(1) Alternative Methods of Compliance 

(AMOCs): The Manager, New York ACO 

Branch, FAA, has the authority to approve 

AMOCs for this AD, if requested using the 

procedures found in 14 CFR 39.19. Send 

information to ATTN: Erin Hulverson, 

Aerospace Engineer, FAA, Boston ACO 

Branch, 1200 District Avenue, Burlington, 

MA 01803; telephone: (781) 238–7655; fax: 

(781) 238–7199; email: erin.hulverson@

faa.gov. Before using any approved AMOC on 

any airplane to which the AMOC applies, 

notify your appropriate principal inspector 

(PI) in the FAA Flight Standards District 

Office (FSDO), or lacking a PI, your local 

FSDO. 

(2) Contacting the Manufacturer: For any 

requirement in this AD to obtain corrective 

actions from a manufacturer, the action must 

be accomplished using a method approved 

by the Manager, New York ACO Branch, 

FAA; or Transport Canada; or Viking Air 

Limited’s Transport Canada Design 

Organization Approval (DOA). If approved by 

the DOA, the approval must include the 

DOA-authorized signature. 

(3) Reporting Requirements: For any 

reporting requirement in this AD, a federal 

agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a 

person is not required to respond to, nor 

shall a person be subject to a penalty for 

failure to comply with a collection of 

information subject to the requirements of 

the Paperwork Reduction Act unless that 

collection of information displays a current 

valid OMB Control Number. The OMB 

Control Number for this information 

collection is 2120–0056. Public reporting for 

this collection of information is estimated to 

be approximately 5 minutes per response, 

including the time for reviewing instructions, 

completing and reviewing the collection of 

information. All responses to this collection 

of information are mandatory. Comments 

concerning the accuracy of this burden and 

suggestions for reducing the burden should 

be directed to the FAA at: 800 Independence 

Ave. SW., Washington, DC 20591, Attn: 

Information Collection Clearance Officer, 

AES–200. 

(h) Related Information 

Refer to MCAI Transport Canada AD 

Number CF–2017–20, dated June 7, 2017, for 

related information. You may examine the 

MCAI on the Internet at http://

www.regulations.gov by searching for and 

locating Docket No. FAA–2017–1038. For 

service information related to this AD, 

contact Viking Air Limited Technical 

Support, 1959 De Havilland Way, Sidney, 

British Columbia, Canada, V8L 5V5; 

telephone: (North America) (866) 492–8527; 

fax: (250) 656–0673; email: 

technical.support@vikingair.com; Internet: 

http://www.vikingair.com/support/servicebulletins. You may review this referenced 

service information at the FAA, Policy and 

Innovation Division, 901 Locust, Kansas City, 

Missouri 64106. For information on the 

availability of this material at the FAA, call 

(816) 329–4148. 

Issued in Kansas City, Missouri, on 

October 20, 2017. 

Pat Mullen, 

Acting Deputy Director, Policy and Innovation 

Division, Aircraft Certification Service. 

[FR Doc. 2017–23808 Filed 11–3–17; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–13–P 

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 

U.S. Copyright Office 

37 CFR Parts 201 and 202 

[Docket No. 2017–16] 

Group Registration of Newspapers 

AGENCY: U.S. Copyright Office, Library 

of Congress. 

ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking. 

SUMMARY: The U.S. Copyright Office is 

proposing to amend its regulation 

governing the group registration option 

for newspapers. The proposed rule will 

make a number of changes to reflect 


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51370 Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 213 / Monday, November 6, 2017 / Proposed Rules 

1Although the regulation refers to this as a ‘‘GDN 

application,’’ the application itself is labeled ‘‘Form 

G/DN.’’ Applicants must also submit Form G/DN 

when using the group registration option for daily 

newsletters. 37 CFR 202.3(b)(9)(viii). 

2This list is also available at https://www.loc.gov/ 

rr/news/ncr_list.php. 

3The Office’s rationale for not including national 

or regional editions is that the Library considers 

them to be different newspapers because they have 

different International Standard Serial Numbers 

(‘‘ISSN’’). 

current Office practices, promote 

efficiency of the registration process, 

and encourage broader participation in 

the registration system by reducing the 

burden on applicants. Specifically, the 

proposed rule revises the definition of 

‘‘newspaper issues’’ and clarifies that 

the group registration option is available 

to any qualifying ‘‘newspaper issue.’’ 

The proposed rule will require 

applicants to file an online application 

rather than a paper application, and 

upload a complete digital copy of each 

issue through the electronic registration 

system instead of submitting them in 

physical form. The Library of Congress 

intends to incorporate digital copies of 

newspapers received by the Office 

under this group registration option, 

and provide public access to them, 

subject to certain restrictions set forth in 

the proposed rule. Applicants may 

continue to submit their issues on 

microfilm (in addition to submitting 

digital files) on a voluntary basis if the 

microfilm is received by December 31, 

2019. After that date, the microfilm 

option will be phased out. The proposed 

rule will clarify that each newspaper 

issue in the group must be a new 

collective work and a work made for 

hire, that the author and copyright 

claimant for each issue must be the 

same person or organization, and will 

clarify the scope of protection for 

newspaper issues, compared to 

individual components appearing 

within those issues. In addition, the 

proposed rule will require applicants to 

submit a full month of issues, and 

submit their claims within three months 

after the publication of the earliest issue 

in the group. The Office invites public 

comment on these proposed changes. 

DATES: Comments must be made in 

writing and must be received in the U.S. 

Copyright Office no later than December 

6, 2017. 

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 Web site at https://

www.copyright.gov/rulemaking/groupnewspapers. 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: 

Robert J. Kasunic, Associate Register of 

Copyrights and Director of Registration 

Policy and Practice, or Erik Bertin, 

Deputy Director of Registration Policy 

and Practice, by telephone at 202–707– 

8040, or by email at rkas@loc.gov and 

ebertin@loc.gov; or Anna Bonny 

Chauvet, Assistant General Counsel, by 

telephone at 202–707–8350, or by email 

at achau@loc.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Background 

When Congress enacted the Copyright 

Act of 1976 (the ‘‘Act’’), it authorized 

the Register of Copyrights (the 

‘‘Register’’) to specify by regulation the 

administrative classes of works for the 

purpose of seeking a registration, and 

the nature of the deposits required for 

each such class. In addition, Congress 

granted the Register the discretion to 

allow groups of related works to be 

registered with one application and one 

filing fee, a procedure known as ‘‘group 

registration.’’ See 17 U.S.C. 408(c)(1). 

Pursuant to this authority, the Register 

has issued regulations permitting the 

U.S. Copyright Office (the ‘‘Office’’) to 

issue a group registration for limited 

categories of works, provided that 

certain conditions have been met. See 

generally 37 CFR 202.3(b)(5)–(10), 

202.4(g). 

As the legislative history explains, 

allowing ‘‘a number of related works to 

be registered together as a group 

represent[ed] a needed and important 

liberalization of the law.’’ H.R. Rep. No. 

94–1476, at 154 (1976); S. Rep. No. 94– 

473, at 136 (1975). Congress recognized 

that requiring applicants to submit 

separate applications for certain types of 

works may be so burdensome and 

expensive that authors and copyright 

owners may forgo registration 

altogether, since copyright registration 

is not a prerequisite to copyright 

protection. Id. If copyright owners do 

not submit their works for registration, 

the public record will not contain any 

information concerning those works. 

This creates a void in the public record 

that diminishes the value of the Office’s 

database, and deprives the public of 

copies of works that might otherwise be 

included in the collections of the 

Library of Congress (the ‘‘Library’’). 

When large numbers of works are 

grouped in one registration application, 

however, granular information about the 

individual works may not be adequately 

captured. Therefore, group registration 

options require careful balancing of the 

need for an accurate public record and 

the need for an efficient method of 

facilitating the registration of multiple 

works. 

II. The Existing Group Registration 

Option for Newspapers 

To register a group of newspapers 

under the current regulation, the 

applicant must complete and submit a 

paper application using Form G/DN.1 37 

CFR 202.3(b)(7)(i)(B). The current 

regulation states that a newspaper is 

eligible for the group registration option 

if it is listed in ‘‘Newspapers Received 

Currently in the Library of Congress,’’ 2

a policy document listing newspapers 

that have been selected to be received 

and retained by the Library. 37 CFR 

202.3(b)(7)(ii). The current regulation 

also includes a number of registration 

requirements. First, the group must 

include ‘‘a full month of issues of the 

same newspaper title published with 

issue dates in one calendar month,’’ and 

the applicant must specify the first and 

last day that the issues were published 

during that month. Id. 

§ 202.3(b)(7)(i)(A), (C). Second, the 

applicant must submit a microfilm 

deposit, consisting of positive 35mm 

silver halide microfilm, containing the 

final edition of each issue published in 

the month specified in the application. 

Id. § 202.3(b)(7)(i)(D). The microfilm 

may include ‘‘earlier editions published 

the same day in a given metropolitan 

area served by the newspaper, but may 

not include national or regional editions 

distributed beyond a given metropolitan 

area.’’ 3 Id. Finally, to be registered as a 

group, the applicant must seek 

registration within three months after 

the date of publication for the most 

recent issue included in the group. Id. 

§ 202.3(b)(7)(i)(F). 

