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INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS

NATIONAL LEGISLATION - USA

Copyright Laws and Regulations

Regulations: Title 37, Chapters I (Subchapter C) and II, Code of Federal
Regulations


(Continuation)

37 C.F.R. § 201.5   Corrections and amplifications of copyright registrations; applications for supplementary registration.  

    (a) General. (1) This section prescribes conditions relating to the filing of an application for supplementary registration, to correct an error in a copyright registration or to amplify the information given in a registration, under section 408(d) of Title 17 of the United States Code, as amended by Pub. L. 94-553. For the purposes of this section:  

    (i) A basic registration means any of the following:  

    (A) A copyright registration made under sections 408, 409, and 410 of Title 17 of the United States Code, as amended by Pub. L. 94-553;

    (B) a renewal registration made under section 304 of Title 17 of the United States Code, as so amended;  

    (C) a registration of claim to copyright made under Title 17 of the United States Code as it existed before January 1, 1978; or  

    (D) a renewal registration made under Title 17 of the United States Code as it existed before January 1, 1978; and  

    (ii) A supplementary registration means a registration made upon application under section 408(d) of Title 17 of the United States Code, as amended by Pub. L. 94-553, and the provisions of this section.  

    (2) No correction or amplification of the information in a basic registration will be made except pursuant to the provisions of this § 201.5. As an exception, where it is discovered that the record of a basic registration contains an error that the Copyright Office itself should have recognized at the time registration was made, the Office will take appropriate measures to rectify its error.  

    (b) Persons entitled to file an application for supplementary registration; grounds of application. (1) Supplementary registration can be made only if a basic copyright registration for the same work has already been completed.   After a basic registration has been completed, any author or other copyright claimant of the work, or the owner of any exclusive right in the work, or the duly authorized agent of any such author, other claimant, or owner, who wishes to correct or amplify the information given in the basic registration for the work may file an application for supplementary registration.n1

   (2) Supplementary registration may be made either to correct or to amplify the information in a basic registration. For the purposes of this section:  

    (i) A correction is appropriate if information in the basic registration was incorrect at the time that basic registration was made, and the error is not one that the Copyright Office itself should have recognized;  

    (ii) An amplification is appropriate: 

    (A) To reflect additional information that could have been given, but was omitted, at the time basic registration was made; or 

    (B) to reflect changes in facts, other than those relating to transfer, license, or ownership of rights in the work, that have occurred since the basic registration was made; or 

    (C) to clarify information given in the basic registration; 

    (iii) Supplementary registration is not appropriate: 

    (A) As an amplification, to reflect the ownership, division, allocation, licensing, or transfer of rights in a work, whether at the time basic registration was made or thereafter; or 

    (B) to correct errors in statements or notices on the copies of phonorecords of a work, or to reflect changes in the content of a work; and 

    (iv) Where a basic renewal registration has been made for a work during the last year of the relevant first-term copyright, supplementary registration to correct the renewal claimant or basis of claim or to add a renewal claimant is ordinarily possible only if the application for supplementary registration and fee are received in the Copyright Office within the last year of the relevant first-term copyright. If the error or omission in a basic renewal registration is extremely minor, and does not involve the identity of the renewal claimant or the legal basis of the claim, supplementary registration may be made at any time.  In an exceptional case, however, supplementary registration may be made to correct the name of the renewal claimant and the legal basis of the claim at any time if clear, convincing, objective documentation is submitted to the Copyright Office which proves that an inadvertent error was made in failing to designate the correct living statutory renewal claimant in the basic renewal registration.  

    (c) Form and content of application for supplementary registration. (1) An application for supplementary registration shall be made on a form prescribed by the Copyright Office, shall be accompanied by a fee of $20, n2 and shall contain the following information; 

    (i) The title of the work as it appears in the basic registration, including previous or alternative titles if they appear; 

    (ii) The registration number of the basic registration; 

    (iii) The year when the basic registration was completed; 

    (iv) The name or names of the author or authors of the work, and the copyright claimant or claimants in the work, as they appear in the basic registration;  

    (v) In the case of a correction: 

    (A) The line number and heading or description of the part of the basic registration where the error occurred; 

    (B) a transcription of the erroneous information as it appears in the basic registration;  

