37 CFR 201.38 — General Provisions
Current through: 2024-07-01

Designation of agent to receive notification of claimed infringement.

§ 201.38 Designation of agent to receive notification of claimed infringement. (a) General. This section prescribes the rules pursuant to which service providers may designate agents to receive notifications of claimed infringement pursuant to section 512 of title 17 of the United States Code. Any service provider seeking to comply with section 512(c)(2) of the statute must: (1) Designate an agent by making available through its service, including on its website in a location accessible to the public, and by providing to the Copyright Office, the service provider and designated agent information required by paragraph (b) of this section; (2) Maintain the currency and accuracy of the information required by paragraph (b) both on its website and with the Office by timely updating such information when it has changed; and (3) Comply with the electronic registration requirements in paragraph (c) to designate an agent with the Office. (b) Information required to designate an agent. To designate an agent, a service provider must make available through its service, including on its website in a location accessible to the public, and provide to the Copyright Office in accordance with paragraph (c) of this section, the following information: (1)(i) The full legal name and physical street address of the service provider. Related or affiliated service providers that are separate legal entities ( e.g., corporate parents and subsidiaries) are considered separate service providers, and each must have its own separate designation. (ii) A post office box may not be substituted for the street address for the service provider, except in exceptional circumstances (e.g., where there is a demonstrable threat to an individual's personal safety or security, such that it may be dangerous to publicly publish a street address where such individual can be located) and, upon written request by the service provider, the Register of Copyrights determines that the circumstances warrant a waiver of this requirement. To obtain a waiver, the service provider must make a written request submitted either by email, to poboxwaiver@copyright.gov, or by signed letter, addressed to the “U.S. Copyright Office, Office of the General Counsel” and sent to the address for time-sensitive requests set forth in § 201.1(c)(1). Requests must contain the following information: The name of the service provider; the post office box address that the service provider wishes to use; a detailed statement providing the reasons supporting the request, with explanation of the specific threat(s) to an individual's personal safety or security; and an email address for any responsive correspondence from the Office. There is no fee associated with making this request. If the request is approved, the service provider may display the post office box address on its website and will receive instructions from the Office as to how to complete the Office's electronic registration process. (2) All alternate names that the public would be likely to use to search for the service provider's designated agent in the Copyright Office's online directory of designated agents, including all names under which the service provider is doing business, website names and addresses ( i.e., URLs), software application names, and other commonly used names. Separate legal entities are not considered alternate names. (3) The name of the agent designated to receive notifications of claimed infringement and, if applicable, the name of the agent's organization. The designated agent may be an individual ( e.g., “Jane Doe”), a specific position or title held by an individual ( e.g., “Copyright Manager”), a specific department within the service provider's organization or within a third-party entity ( e.g., “Copyright Compliance Department”), or a third-party entity generally ( e.g., “ACME Takedown Service”). Only a single agent may be designated for each service provider. (4) The physical mail address (street address or post office box), telephone number, and email address of the agent designated to receive notifications of claimed infringement. (c) Electronic registration with the Copyright Office. Service providers designating an agent with the Copyright Office must do so electronically by establishing an account with and then utilizing the applicable online registration system made available through the Copyright Office's website. Designations, amendments, and resubmissions submitted to the Office in paper or any other form will not be accepted. All electronic registrations must adhere to the following requirements: (1) Registration information. All required fields in the online registration system must be completed in order for the designation to be registered with the Copyright Office. In addition to the information required by paragraph (b) of this section, the person designating the agent with the Office must provide the following for administrative purposes, and which will not be displayed in the Office's public directory and need not be displayed by the service provider on its website: (i) The first name, last name, telephone number, and email address of a representative of the service provider who will serve as the primary point of contact for communications with the Office. (ii) A telephone number and email address for the service provider for communications with the Office. (2) Attestation. For each designation and any subsequent amendment or resubmission of such designation, the person designating the agent, or amending or resubmitting such designation, must attest that: (i) The information provided to the Office is true, accurate, and complete to the best of his or her knowledge; and (ii) He or she has been given authority to make the designation, amendment, or resubmission on behalf of the service provider. (3) Amendment. All service providers must ensure the currency and accuracy of the information contained in designations submitted to the Office by timely updating information when it has changed. A service provider may amend a designation previously registered with the Office at any time to correct or update information. (4) Periodic renewal. A service provider's designation will expire and become invalid three years after it is registered with the Office, unless the service provider renews such designation by either amending it to correct or update information or resubmitting it without amendment. Either amending or resubmitting a designation, as appropriate, begins a new three-year period before such designation must be renewed. (d) Fees. The Copyright Office's general fee schedule, located at section 201.3 of title 37 of the Code of Federal Regulations, sets forth the applicable fee for a service provider to designate an agent with the Copyright Office to receive notifications of claimed infringement and to amend or resubmit such a designation. (e) Transitional provisions. (1) As of December 1, 2016, any designation of an agent pursuant to 17 U.S.C. 512(c)(2) must be made electronically through the Copyright Office's online registration system. (2) A service provider that has designated an agent with the Office under the previous version of this section, which was effective between November 3, 1998 and November 30, 2016, and desires to remain in compliance with section 512(c)(2) of title 17, United States Code, must submit a new designation electronically using the online registration system by December 31, 2017. Any designation not made through the online registration system will expire and become invalid after December 31, 2017. (3) During the period beginning with the effective date of this section, December 1, 2016, through December 31, 2017 (the “transition period”), the Copyright Office will maintain two directories of designated agents: the directory consisting of paper designations made pursuant to the prior interim regulations (the “old directory”), and the directory consisting of designations made electronically through the online registration system (the “new directory”). During the transition period, a compliant designation in either the old directory or the new directory will satisfy the service provider's obligation under section 512(c)(2) of title 17, United States Code to designate an agent with the Copyright Office. [81 FR 75707, Nov. 1, 2016, as amended at 82 FR 9358, Feb. 6, 2017; 82 FR 21697, May 10, 2017; 85 FR 11295, Feb. 27, 2020]