In addition to these regulatory 

requirements, the instructions for Form 

G/DN include three additional 

requirements: Each issue in the group 

must be an ‘‘essentially all-new 

collective work’’ that has not been 

previously published; each issue must 

be a work made for hire; and the author 

and the copyright claimant must be the 

same person or organization. Form 

Group/Daily Newspapers and 

Newsletters. Although not referenced in 

the Office’s regulation, these 

instructions have appeared in Form G/ 

DN since at least February 2000, and 

have appeared in Copyright Office 


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Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 213 / Monday, November 6, 2017 / Proposed Rules 51371 

4Similar language appears in the regulations 

governing the group options for serials and 

newsletters. See 37 CFR 202.3(b)(6)(C)–(F), (9)(ii)– 

(iv). 

5The Proposed Rule also maintains certain 

portions of the current definition. It reiterates that 

newspapers are mainly designed to be a primary 

source of written information on current events, 

either local, national, or international in scope; they 

contain a broad range of news on all subjects and 

activities; they are not limited to any specific 

subject matter; and they are intended either for the 

general public or for a particular ethnic, cultural, 

or national group. See 37 CFR 202.3(b)(7)(ii). 

6 In 1991, the Office began offering a group 

registration option for serials. 55 FR 50556. The 

Office subsequently offered a separate group 

registration option for newspapers, which are 

published in successive parts bearing numerical or 

chronological designations (i.e., publications 

meeting the definition of a ‘‘serial’’), but are 

ineligible for the serial group registration option 

because they do not meet the registration 

requirements, such as frequency of publication. 57 

FR 39615. The Office will be issuing a proposed 

rule relating to group registration for serials to 

similarly streamline the registration process for that 

group registration option. 

7 In this respect, the Proposed Rule differs from 

the regulation governing the group registration 

option for newsletters, which are classified as 

Continued 

Circular 62A: Group Registration of 

Newspapers and Newsletters 

(hereinafter ‘‘Circular 62A’’) since at 

least December 1999.4

During the early 1990s, the Office 

became aware that applicants wished to 

use the group registration option to 

register newspapers that had not been 

selected for the Library’s collections. 

These applicants went to the trouble 

and expense of transferring newspapers 

onto archival-quality microfilm for 

registration purposes, even though the 

Library did not include that microfilm 

in its collections. 

To reduce the number of applicants 

incurring such unnecessary costs in 

transferring non-selected newspapers to 

archival-quality microfilm, and to 

complement its existing regulation, the 

Office adopted an interim practice 

allowing applicants to use the group 

registration option for newspapers that 

have not been selected by the Library 

without submitting the works on 

microfilm. Specifically, the interim 

practice allows an applicant to submit: 

(i) Complete print copies of the earliest 

and most recent issues from the month 

specified in the application; (ii) print 

copies of the first section from the 

earliest and most recent issues in that 

month; or (iii) print copies of the first 

page from the earliest and most recent 

issues in that month. Although the 

Office’s interim practice is not reflected 

in the current regulation, it is 

mentioned in the instructions for Form 

G/DN, in Circular 62A, and in the 

Compendium of U.S. Copyright Office 

Practices, section 1110.5(B) (3d ed. 

2017) (hereinafter ‘‘Compendium’’). 

III. The Proposed Rule 

The Office is proposing to amend the 

regulation governing the group 

registration option for newspapers (the 

‘‘Proposed Rule’’) to reflect current 

Office practices, promote efficiency, and 

where possible, reduce the burden on 

applicants. 

As explained in greater detail below, 

the Proposed Rule will modify the 

eligibility requirements for this group 

option in several respects. First, it will 

make any newspaper, as defined in the 

regulation, eligible for a group 

registration, regardless of whether the 

Library has selected that newspaper for 

its collections. Second, it will improve 

the efficiency of this procedure by 

requiring applicants to register their 

newspapers through the Office’s 

electronic registration system, rather 

than filing paper applications. Third, it 

will amend the deposit requirements by 

requiring applicants to upload their 

newspapers in digital form through the 

electronic registration system. Although 

applicants will no longer be required to 

submit microfilm containing a complete 

copy of each issue, they may do so 

voluntarily if the microfilm is received 

by December 31, 2019 (in addition to 

uploading digital copies). After that, the 

microfilm option will be phased out. 

Fourth, the Proposed Rule confirms that 

deposits submitted for the purpose of 

group registration will satisfy the 

mandatory deposit requirement under 

section 407 of the statute, and will not 

be subject to the best edition 

requirement. It also confirms that the 

Library may provide limited access to 

any digital newspaper deposits it 

receives from the Office under the group 

registration option, subject to certain 

restrictions. 

Finally, the Proposed Rule will 

memorialize the Office’s longstanding 

position regarding the scope of a 

registration for a group of newspaper 

issues (i.e., a registration for a group of 

newspaper issues covers each issue in 

the group, as well as the articles, 

photographs, illustrations, or other 

contributions appearing within each 

issue—if they are fully owned by the 

copyright claimant and if they were first 

published in those issues). In addition, 

it will implement some technical 

amendments to address certain 

inconsistencies in the current 

regulation. 

A. Eligibility Requirements 

This section discusses the proposed 

amendments to the eligibility 

requirements for the group option for 

newspapers. Applicants failing to satisfy 

these requirements will not be 

permitted to use this option. 

1. The Definition of ‘‘Daily 

Newspapers’’ 

The Proposed Rule will update the 

regulatory definition for the term 

‘‘newspaper’’ in several respects.5

Currently, the regulation states that the 

Office may issue a group registration 

‘‘for a group of daily newspapers.’’ 37 

CFR 202.3(b)(7)(i). The term ‘‘daily’’ is 

misleading, because it implies that the 

newspaper must be published seven 

days a week. In practice, the Office has 

never applied this standard in 

registering groups of newspaper issues. 

Accordingly, the Proposed Rule will 

remove the term ‘‘daily’’ and replace it 

with ‘‘newspaper issues.’’ 

As discussed above, the current 

regulation states that a newspaper is 

eligible for group registration if it is 

listed in ‘‘Newspapers Received 

Currently in the Library of Congress,’’ a 

policy document listing newspapers 

that have been selected to be received 

and retained by the Library. 37 CFR 

202.3(b)(7)(ii). The Proposed Rule will 

make any newspaper eligible for a group 

registration, regardless of whether the 

Library has selected that title for its 

collections. 

In addition, the Proposed Rule 

clarifies that for purposes of registration, 

a newspaper will be classified as a 

‘‘periodical.’’ Under the current 

regulation, ‘‘newspapers’’ and 

‘‘periodicals’’ are both subsets of 

‘‘serials,’’ a broader category of works 

‘‘issued or intended to be issued in 

successive parts bearing numerical or 

chronological designations and 

intended to be continued 

indefinitely.’’ 6 See 37 CFR 

202.3(b)(1)(v). Serials do not have to be 

collective works for registration 

purposes. See id. For example, a 

newsletter containing a single article 

may qualify as a serial, but not a 

collective work. See H.R. Rep. No. 94– 

1476, at 122 (1976) (stating that a work 

does not qualify as a collective work 

‘‘where relatively few separate elements 

have been brought together,’’ as in the 

case of ‘‘a composition consisting of 

words and music, a work published 

with illustrations or front matter, or 

three one-act plays’’). By contrast, a 

‘‘periodical’’ is defined as ‘‘a collective 

work that is issued or intended to be 

issued on an established schedule in 

successive issues that are intended to be 

continued indefinitely,’’ and ‘‘[i]n most 

cases, each issue will bear the same 

title, as well as numerical or 

chronological designations.’’ 7 37 CFR 


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‘‘serials’’ generally rather than ‘‘periodicals’’ 

specifically, because newsletters can be composed 

of a single work, whereas newspapers are by their 

nature collective works. See 37 CFR 202.3(b)(9)(i). 

Put another way, while a newspaper must be a 

collective work to qualify for the group registration 

option, a publisher may register a group of 

newsletter issues regardless of whether the 

newsletter is or is not a collective work. See 82 FR 

at 29412 n.12. 

8Section 408(c)(1) of the Act states that ‘‘[t]he 

Register of Copyrights is authorized to specify by 

regulation the administrative classes into which 

works are to be placed for purposes of deposit and 

registration.’’ 

9See, e.g., Alaska Stock, LLC v. Houghton Mifflin 

Harcourt Pub. Co., 747 F.3d 673, 683 (9th Cir. 

2014); Morris v. Bus. Concepts, Inc., 259 F.3d 65, 

68 (2d Cir. 2001); Compendium sections 509.1, 

509.2; see also 17 U.S.C. 201(c) (‘‘Copyright in each 

separate contribution to a collective work is distinct 

from copyright in the collective work as a whole, 

and vests initially in the author of the contribution. 

In the absence of an express transfer of the 

copyright or of any rights under it, the owner of 

copyright in the collective work is presumed to 

have acquired only the privilege of reproducing and 

distributing the contribution as part of that 

collective work . . . .’’). 

202.4(g)(4) (emphasis added). 

Accordingly, by classifying newspapers 

as ‘‘periodicals’’ rather than ‘‘serials’’ 

generally, the Proposed Rule clarifies 

that newspapers must be collective 

works for registration purposes.8 The 

Proposed Rule also amends the 

definition for ‘‘Class SE: Serials’’ to 

reflect this clarification. 

Defining a newspaper as a 

‘‘periodical’’ is consistent with section 

408(c)(3) of the Act, which indicates 

that ‘‘newspapers’’ are a subset of 

‘‘periodicals.’’ 17 U.S.C. 408(c)(3) 

(directing the Register to create a group 

registration option for works ‘‘first 

published as contributions to 

periodicals, including newspapers’’). 