    (C) a statement of the correct information as it should have appeared; and  

    (D) if desired, an explanation of the error or its correction;  

    (vi) In the case of an amplification: 

    (A) The line number and heading or description of the part of the basic registration where the information to be amplified appears; 

    (B) a clear and succinct statement of the information to be added; and  

    (C) if desired, an explanation of the amplification; 

    (vii) The name and address: 

    (A) To which correspondence concerning the application should be sent; and  

    (B) to which the certificate of supplementary registration should be mailed; and  

    (viii) A certification. The certification shall consist of: 

    (A) The handwritten signature of the author, other copyright claimant, or owner of exclusive right(s) in the work, or of the duly authorized agent of such author, other claimant or owner (who shall also be identified);  

    (B) the typed or printed name of the person whose signature appears, and the date of signature; and 

    (C) a statement that the person signing the application is the author, other copyright claimant or owner of exclusive right(s) in the work, or the authorized agent of such author, other claimant, or owner, and that the statements made in the application are correct to the best of that person's knowledge. 

    (2) The form prescribed by the Copyright Office for the foregoing purposes is designated “Application for Supplementary Copyright Registration (Form CA)”. Copies of the form are available free upon request to the Public Information Office, Library of Congress, Copyright Office, 101 Independence Avenue, S.E., Washington, DC 20559-6000. 

    (3) Copies, phonorecords or supporting documents cannot be made part of the record of a supplementary registration and should not be submitted with the application. 

    (d) Effect of supplementary registration. (1) When a supplementary registration is completed, the Copyright Office will assign it a new registration number in the appropriate class, and issue a certificate of supplementary registration under that number. 

    (2) As provided in section 408(d) of Title 17, the information contained in a supplementary registration augments but does not supersede that contained in the basic registration. The basic registration will not be expunged or cancelled. 

[43 FR 773, Jan. 4, 1978, as amended at 56 FR 59885, Nov. 26, 1991; 57 FR 60482, Dec. 21, 1992; 60 FR 34168, June 30, 1995; 62 FR 35420, 35421, July 1, 1997] 

37 C.F.R. § 201.6   Payment and refund of Copyright Office fees. 

    (a) In general. All fees sent to the Copyright Office should be in the form of a money order, check or bank draft payable to the Register of Copyrights. Coin or currency sent to the Office in letters or packages will be at the remitter's risk. Remittances from foreign countries should be in the form of an International Money Order or Bank Draft payable and immediately negotiable in the United States for the full amount of the fee required. Uncertified checks are accepted subject to collection. Where the statutory fee is submitted in the form of a check, the registration of the copyright claim or other record made by the Office is provisional until payment in money is received. In the event the fee is not paid, the registration or other record shall be expunged.  

    (b) Deposit accounts. Persons or firms having a considerable amount of business with the Copyright Office may, for their own convenience, prepay copyright expenses by establishing a Deposit Account. 

    (c) Refunds. Money remitted to the Copyright Office for original, basic, supplementary or renewal registration will not be refunded if the claim is rejected because the material deposited does not constitute copyrightable subject matter or because the claim is invalid for any other reason. Payments made by mistake or in excess of the statutory fee will be refunded, but amounts of $50 or less will not be refunded unless specifically requested, and refunds of less than $2 may be made in postage stamps. Before making any refund for fees remitted in relation to nonregistration copyright services, the Copyright Office shall deduct an administrative processing fee in an amount equivalent to one hour of the requested service, or the minimum fee set by statute for the service.  

    (d) Return of deposit copies. Copies of works deposited in the Copyright Office pursuant to law are either retained in the Copyright Office, transferred for the permanent collections or other uses of the Library of Congress, or disposed of according to law. When an application is rejected, the Copyright Office reserves the right to retain the deposited copies. 

[24 FR 4955, June 18, 1959, as amended at 46 FR 25442, May 7, 1981; 56 FR 7813, Feb. 26, 1991; 59 FR 38371, July 28, 1994]  

37 C.F.R. § 201.7   Cancellation of completed registrations. 

    (a) Definition. Cancellation is an action taken by the Copyright Office whereby either the registration is eliminated on the ground that the registration is invalid under the applicable law and regulations, or the registration number is eliminated and a new registration is made under a different class and number.  