Similarly, it is consistent with section 

101 of the Act, which cites a ‘‘periodical 

issue’’ as an example of a collective 

work. 17 U.S.C. 101 (definition of 

‘‘collective work’’). 

Finally, the Office will use the term 

‘‘GR/NP,’’ which stands for ‘‘group 

newspapers,’’ instead of the term 

‘‘G/DN’’ when referring to the group 

registration option for newspapers. As 

discussed below in Section III.B.1, the 

Office is proposing to eliminate Form 

G/DN and require applicants to submit 

their claims through the electronic 

registration system. Thus, the term 

G/DN will soon be obsolete. The term 

G/DN is also confusing, because the 

Office uses the same term when 

referring to the group option for daily 

newsletters. See supra note 1. 

2. Publication Requirements 

The current regulation states that 

applicants may register newspaper 

issues ‘‘published with issue dates in 

one calendar month.’’ 37 CFR 

202.3(b)(7)(i)(A). The Proposed Rule 

will clarify that all of the issues in the 

group must be published (i.e., 

distributed to the public) within the 

same calendar month and must bear 

issue dates within that month. Claims 

with dates outside of one calendar 

month will be refused. The change in 

language is simply intended to clarify 

these requirements and does not 

represent a substantive change. 

3. Authorship, Ownership, and Work 

Made for Hire Requirements 

Under the Proposed Rule, each issue 

in the group must have been created as 

a work made for hire, with the same 

person or organization named as the 

author and copyright claimant. These 

requirements have appeared in Circular 

62A and in the instructions for Form G/ 

DN for more than a decade. 

Accordingly, this change is intended to 

reconcile the regulation with these 

longstanding Office practices. 

4. The Collective Work Requirement 

The Proposed Rule states that each 

newspaper issue in the group must be 

an all-new collective work that has not 

been previously published. This 

requirement has appeared in Circular 

62A for some time. Similarly, the 

instructions for Form G/DN state that 

each issue in the group must be an 

‘‘essentially all-new collective work’’ 

that has not been previously published. 

The Proposed Rule will clarify that each 

issue must be an all-new collective work 

for registration purposes. 

A newspaper will be considered a 

collective work if it contains ‘‘a number 

of contributions’’ that constitute 

‘‘separate and independent works in 

themselves,’’ and if the contributions 

are ‘‘assembled into a collective whole’’ 

‘‘in such a way that the resulting work 

as a whole constitutes an original work 

of authorship.’’ 17 U.S.C. 101 

(definitions of ‘‘collective work’’ and 

‘‘compilation’’). For example, a 

newspaper that contains multiple 

articles, photographs, illustrations, and 

advertisements could be considered a 

collective work if those contributions 

are selected, coordinated, and arranged 

in a sufficiently creative manner. By 

contrast, a work that contains a single 

article and a single photograph would 

not be considered a collective work, 

because it does not contain a sufficient 

number of contributions. See H.R. Rep. 

No. 94–1476, at 122 (1976). 

A newspaper issue may qualify as an 

‘‘all-new’’ collective work if it contains 

a sufficient amount of compilation 

authorship. In other words, there must 

be a sufficient amount of new 

expression in the selection, 

coordination, and arrangement of the 

articles, photographs, or other content 

appearing in each issue. The fact that 

the content itself is entirely new is 

irrelevant to this determination. For 

example, an issue could be considered 

‘‘all-new’’ if it contains a brand new 

selection, coordination, and 

arrangement of content, even if that 

individual content has been previously 

published in the newspaper—such as 

advertisements appearing in previous 

issues. 

5. Scope of Protection for Newspaper 

Issues Versus Individual Contributions 

Versus Overall Group 

The Proposed Rule clarifies that a 

registration for a group of newspapers 

covers each issue in the group, and each 

issue will be registered as a separate 

collective work. As a general rule, a 

registration for a collective work covers 

the individual contributions contained 

within that work if they are fully owned 

by the copyright claimant and if they 

were first published in that work.9

Accordingly, a registration for a group of 

newspaper issues covers each issue in 

the group, as well as the articles, 

photographs, illustrations, or other 

contributions appearing within each 

issue—if they are fully owned by the 

copyright claimant at the time the 

application was filed and if they were 

first published in those issues. By 

contrast, if an issue contains 

contributions that are not fully owned 

by the copyright claimant, and/or 

contributions that were previously 

published, the registration will not 

extend to those works. See Morris v. 

Business Concepts, Inc., 259 F.3d 65, 71 

(2d Cir. 2001) (‘‘Unless the copyright 

owner of a collective work also owns all 

the rights in a constituent part, a 

collective work registration will not 

extend to the constituent part.’’), 

abrogated on other grounds by Reed 

Elsevier, Inc. v. Muchnick, 559 U.S. 154, 

160 (2010). 

With respect to the information 

collected as part of a group registration 

and examination practices, the Office 

must balance the public interest in 

creating a meaningful record (i.e., 

collecting information regarding each 

individual contribution within a 

newspaper issue) with the relative 

burden on applicants wishing to 

participate in the registration system. 

When an applicant submits an entire 

month of newspaper issues for 

registration, it is difficult to collect 

granular information concerning the 

individual articles, photographs, and 

other component works within each 


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10There are two other options for registration of 

individual contributions to newspapers. Applicants 

may expressly assert a claim in the component 

works appearing within a particular issue by using 

the option for ‘‘literary work.’’ When using this 

option, the applicant must complete a separate 

application and pay a separate filing fee for each 

issue, and may list the author(s) and title(s) of the 

individual contributions appearing within that 

issue. Alternatively, the applicant may be able to 

register the individual contributions by using the 

group option for contributions to periodicals 

(including newspapers), provided that the applicant 

satisfies the eligibility requirements (i.e., the 

contribution must not be a work made for hire) and 

deposit requirements for that option. See 37 CFR 

202.4(g). 

11Alternatively, a plaintiff may satisfy this 

statutory requirement if the Office refused 

registration, provided that the plaintiff serves a 

copy of the complaint on the Register of Copyrights. 

17 U.S.C. 411(a). 

12Similar language has appeared in the 

Compendium since December 2014. See 

Compendium section 1113. 

issue. Requiring applicants to identify 

the author and title of each individual 

contribution would impose a significant 

burden both on applicants and the 

Office alike. This would discourage 

registration, which in turn, would 

diminish the value of the Office’s public 

record. It would also be contrary to the 

Congressional purpose of providing the 

Office with the authority to create group 

registration options to foster 

registrations that otherwise would be 

unduly burdensome. 

Accordingly, the Office’s application 

to register a group of newspaper issues 

does not contain spaces where the 

applicant can expressly assert a claim in 

the individual contributions appearing 

within each issue, provide titles, 

authors, or other identifying information 

for each contribution, or identify 

component works created by a third 

party and transferred to the claimant by 

written agreement. When the examiner 

reviews each newspaper issue, he or she 

will examine the issue as a whole to 

determine if it contains sufficient 

compilation authorship to warrant 

registration. And the examiner will 

review the newspaper issue to 

determine whether it contains ‘‘a 

number of contributions’’ constituting 

‘‘separate and independent works in 

themselves.’’ 17 U.S.C. 101. When the 

Office issues a group registration, the 

certificate will identify the title, author, 

and claimant for each newspaper issue 

in the group, but it will not identify the 

titles, authors, or claimants for the 

individual contributions appearing 

within those issues.10

The scope of protection for a group 

registration issued under the Proposed 

Rule will have several consequences in 

infringement actions. First, a group 

registration may be used to satisfy the 

statutory requirements for instituting an 

infringement action involving any of the 

newspaper issues that were included 

within the group, or any of the 

individual contributions appearing 

within those issues—provided that the 

claimant fully owned those 

contributions at the time the application 

for registration is submitted, and 

provided that the contributions were 

first published in one of those issues.11

17 U.S.C. 411(a) (for works of U.S. 

origin, registration (or refusal) is 

necessary to enforce the exclusive rights 

of copyright through litigation). 

Second, a group registration may also 

be used to satisfy the plaintiff’s burden 

of proof by providing a presumption of 

validity for each registered issue. 

Specifically, a certificate of registration 

‘‘constitute[s] prima facie evidence of 

the validity of the copyright and of the 

facts stated in the certificate.’’ 17 U.S.C. 

410(c). A group registration issued 

under the Proposed Rule would thus 

create a presumption that the claimant 

owns the copyright in each newspaper 

issue listed in the certificate, and a 

presumption that the copyright law 

protects each issue as a whole. 

Although the Proposed Rule does not 

require granular information concerning 

the individual component works within 

each newspaper issue, the Office 

foresees the future possibility of 

applicants submitting metadata for the 

component works appearing within 

each issue, and the possibility of the 

Office incorporating this information 

into the registration record. If this 

becomes feasible once the Office 

implements its next-generation 

registration system, it may require this 

type of information as a condition for 

using this group registration option. 

Finally, the Proposed Rule also 

clarifies that the group as a whole is not 

considered a compilation, a collective 

work, or a derivative work. Instead, the 

group is merely an administrative 

classification created solely for the 

purpose of registering multiple 

collective works with one application 

and one filing fee. The chronological 

selection, coordination, and 

arrangement of the issues within the 

group is entirely dictated by the 

regulatory requirements for this option. 

Likewise, when a group of newspaper 

issues are combined for the purpose of 

facilitating registration, those works are 

not ‘‘recast, transformed, or adapted’’ in 

any way, and the group as a whole is 

not ‘‘a work based upon one or more 

preexisting works’’ because there is no 

copyrightable authorship in simply 

collecting a month of issues and 

arranging them in chronological order. 

17 U.S.C. 101 (definition of ‘‘derivative 

work’’). 

6. Discrete, Self-Contained Works 

Protected 

The Proposed Rule clarifies that each 

newspaper issue in the group must be 

fixed and distributed as a discrete, selfcontained collective work.12 An 

applicant may satisfy this requirement if 

the newspaper as a whole is fixed in a 

tangible medium of expression, and the 

content of each issue does not change 

once it has been distributed. For 

example, a publisher that hand-delivers 

each issue to its subscribers, or 

distributes them through newsstands, 

vending machines, or other retail 

outlets, would satisfy this requirement 

because the newspaper is clearly fixed 

and distributed in a physical format. A 

publisher that emails an electronically 

printed (‘‘ePrint’’) newspaper to its 

subscribers may satisfy this requirement 

if each issue contains a fixed selection 

of content, such as a PDF version of a 

physical publication. Similarly, a 

publisher that allows its subscribers to 

download an ePrint newspaper from its 

Web site may satisfy this requirement if 

each issue is distributed as a collective 

work and the content of each issue does 

not change once it has been 

downloaded. 

By contrast, a newspaper Web site 

would not satisfy this requirement. 

Newspaper Web sites typically add, 

archive, and/or replace content on a 

continuing basis. As such, they are not 

fixed and distributed as discrete, selfcontained works. Moreover, these 

updates are rarely distributed on an 

established schedule, and rarely contain 

numerical or chronological designations 

distinguishing one update from the 

next. For this reason, Web sites are not 

considered ‘‘newspapers’’ for purposes 

of registration. As discussed above, 

‘‘newspapers’’ and ‘‘periodicals’’ have 

historically been considered subsets of 

‘‘serials,’’ a broader category of works 

‘‘issued or intended to be issued in 

successive parts bearing numerical or 

chronological designations and 

intended to be continued indefinitely,’’ 

and under the Proposed Rule, 

newspapers will be categorized as a 

‘‘periodical.’’ See 37 CFR 202.3(b)(1)(v) 

(defining a ‘‘serial’’); see also 75 FR 

3863, 3865 (Jan. 25, 2010) (noting that 

works ‘‘that are constantly updated with 

no demarcation between particular, 

discrete issues of the publication’’ are 

not considered serials). 

Although the Proposed Rule does not 

extend to newspaper Web sites, the 

Office is aware of the need for 

establishing new and updated practices 


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for examining and registering online 

works. See, e.g., Comments of 

Newspaper Association of America 

(urging the Office to create a group 

registration option for newspaper Web 

sites), available at http:// 

www.copyright.gov/rulemaking/onlineonly/comments/naa.pdf; Comments of 

the National Writers Union, Western 

Writers of America, and American 

Society of Journalists and Authors 

(urging the Office to create a group 

registration option for multiple works 

published online on different dates), 

available at https://www.regulations

.gov/contentStreamer?

documentId=COLC-2016-0005-

0009&attachment

Number=1&disposition=

attachment&contentType=pdf; see also 

81 FR 86634, 86636–37 (Dec. 1, 2016); 

81 FR 86643, 86646 (Dec. 1, 2016). The 

Office is considering these issues and 

will take them into account when 

developing its priorities for future 

upgrades to the electronic registration 

system. In the meantime, this Proposed 

Rule makes made some interim 

improvements to the current registration 

system to benefit newspaper publishers, 

the Library, and the public at large. 

B. Application Requirements 

1. Online Registration 

The Office has allowed and 

encouraged applicants to register their 

works through the electronic 

registration system since 2007. See 72 

FR 36883 (July 6, 2007). When the 

online registration system was 

introduced, applicants could submit 

their works on an individual basis. See 

id. But applicants could not submit a 

group registration covering multiple 

newspaper issues because the system 

was not designed to receive the 

information required for such a 

registration. Instead, applicants were 

required to file their claims on a paper 

application using Form G/DN. 

On December 14, 2012, the Office 

made some modifications to its 

electronic registration system to allow 

newspaper publishers to submit their 

claims with the online application. 

Under the Proposed Rule, applicants 

will be required to use the electronic 

application designated for a group of 

newspaper issues as a condition for 

seeking a group registration. The Office 

will no longer accept groups of 

newspaper issues submitted for 

registration on paper using Form G/DN. 

If, after the effective date of this rule, 

such paper applications are received, 

the Office will refuse registration and 

instruct the applicant to resubmit the 

claim through the electronic system. 

The Office invites comment on this 

proposal, including whether the Office 

should eliminate the paper application 

for newspaper issues, phase it out after 

a specified period of time, or continue 

to offer Form G/DN for applicants who 

prefer to use the paper-based system. 

2. Supplementary Registration 

A supplementary registration is a 

special type of registration that may be 

used ‘‘to correct an error in a copyright 

registration or to amplify the 

information given in a registration,’’ 

including a registration for a group of 

related works. 17 U.S.C. 408(d). 

Specifically, it identifies an error or 

omission in an existing registration 

(referred to herein as a ‘‘basic 

registration’’) and places the corrected 

information or additional information in 

the public record. 

The Office recently issued a final rule 

that modified the regulation governing 

this procedure. 82 FR 27424 (June 15, 

2017). This rule requires applicants to 

file an online application in order to 

correct or amplify the information set 

forth in a basic registration for any work 

capable of being registered through the 

electronic system, rather than filing a 

paper application. This online filing 

requirement will apply to 

supplementary registrations for groups 

of newspaper issues—even if the issues 

were originally registered using Form G/ 

DN. See 81 FR at 86657 & n.3. If an 

applicant attempts to use a paper 

application to correct or amplify a 

registration for a group of newspaper 

issues, the Office will refuse registration 

and instruct the applicant to resubmit 

the claim using the online version of 

this form. 

3. Policy Considerations Supporting 

Online-Only Registration 

The Office’s decision to offer a group 

option is entirely discretionary, and 

Congress gave the Office broad authority 

to establish the requirements for these 

types of claims. 17 U.S.C. 408(c)(1). 

Currently, the vast majority of the 

claims submitted on Form G/DN require 

correspondence or other action from the 

Office. Applicants routinely file claims 

that are not eligible for this group 

option, such as submitting a full year of 

issues instead of limiting the claim to 

one month, or submitting claims long 

after the deadline has expired (i.e., more 

than three months after the date of 

publication for the most recent issue in 

the group). In addition, applicants 

routinely fail to provide information 

expressly requested on the form, such as 

the title of the newspaper, issue 

numbers, publication dates, or the name 

of the author and claimant. Often 

applicants add extraneous information 

that is not requested, such as providing 

a transfer statement explaining how the 

claimant acquired the copyright in the 

issues. In each case, the Office must 

scan these paper applications into the 

registration system and input the 

relevant information by hand. This is a 

cumbersome, labor-intensive process, 

and if it is done incorrectly, the 

information must be re-entered into the 

system. In many cases, the Office must 

contact the applicant to request 

additional information or permission to 

correct the application. 

Addressing these issues imposes 

significant burdens on the Office’s 

limited resources, and has had an 

adverse effect on the examination of 

other types of works within the Literary 

Division of the Registration Program. 

Eliminating the paper application 

should mitigate many of these problems. 

Among other improvements, the online 

application contains automated 

validations that prevent applicants from 

submitting applications that fail to 

comply with the eligibility requirements 

for this group option, such as including 

too many issues in the group (i.e., more 

than one month of issues), or failing to 

submit the claim within the time 

allowed (i.e., more than three months 

after the publication of the issues in the 

group). 

For these reasons, the Office believes 

that requiring applicants to submit 

online applications is necessary to avoid 

a significant fee increase and to improve 

the overall efficiency of the group 

registration process. Nonetheless, the 

Office invites comment on this aspect of 

the Proposed Rule. 

C. Deposit Requirements 

The Proposed Rule will amend the 

deposit requirements for this group 

option by requiring applicants to submit 

their newspapers in digital form and 

upload each issue through the electronic 

system. Applicants will no longer be 

required to submit microfilm as a 

condition for using the group 

registration option—but they may do so 

voluntarily if the microfilm is received 

before December 31, 2019 (in addition 

to providing digital copies). After that, 

the microfilm requirement will be 

phased out. These proposals are 

discussed below. 

1. Digital Deposit Requirement 

To register a group of newspapers 

under the Proposed Rule, applicants 

will be required to submit a complete 

copy of each issue in the group, 

regardless of whether the Library has 

selected that newspaper for its 

collections. This will ensure that the 


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13Newspaper Web sites typically update their 

content throughout each day, but as discussed in 

Section III.A.6, they are not eligible for the group 

option. 

Office receives the entire content of 

each issue for the purpose of examining, 

indexing, and documenting claims. The 

interim practice allowing applicants to 

submit the earliest and most recent 

issues for a particular month or excerpts 

from those issues (discussed above in 

Section II) will be eliminated. While 

this interim practice was wellintentioned, it allows newspaper 

publishers to register an entire month of 

issues without submitting a complete 

copy of each issue in the group. This 

reduces the evidentiary value of the 

registration and the public record, 

because only a fraction of the issues in 

the group are examined for 

copyrightable authorship. 

The Proposed Rule reiterates that 

applicants must submit the final edition 

of each issue that was published in the 

month specified in the application. The 

current regulation states that applicants 

may submit earlier editions of the same 

newspaper if they were published on 

the same date as the final edition. 37 

CFR 202.3(b)(7)(i)(D). The Office is 

aware that most newspapers no longer 

publish multiple print editions 

throughout the day, such as the 

‘‘morning,’’ ‘‘afternoon,’’ ‘‘evening,’’ or 

‘‘late’’ edition of a particular 

newspaper.13 Therefore, the Office 

requests comment on whether this 

provision should be retained in the 

Proposed Rule. Under the current 

regulation, applicants may also include 

‘‘local editions’’ of the newspaper that 

were published within the same 

metropolitan area (such as the Brooklyn, 

Bronx, Manhattan, Queens, and Staten 

Island editions of a New York City 

paper), but they may not include 

national or regional editions that were 

distributed outside that metropolitan 

area. See id.; see also H.R. Rep. No. 94– 

1476, at 153 (1976) (authorizing the 

Register ‘‘to make exceptions or special 

provisions’’ for ‘‘multipart newspaper 

editions’’). Although the Proposed Rule 

retains this longstanding restriction, the 

Office requests comment on whether it 

should be retained. 

In all cases, applicants will be 

required to submit a digital copy of each 

issue, rather than a physical copy. 

Under the Proposed Rule, the Office 

will no longer accept physical copies, 

such as a print copy or photocopy of 

each issue in the group (although, as 

discussed below, newspaper publishers 

may provide microfilm in addition to 

digital copies on a voluntary basis until 

December 31, 2019). Likewise, the 

Office will not accept digital copies that 

have been saved onto a flash drive, disc, 

or other physical storage medium that is 

delivered to the Office by mail, courier, 

or hand delivery. 

In addition, the Office will have a 

number of technical requirements for 

the digital files. Specifically, applicants 

will be required to submit electronic 

files in Portable Document Format 

(‘‘PDF’’). Each newspaper issue in the 

group must be submitted to the Office 

as one discrete, self-contained collective 

work (i.e., as one PDF file per issue with 

the pages in reading order). In each case, 

the file name must adhere to the filenaming conventions specified on the 

Office’s Web site and/or in the 

Compendium. The Office proposes that 

each file name start with the letters 

‘‘GRNP,’’ followed by the International 

Standard Serial Number (‘‘ISSN’’) for 

that newspaper, and the publication 

date in a ‘‘YYYYMMDD’’ format. If a 

newspaper publishes multiple editions 

on the same date (e.g., morning, 

evening, and late editions), the 

publisher will be permitted to combine 

all of the editions in a single electronic 

file, assuming the file does not exceed 

file size requirements (discussed below), 

the editions are separate, and all pages 

are in sequential reading order. In 

addition, the metadata for each file 

should contain the newspaper’s ISSN in 

the ‘‘dc:identifier’’ or ‘‘xmp: identifier’’ 

fields, the publication date in the 

‘‘dc:date’’ field, and each file should be 

viewable and searchable, contain 

embedded fonts, and be free from any 

access restrictions (such as those 

implemented through Digital Rights 

Management (DRM)). Applicants will be 

required to assemble the files in an 

orderly form, and upload them through 

the electronic registration system. When 

uploading the files, applicants will not 

be permitted to upload .zip files to the 

system, and should instead upload files 

individually. In all cases, the size of 

each uploaded file may not exceed 500 

megabytes, although applicants may 

digitally compress the files to comply 

with this limitation. 

If the applicant’s electronic files do 

not comply with the Office’s technical 

requirements, the Copyright 

Acquisitions Division (‘‘CAD’’) will 

contact the publisher and ask for 

replacement files. If the publisher does 

not provide replacement files, CAD will 

notify the Literary Division of the 

Registration Program, which will review 

that publisher’s future electronic 

submissions for similar deficiencies, 

and may refuse registration if there are 

similar defects. If an applicant is unable 

to comply with the application 

requirements at the time of filing the 

application, the applicant may request 

special relief from the deposit 

requirements under 37 CFR 202.20(d). 

See 82 FR at 29412. The Office seeks 

public comment on the proposed digital 

file requirements. 

Requiring applicants to upload digital 

copies to the electronic system will 

increase the efficiency of the group 

registration process. The Office does not 

need physical copies to examine a 

newspaper for copyrightable authorship, 

or to determine whether the applicant 

satisfied the formal and legal 

requirements for this group option. See 

17 U.S.C. 410(a) (providing that the 

Register of Copyrights must determine 

whether ‘‘material deposited [for 

registration] constitutes copyrightable 

subject matter’’). Indeed, physical 

copies slow down the examination 

process. Electronic submissions take 

less time to process, and are easier to 

track and handle than physical copies. 

A registration specialist can examine a 

digital copy as soon as it has been 

uploaded to the electronic registration 

system. By contrast, when an applicant 

submits an online application and mails 

a physical deposit to the Office, it may 

take weeks to connect the application 

with the correct deposit. In addition, 

each copy must be moved multiple 

times during the examination process. 

Requiring digital uploads may also 

provide newspaper publishers with 

certain legal benefits. When the Office 

registers a group of newspapers and 

issues a certificate of registration, the 

effective date of registration is the date 

on which the Office received the 

application, filing fee, and deposit in 

proper form. When an applicant 

uploads a digital copy of the deposit to 

the electronic system, the Office 

typically receives the application, filing 

fee, and deposit on the same date. By 

contrast, when an applicant sends 

physical copies to the Office the deposit 

may arrive long after the date that the 

application and filing fee were 

received—thereby establishing a later 

effective date of registration. 

Moreover, if an applicant uploads a 

complete copy of the newspaper 

through the electronic registration 

system, the Office will retain a digital 

copy of those issues in its repository of 

electronic deposits. Digital copies are 

much easier to store and retrieve. This 

is critical if the copyright owner or other 

interested parties need to obtain a copy 

of a particular issue for use in litigation 

or another legitimate purpose. The 

current regulation assumes that a 

complete copy of each issue will be sent 

to the Library on microfilm, which may 

be used to identify the work, if 

necessary. But as discussed above, many 


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applicants do not currently submit their 

newspapers on microfilm because the 

Library has not selected them for its 

collections. Instead, they often submit a 

small portion of each issue, which is 

permitted under the interim rule 

discussed in Section II. 

The Office recognizes that some 

publishers may not have a digital copy 

of their issues or may find it difficult to 

create a digital copy for the purpose of 

seeking a group registration. The Office 

will address these concerns on a caseby-case basis. If an applicant is unable 

to upload a particular newspaper to the 

electronic system, the applicant may 

request special relief from the deposit 

requirements under 37 CFR 202.20(d). 

See 82 FR at 29412. 

2. Microfilm Permitted, but Not 

Required, for an Interim Period 

The current regulation states that the 

applicant must provide the Library with 

microfilm containing a complete copy of 

each issue as a condition for using the 

group registration option. As discussed 

in more detail below, microfilm will no 

longer be required when the Final Rule 

goes into effect—even if the Library has 

selected that newspaper for its 

collections. In addition to digital files, 

newspaper publishers may provide 

microfilm on a voluntary basis if the 

microfilm is received by December 31, 

2019. After that, the microfilm option 

will be phased out. 

The next few sections discuss the 

reasons for phasing out the microfilm 

requirement, as well as the procedure 

for submitting microfilm to the Office 

on a voluntary basis. 

a. Policy Considerations Supporting the 

Phasing Out of the Microfilm 

Requirement 

Section 408(c) of the Copyright Act 

authorizes the Register to create 

discretionary registration options for 

groups of related works, including the 

applicable deposit requirements. In 

administering the group registration 

option for newspapers, the Register 

must balance the Library’s need for 

microfilm deposits against the potential 

impact on the newspaper publishing 

industry. On the one hand, the 

microfilm requirement has benefitted 

the Library and the public by providing 

newspapers in a format suitable for 

long-term preservation, and at no cost to 

the government. It benefits researchers 

accessing these copies at the Library or 

through interlibrary loan. The regulation 

also creates a potential supply of 

microfilm that otherwise might not 

exist, which may benefit local and 

regional libraries, assuming they are 

able to purchase microfilm from 

publishers for use in their own 

collections. 

On the other hand, the current 

microfilm requirement does impose a 

burden on publishers if their 

newspapers have been selected for the 

Library’s collections. This requirement 

appears to have been less burdensome 

when the newspaper group option was 

adopted in 1990. At that time, 

newspaper publishers apparently hired 

microfilm producers to transfer paper 

newspaper issues onto microfilm for 

their own archival preservation instead 

of keeping physical copies. Thus, 

newspaper publishers were creating 

microfilm copies in the ordinary course 

of business. Some publishers offered 

copies of their microfilm to libraries and 

other institutions, including the Library 

of Congress, to offset this cost. 

Needless to say, the newspaper 

publishing industry has since changed 

dramatically, and the microfilm 

requirement may have become more 

burdensome over the past twenty-five 

years. Representatives of the newspaper 

industry have informed the Office that 

most publishers no longer preserve their 

works on microfilm, and instead make 

digital copies for archival purposes. See 

Hearing on U.S. Copyright Office: Its 

Functions and Resources, Before the H. 

Comm. on the Judiciary, 114th Cong., 

1st Sess., at 105 (2015) (statement of 

Keith Kupferschmid). In addition, 

representatives of the newspaper 

industry have stated that only a few 

companies provide microfilming 

services in the United States, and there 

can be significant delays in producing 

microfilm, which often prevents 

publishers from seeking registration in a 

timely manner. To the extent publishers 

transfer their newspapers onto 

microfilm, they apparently do so solely 

for the purpose of registering their 

works with the Office (i.e., to comply 

with the current regulatory 

requirements for the group newspaper 

option). 

In addition, representatives of the 

newspaper industry have informed the 

Office that ‘‘many newspapers are no 

longer registering their works with the 

Copyright Office because the Library 

requires that newspaper deposits be in 

microfilm format.’’ Id. at 5. The Office 

has found evidence to support this 

statement. In reviewing its registration 

records for fiscal years 2010 through the 

first half of fiscal year 2015, the Office 

found that nearly 70% of the U.S. 

newspapers selected for the Library’s 

collections were not registered during 

this period. Accordingly, although 

group registrations are intended to 

reduce ‘‘unnecessary burdens and 

expenses’’ that may discourage authors 

and copyright owners from registering 

their works with the Office, requiring 

newspaper publishers to submit their 

issues on microfilm may well have the 

opposite effect. See H.R. Rep. No. 94– 

1476, at 154 (1976); S. Rep. No. 94–473, 

at 136 (1975). 

Because newspapers have turned 

increasingly to online publishing, the 

Library has been considering how to 

incorporate online publishing into its 

collections. As part of that effort, in 

February 2016, the Library initiated a 

pilot project with the News Media 

Alliance known as the ‘‘Newspaper 

ePrint Technical Pilot.’’ The pilot 

involved collecting electronic files from 

six newspapers over two phases, with 

the goal of ‘‘explor[ing] the technical 

feasibility of accepting electronic copies 

of newspapers in lieu of physical 

deposits.’’ Library of Congress and News 

Media Alliance (NMA) Technical Pilot 

project, Report on ePrints 2 (March 4, 

2017). The goals of the pilot were to (i) 

explore various types of PDFs and 

metadata generated by newspaper 

publishers, (ii) test a range of technical 

methods that newspaper publishers 

might use to deliver this type of content 

to the Library, and (iii) inform future 

decisions about recommended formats 

for group registration of newspapers. Id. 

at 3. On March 4, 2017, the Library 

issued its report, ultimately concluding 

that ‘‘[t]he results give the team 

confidence that ePrints could be a viable 

technical alternative to microfilm 

deposits for newspapers.’’ Id. at 11. 

b. Transitional Period for Submitting 

Microfilm 

Based on the results of this pilot and 

the changes in the newspaper 

publishing industry, the Office is 

proposing to eliminate the microfilm 

requirement. Representatives of the 

newspaper industry have informed the 

Office that they generally support this 

proposal. But some publishers noted 

that they have entered into long-term 

contracts with microfilm producers that 

are still in effect. Others stated that they 

need time to develop internal 

procedures and quality assurance 

testing to ensure that their submissions 

contain a complete copy of each issue. 

To give publishers an opportunity to 

exhaust their microfilm production 

contracts, and to ease the transition to 

the new model, the Proposed Rule will 

allow newspaper publishers to submit 

microfilm on a voluntary basis (in 

addition to the required digital deposits 

for registration). Specifically, publishers 

may continue to submit microfilm if the 

microfilm is received by December 31, 


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14 If the Library receives microfilm for a 

newspaper that it has not selected for its 

collections, the microfilm may be offered to another 

institution through the Library’s Surplus Books 

program. See generally https://www.loc.gov/acq/ 

surplus.html. 

15The regulation currently states that the 

microfilm must meet ‘‘the Library’s best edition 

criteria.’’ 37 CFR 202.3(b)(7)(i)(D). The Proposed 

Rule eliminates this phrase, because it is redundant 

of what is stated elsewhere in the regulation. 

Compare id. (requiring ‘‘positive, 35mm silver 

halide microfilm’’) with Appendix B to Part 202, 

VII.B.1–2, X.A.1 (expressing the Library preference 

for collecting newspapers in ‘‘microform’’ rather 

than ‘‘printed matter,’’ consisting of ‘‘positive rather 

than negative’’ film, ‘‘silver halide rather than any 

other emulsion,’’ and ‘‘35 mm rather than 16 mm’’). 

16Packages delivered to CAD by mail or by 

courier may be irradiated to destroy possible 

contaminants, such as anthrax. This process may 

damage microfilm. To avoid this problem, 

claimants are encouraged to send microfilm in 

boxes rather than envelopes. 

17The regulation currently states that registration 

must be ‘‘sought’’ within three months after 

publication of the last issue in the group, while the 

Proposed Rule states that the application, filing fee, 

and deposit must be ‘‘received’’ in the Office within 

three months after publication. The Office notes 

that, under the Proposed Rule, the date that a 

registration is ‘‘sought’’ and the date that the 

application, fee, and deposit are ‘‘received’’ are 

typically the same—particularly when the claim is 

submitted through the electronic registration 

system. The change in language is simply intended 

to clarify this point. 

2019.14 After that, the Office will no 

longer accept microfilm. 

Under the Proposed Rule, if the 

applicant chooses to submit a microfilm 

copy in addition to the digital files 

discussed above in Section III.C.1, the 

applicant would have to provide 

positive 35mm silver halide microfilm 

containing the final edition of each 

issue that was published during the 

month specified in the application.15

The issues would have to be arranged 

on the microfilm in chronological order 

and the microfilm copy should be sent 

to CAD rather than to the Registration 

Program.16 The Registration Program 

does not need microfilm to determine 

whether the newspaper issues are 

copyrightable or whether the formal and 

legal requirements for this group option 

have been satisfied. The examiner can 

make these determinations based on his 

or her review of the digital copies 

provided with the application 

(described in Section III.C.1). Moreover, 

because the Registration Program does 

not have a reliable, functioning 

microfilm reader, examiners may be 

unable to review the film to determine 

whether it meets the Library’s needs. 

The Office requests comment on these 

proposals. The Office is particularly 

interested in knowing whether the 

proposed phase-out period will give 

publishers a sufficient amount of time to 

exhaust their current contracts or 

whether a longer period would be 

needed. 

3. Public Access to Digital Deposits 

When the Office established the group 

registration option for newspapers, it 

implicitly recognized that publishers 

could satisfy their obligations under 

mandatory deposit by registering their 

issues with the Office and providing the 

Library with a copy of those issues on 

microfilm—although this was not 

explicitly stated in the regulation itself. 

The Proposed Rule codifies this 

understanding by stating that publishers 

may comply with mandatory deposit by 

registering their newspapers using the 

group registration option. 

The Copyright Act provides that all 

copies deposited with the Office for 

mandatory deposit and registration 

purposes under sections 407 and 408 

‘‘are the property of the United States 

Government,’’ and that, in the case of 

published works, those copies ‘‘are 

available to the Library of Congress for 

its collections.’’ 17 U.S.C. 704(a)–(b). 

The Office has received digital files 

submitted by registration applicants 

under section 408 since it launched its 

electronic registration system in 2007. 

Although digital registration deposits 

submitted for registration are stored on 

Library-operated servers, the Library has 

to date not incorporated these digital 

deposits into its general collections or 

made them available to its patrons. 

In addition, electronic works not 

published in physical formats are—with 

one exception—exempt from all 

mandatory deposit requirements under 

section 407. See 37 CFR 202.19(c)(5). 

The one exception to the general 

exemption from mandatory deposit 

rules for electronic-only works is for 

electronic serials. Electronic serials that 

are fixed and published solely online 

are subject to mandatory deposit if the 

Office issues a written demand for a 

particular serial under section 202.24 of 

the regulations. 37 CFR 202.19(c)(5), 

202.24(a). If the Office demands an 

electronic serial under this provision, 

the publisher is expected to submit a 

digital copy of that serial for use in the 

Library’s collections. Currently, Library 

staff and members of the general public 

may access these copies using the 

Library’s facilities. The Library provides 

access to these files via a secure 

network, and access is currently limited, 

at any one time, to two authorized users. 

See 75 FR 3863, 3867–68 (Jan. 25, 2010). 

With this notice of proposed 

rulemaking, the Office notes that, for the 

first time, the Library plans to 

incorporate digital copies of works 

submitted for registration under section 

408 into the Library’s collections, and 

provide public access to those digital 

copies. To regulate such public access, 

the Proposed Rule borrows and codifies 

the existing public access practices used 

for electronic serials obtained under 

section 407; specifically, the Proposed 

Rule establishes a new section 201.18, 

entitled ‘‘Access to electronic works.’’ 

That provision clarifies that the Library 

may make these digital files available to 

‘‘authorized users,’’ meaning (i) 

Members, staff, and officers of the U.S. 

House of Representatives and the U.S. 

Senate, (ii) Library of Congress staff and 

its contractors, and (iii) registered 

researchers who use the Library’s 

facilities in Washington, DC and 

Culpeper, Virginia. The limitation 

permitting access to two authorized 

users at any one time applies across all 

Library facilities. It also clarifies that the 

Library may not make these files 

available to the public over the Internet 

without the copyright owner’s 

permission. 

To be clear, while the Proposed Rule 

would permit public access to digital 

copies only to newspapers received by 

the Office under the group registration 

option, over time the Library would like 

to expand this new provision to address 

public access to digital registration 

deposits for other types of digital works. 

Before expanding such access, however, 

the Office will issue separate 

rulemakings to notify the public. 

D. The Filing Fee Requirement 

Under the Proposed Rule, the 

applicant will be required to pay the 

same filing fee currently set forth in the 

Office’s fee schedule, namely $80 per 

claim. The Proposed Rule clarifies that 

this fee must be included with the 

application or charged to an active 

deposit account. Once the Proposed 

Rule has been implemented, the Office 

will monitor the cost of processing 

newspapers through the electronic 

system to determine if future fee 

adjustments may be warranted, and may 

use this information in conducting its 

next fee study. 

E. Timeliness Requirements 

The current regulation states that 

newspaper publishers must submit their 

claims within three months after the 

publication of the most recent issue in 

the group. 37 CFR 202.3(b)(7)(i)(F). The 

Proposed Rule maintains the threemonth deadline, but will require 

applicants to submit their claims within 

three months after the publication of the 

earliest issue—rather than the most 

recent issue—in the group.17

Compliance with this requirement 

may provide newspaper publishers with 

certain legal benefits. Publishers must 


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51378 Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 213 / Monday, November 6, 2017 / Proposed Rules 

register their issues in a timely manner 

to seek statutory damages and attorney’s 

fees in an infringement action. 

Specifically, a publisher typically may 

seek these remedies if a newspaper 

issue was registered (i) before the 

infringement commenced or (ii) within 

three months after the first publication 

of that work. See 17 U.S.C. 412. 

Requiring applicants to submit their 

claims within three months after 

publication of the earliest issue would 

give publishers the ability to seek 

statutory damages and attorney’s fees for 

each issue in the group. For example, if 

the applicant sought to register issues 

published between June 1st and June 

30th, the applicant would be required to 

submit the claim on or before September 

1st. By doing so, the applicant would 

preserve the ability to seek statutory 

damages and attorney’s fees for 

infringement occurring after the 

effective date of registration (i.e., after 

September 1st), as well as infringement 

occurring within three months after the 

publication of the earliest issue in the 

group (i.e., between June 1st and 

September 1st). Moreover, the publisher 

would be able to seek these remedies for 

each issue in the group, because all of 

the issues were first published within 

that three-month period. 

By contrast, the current regulation 

allows an applicant to submit a claim 

up to four months after the publication 

of the earliest issue in the group, which 

may limit the remedies that a publisher 

may seek in an infringement action. For 

instance, in the previous example, the 

applicant could wait until September 

30th to register issues published in the 

month of June, rather than submitting 

the claim on September 1st. The 

publisher would be able to seek 

statutory damages and attorney’s fees for 

infringement involving the June 30th 

issue occurring after the effective date of 

registration (i.e., after September 30th), 

or within three months after the 

publication of the most recent issue in 

the group (i.e., between June 30th and 

September 30th). But the publisher 

would not be entitled to these remedies 

for infringement involving the issues 

published on June 1st through June 

29th, because they were received by the 

Office more than three months after the 

publication of those issues. 

Under the Proposed Rule, the date 

that optional microfilm copies are 

received by the Office would be 

irrelevant. This represents a significant 

improvement compared to the current 

process, in which the Office routinely 

receives microfilm between four to six 

months after the publication of the most 

recent issue in the group. On some 

occasions the Office has received 

microfilm one or two years after the 

deadline has expired. Representatives of 

the newspaper industry have informed 

the Office that these delays are due to 

the high cost of producing microfilm. 

Many publishers cannot afford to send 

their newspapers to a microfilm 

producer until they have a sufficient 

number of issues to justify the cost, 

which delays the production and 

delivery of the microfilm. Given these 

obstacles, it is unreasonable to penalize 

publishers for failing to transfer their 

newspapers onto microfilm within three 

months after publication. 

F. Technical Amendments 

The Proposed Rule will move the 

regulation governing the newspaper 

group option from section 202.3 to 

section 202.4. Going forward, the Office 

intends to move all regulations 

governing the various group options 

implemented under section 408(c) of the 

Copyright Act to section 202.4. This 

change is intended to improve the 

readability of existing regulations and 

does not represent a substantive change 

in policy. 

In addition, the Proposed Rule 

incorporates the regulatory definitions 

from sections 202.3 and 202.20 into 

section 202.4, to apply to the various 

group registration options. 

The Proposed Rule also confirms that 

an application for a group of newspaper 

issues may be submitted by any of the 

parties listed in section 202.3(c)(1), 

namely, (i) the author or copyright 

claimant of those works, (ii) the owner 

of any of the exclusive rights in those 

works, or (iii) a duly authorized agent of 

any author, claimant, or owner of 

exclusive rights. 

Finally, the Proposed Rule contains 

an unrelated technical amendment, 

which removes the terms ‘‘single 

application’’ and ‘‘single registration’’ 

and replaces them with the terms 

‘‘application’’ and ‘‘group registration.’’ 

37 CFR 202.3(b)(7)(i). This is intended 

to avoid potential confusion with the 

‘‘single application,’’ a special 

application that may be used to register 

‘‘a single work by a single author that 

is owned by the person who created it.’’ 

37 CFR 202.3(b)(2)(i)(B). 

IV. Conclusion 

The Proposed Rule will encourage 

broader participation in the registration 

system, and increase the efficiency of 

the process for both the Office and 

copyright owners alike, while providing 

the Library with a means for adding 

newspapers to its collections in an 

archival-quality format. The Office 

invites public comment on each of these 

proposed changes, including: 

Eligibility Requirements 

1. The proposed definition of 

‘‘newspaper issues,’’ including making 

the group registration option to all 

newspapers, regardless of whether they 

have been selected to be received and 

retained by the Library, and classifying 

a newspaper as a ‘‘periodical.’’ 

2. The clarification that all issues in 

the group must be published and bear 

issue dates within the same calendar 

month. 

3. The proposed authorship, 

ownership, and work made for hire 

requirements. 

4. The proposed requirement that 

each newspaper issue in the group must 

be an all-new collective work that has 

not been previously published. 

5. The proposed clarifications for the 

scope of protection for newspaper 

issues, versus individual contributions 

appearing within those issues. 

6. The clarification that each 

newspaper issue in the group must be 

fixed and distributed as a discrete, selfcontained collective work. 

Application Requirements 

7. The proposed requirement that 

applicants use the electronic application 

designated for a group of newspaper 

issues as a condition for seeking a group 

registration, and whether the current 

online filing requirement for 

supplementary registrations relating to 

groups of newspaper issues should be 

retained. 

Deposit Requirements 

8. The proposed requirement that 

applicants submit a complete digital 

copy of the final edition of each issue 

in the group, regardless of whether the 

newspaper was selected to be received 

and retained by the Library, as well as 

any of the proposed file submission 

requirements. 

9. The proposed phase-out of the 

practice of accepting microfilm deposits 

by December 31, 2019. 

10. The proposed parameters for 

public access to digital deposits of 

newspaper issues, including the Library 

making digital copies available to two 

authorized users at a time at the 

Library’s facilities, and considerations 

related to secure storage of and access 

to such digital deposits. 

Timeliness Requirement 

11. The proposed requirement that 

applicants submit their claims within 

three months after the publication of the 

earliest issue in the group. 

List of Subjects 

37 CFR Part 201 

Copyright, General provisions. 


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Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 213 / Monday, November 6, 2017 / Proposed Rules 51379 

37 CFR Part 202 

Copyright, Preregistration and 

registration of claims to copyright. 

Proposed Regulation 

For the reasons set forth in the 

preamble, the Copyright Office proposes 

amending 37 CFR parts 201 and 202 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. In § 201.1, revise paragraph (c)(6) to 

read as follows: 

§ 201.1 Communication with the Copyright 

Office. 

* * * * * 

(c) * * * 

(6) Copyright Acquisitions. Deposit 

copies submitted under section 407 of 

the Copyright Act should be addressed 

to: Library of Congress, U.S. Copyright 

Office, Attn: 407 Deposits, 101 

Independence Avenue SE., Washington, 

DC 20559. Newspaper publishers that 

submit microfilm under § 202.4(e) of 

this chapter should mail their 

submissions to: Library of Congress, 

U.S. Copyright Office, Attn: 407 

Deposits, 101 Independence Avenue 

SE., Washington, DC 20559. 

* * * * * 

■ 3. In § 201.3, revise paragraph (c)(6) to 

read as follows: 

§ 201.3 Fees for registration, recordation, 

and related services, special services, and 

services performed by the Licensing 

Division. 

* * * * * 

(c) * * * 

(6) Registration of a claim in a group 

of newspapers or a group of newsletters ................................................ 80 

* * * * * 

PART 202—PREREGISTRATION AND 

REGISTRATION OF CLAIMS TO 

COPYRIGHT 

■ 4. The authority citation for part 202 

continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 17 U.S.C. 408(f), 702. 

■ 5. Amend § 202.3 as follows: 

■ a. Revise paragraph (a)(2). 

■ b. Amend paragraph (b)(1)(v) by 

removing ‘‘periodicals; newspapers’’ 

and adding in its place ‘‘periodicals 

(including newspapers)’’. 

■ c. Remove and reserve paragraph 

(b)(7). 

The revision reads as follows: 

§ 202.3 Registration of copyright. 

* * * * * 

(a) * * * 

(2) For the purposes of this section, 

the term author includes an employer or 

other person for whom a work is ‘‘made 

for hire’’ under section 101 of title 17. 

* * * * * 

■ 6. Amend § 202.4 as follows: 

■ a. Revise paragraph (b). 

■ b. Add paragraph (e). 

■ c. Amend paragraph (g)(4) by 

removing the second sentence. 

■ d. Amend paragraph (m) by adding 

the first sentence. 

The addition and revisions read as 

follows: 

§ 202.4 Group Registration. 

* * * * * 

(b) Definitions. (1) For purposes of 

this section, unless otherwise specified, 

the terms used have the meanings set 

forth in § 202.3 and § 202.20. 

(2) For purposes of this section, the 

term Library means the Library of 

Congress. 

(3) For purposes of this section, a 

periodical is a collective work that is 

issued or intended to be issued on an 

established schedule in successive 

issues that are intended to be continued 

indefinitely. In most cases, each issue 

will bear the same title, as well as 

numerical or chronological 

designations. 

* * * * * 

(e) Group registration of newspapers. 

Pursuant to the authority granted by 17 

U.S.C. 408(c)(1), the Register of 

Copyrights has determined that a group 

of newspaper issues may be registered 

with one application, one filing fee, and 

the required deposit, and the filing fee 

required by § 201.3(c) of this chapter, if 

the following conditions are met: 

(1) All the issues in the group must be 

newspapers. For purposes of this 

section, a newspaper is a periodical (as 

defined in paragraph (b)(3) of this 

section) that is mainly designed to be a 

primary source of written information 

on current events, either local, national, 

or international in scope. A newspaper 

contains a broad range of news on all 

subjects and activities and is not limited 

to any specific subject matter. 

Newspapers are intended either for the 

general public or for a particular ethnic, 

cultural, or national group. 

(2) Each issue in the group must be an 

all-new collective work that has not 

been previously published (except 

where earlier editions of the same 

newspaper are included in the deposit 

together with the final edition), each 

issue must be fixed and distributed as 

a discrete, self-contained collective 

work, and the claim in each issue must 

be limited to the collective work. 

(3) Each issue in the group must be a 

work made for hire, and the author and 

claimant for each issue must be the 

same person or organization. 

(4) All the issues in the group must be 

published under the same continuing 

title, and they must be published within 

the same calendar month and bear issue 

dates within that month. The applicant 

must include the final edition of each 

issue published within that month, and 

must identify the earliest and latest date 

that the issues were published. The 

applicant may include earlier editions 

of the same newspaper, provided that 

they were published on the same date 

as the final edition. The applicant also 

may include local editions of the 

newspaper that were published within 

the same metropolitan area, but may not 

include national or regional editions 

that were distributed outside that 

metropolitan area. 

(5) Application. The applicant must 

complete and submit the online 

application designated for a group of 

newspaper issues. The application may 

be submitted by any of the parties listed 

in § 202.3(c)(1). 

(6) Deposit. (i) The applicant must 

submit one complete copy of the final 

edition of each issue published in the 

calendar month designated in the 

application. Each copy may include 

earlier editions of the same newspaper, 

provided that they were published on 

the same date as the final edition. Each 

copy may also include local editions of 

the newspaper that were published 

within the same metropolitan area, but 

may not include national or regional 

editions that were distributed outside 

that metropolitan area. 

(ii)(A) The issues must be submitted 

in a digital form, and each issue must 

be contained in a separate electronic 

file. The applicant must use the filenaming convention and submit digital 

files in accordance with instructions 

specified on the Copyright Office’s Web 

site. The files must be submitted in 

Portable Document Format (PDF), they 

must be assembled in an orderly form, 

and they must be uploaded to the 

electronic registration system as 

individual electronic files (i.e., not .zip 

files). The files must be viewable and 

searchable, contain embedded fonts, 

and be free from any access restrictions 

(such as those implemented through 

Digital Rights Management (DRM)). The 

file size for each uploaded file must not 

exceed 500 megabytes, but files may be 

compressed to comply with this 

requirement. 

(B) The applicant may also submit the 

issues on positive 35mm silver halide 


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51380 Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 213 / Monday, November 6, 2017 / Proposed Rules 

microfilm, provided that the microfilm 

is received by December 31, 2019. The 

issues should be arranged on the 

microfilm in chronological order, and 

should be sent to: Library of Congress, 

U.S. Copyright Office, Attn: 407 

Deposits, 101 Independence Avenue 

SE., Washington, DC 20559. 

(7) The application, the filing fee, and 

files specified in paragraph (e)(7)(ii)(A) 

of this section must be received by the 

Copyright Office within three months 

after the date of publication for the 

earliest issue in the group. 

* * * * * 

(m) The scope of a group registration. 

When the Office issues a group 

registration under paragraph (e) of this 

section, the registration covers each 

issue in the group and each issue is 

registered as a separate collective work. 

* * * 

■ 7. Add § 202.18 to read as follows: 

§ 202.18 Access to electronic works. 

(a) Access to electronic works 

received under § 202.4(e) will be 

available only to authorized users at 

Library of Congress facilities in 

accordance with the policies listed 

below. Library staff may access such 

content off-site as part of their assigned 

duties via a secure connection. 

(b) Access to each individual 

electronic work received under 

§ 202.4(e) will be limited, at any one 

time, to two Library of Congress 

authorized users via a secure server over 

a secure network that serves Library of 

Congress facilities. 

(c) The Library of Congress will not 

make electronic works received under 

§ 202.4(e) available to the public over 

the Internet without rightsholders’ 

permissions. 

(d) ‘‘Authorized user’’ means Library 

of Congress staff, contractors, and 

registered researchers, and Members, 

staff and officers of the U.S. House of 

Representatives and the U.S. Senate for 

the purposes of this section. 

(e) ‘‘Library of Congress facilities’’ 

means all Library of Congress facilities 

in Washington, DC, and the Library of 

Congress Packard Campus for Audio– 

Visual Conservation in Culpeper, VA. 

■ 8. In § 202.19, add paragraph (d)(2)(ix) 

to read as follows: 

§ 202.19 Deposit of published copies or 

phonorecords for the Library of Congress. 

* * * * * 

(d) * * * 

(2) * * * 

(ix) In the case of published 

newspapers, a deposit submitted 

pursuant to and in compliance with the 

group registration option under 

§ 202.4(e) shall be deemed to satisfy the 

mandatory deposit obligation under this 

section. 

* * * * * 

Dated: October 30, 2017. 

Sarang V. Damle, 

General Counsel and Associate Register of 

Copyrights. 

[FR Doc. 2017–23917 Filed 11–3–17; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 1410–30–P 

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 

AGENCY 

40 CFR Part 62 

[EPA–R03–OAR–2017–0484; FRL–9970–29– 

Region 3] 

Approval and Promulgation of Air 

Quality Implementation Plans; 

Maryland; Continuous Opacity 

Monitoring Requirements for Municipal 

Waste Combustors 

AGENCY: Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA). 

ACTION: Proposed rule. 

SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA) proposes to approve the 

Clean Air Act (CAA) section 111(d)/129 

State Plan revision submitted by the 

State of Maryland for the purpose of 

updating municipal waste combustor 

(MWC) references to opacity monitor 

quality assurance and quality 

compliance requirements in Regulations 

.07 and .08 under the Code of Maryland 

Regulations (COMAR) 26.11.08. In the 

Final Rules section of this Federal 

Register, EPA is approving Maryland’s 

State Plan revision submittal as a direct 

final rule without prior proposal 

because the Agency views this as a 

noncontroversial submittal and 

anticipates no adverse comments. A 

detailed rationale for the approval is set 

forth in the direct final rule. If no 

adverse comments are received in 

response to this action, no further 

activity is contemplated. If EPA receives 

adverse comments, the direct final rule 

will be withdrawn and all public 

comments received will be addressed in 

a subsequent final rule based on this 

proposed rule. EPA will not institute a 

second comment period. Any parties 

interested in commenting on this action 

should do so at this time. 

DATES: Comments must be received in 

writing by December 6, 2017. 

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, 

identified by Docket ID No. EPA–R03– 

OAR–2017–0484 at http://

www.regulations.gov, or via email to 

aquino.marcos@epa.gov. For comments 

submitted at Regulations.gov, follow the 

online instructions for submitting 

comments. Once submitted, comments 

cannot be edited or removed from 

Regulations.gov. For either manner of 

submission, the EPA may publish any 

comment received to its public docket. 

Do not submit electronically any 

information you consider to be 

confidential business information (CBI) 

or other information whose disclosure is 

restricted by statute. Multimedia 

submissions (audio, video, etc.) must be 

accompanied by a written comment. 

The written comment is considered the 

official comment and should include 

discussion of all points you wish to 

make. EPA will generally not consider 

comments or comment contents located 

outside of the primary submission (i.e. 

on the web, cloud, or other file sharing 

system). For additional submission 

methods, please contact the person 

identified in the ‘‘For Further 

Information Contact’’ section. For the 

full EPA public comment policy, 

information about CBI or multimedia 

submissions, and general guidance on 

making effective comments, please visit 

http://www2.epa.gov/dockets/ 

commenting-epa-dockets. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Emily Linn, (215) 814–5273, or by email 

at linn.emily@epa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: For 

further information, please see the 

information provided in the direct final 

action, with the same title, that is 

located in the ‘‘Rules and Regulations’’ 

section of this Federal Register 

publication. 

Dated: October 18, 2017. 

Cosmo Servidio, 

Regional Administrator, Region III. 

[FR Doc. 2017–24114 Filed 11–3–17; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P 

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 

AGENCY 

40 CFR Part 63 

[EPA–HQ–OAR–2016–0442; FRL–9970–46– 

OAR] 

RIN 2060–AS92 

National Emission Standards for 

Hazardous Air Pollutants From the 

Portland Cement Manufacturing 

Industry; Residual Risk and 

Technology Review 

AGENCY: Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA). 

ACTION: Extension of comment period. 

SUMMARY: On September 21, 2017, the 

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) 

proposed a rule titled, ‘‘National 

Emission Standards for Hazardous Air 


Pmangrum on DSK3GDR082PROD with PROPOSALS