    (b) General policy. The Copyright Office will cancel a completed registration only in those cases where:     (1) It is clear that no registration should have been made because the work does not constitute copyrightable subject matter or fails to satisfy the other legal and formal requirements for obtaining copyright; (2) registration may be authorized but the application, deposit material, or fee does not meet the requirements of the law and Copyright Office regulations, and the Office is unable to get the defect corrected; or (3) an existing registration in the wrong class is to be replaced by a new registration in the correct class. 

    (c) Circumstances under which a registration will be cancelled. (1) Where the Copyright Office becomes aware after registration that a work is not copyrightable, either because the authorship is de minimis or the work does not contain authorship subject to copyright, the registration will be cancelled. The copyright claimant will be notified by correspondence of the proposed cancellation and the reasons therefor, and be given 30 days, from the date the Copyright Office letter is mailed, to show cause in writing why the cancellation should not be made. If the claimant fails to respond within the 30 day period, or if the Office after considering the response, determines that the registration was made in error and not in accordance with title 17 U.S.C., Chapters 1 through 8, the registration will be cancelled.  

    (2) When a check received in payment of a registration fee is returned to the Copyright Office marked “insufficient funds” or is otherwise uncollectible the Copyright Office will immediately cancel any registration(s) for which the dishonored check was submitted and will notify the remitter the registration has been cancelled because the check was returned as uncollectible.  

    (3) Where registration is made in the wrong class, the Copyright Office will cancel the first registration, replace it with a new registration in the correct class, and issue a corrected certificate. 

    (4) Where registration has been made for a work which appears to be copyrightable but after registration the Copyright Office becomes aware that, on the administrative record before the Office, the statutory requirements have apparently not been satisfied, or that information essential to registration has been omitted entirely from the application or is questionable, or correct deposit material has not been deposited, the Office will correspond with the copyright claimant in an attempt to secure the required information or deposit material or to clarify the information previously given on the application.  If the Copyright Office receives no reply to its correspondence within 30 days of the date the letter is mailed, or the response does not resolve the substantive defect, the registration will be cancelled. The correspondence will include the reason for the cancellation. The following are instances where a completed registration will be cancelled unless the substantive defect in the registration can be cured: 

    (i) Eligibility for registration has not been established;  

    (ii) A work published before March 1, 1989, was registered more than 5 years after the date of first publication and the deposit copy or phonorecord does not contain a statutory copyright notice; 

    (iii) The deposit copies or phonorecords of a work published before January 1, 1978 do not contain a copyright notice or the notice is defective;  

    (iv) A renewal claim was registered after the statutory time limits for registration had apparently expired; 

    (v) The application and copy(s) or phonorecord(s) do not match each other and the Office cannot locate a copy or phonorecord as described in the application elsewhere in the Copyright Office or the Library of Congress;  

    (vi) The application for registration does not identify a copyright claimant or it appears from the transfer statement on the application or elsewhere that the “claimant” named in the application does not have the right to claim copyright; 

    (vii) A claim to copyright is based on material added to a preexisting work and a reading of the application in its totality indicates that there is no copyrightable new material on which to base a claim; 

    (viii) A work subject to the manufacturing provisions of the Act of 1909 was apparently published in violation of those provisions; 

    (ix) For a work published after January 1, 1978 the only claimant given on the application was deceased on the date the application was certified;  

    (x) A work is not anonymous or pseudonymous and statements on the application and/or copy vary so much that the author cannot be identified; and  

    (xi) Statements on the application conflict or are so unclear that the claimant cannot be adequately identified. 

    (d) Minor substantive errors. Where a registration includes minor substantive errors or omissions which would generally have been rectified before registration, the Copyright Office will attempt to rectify the error through correspondence with the remitter.  Except in those cases enumerated in paragraph (c) of this section, if the Office is unable for any reason to obtain the correct information or deposit copy the registration record will be annotated to state the nature of the informality and show that the Copyright Office attempted to correct the registration.  

[50 FR 40835, Oct. 7, 1985; 60 FR 34168, June 30, 1995] 

37 C.F.R. § 201.8   [Reserved]  

37 C.F.R. § 201.9   Recordation of agreements between copyright owners and public broadcasting entities.  

    (a) License agreements voluntarily negotiated between one or more owners of copyright in published non-dramatic musical works and published pictorial, graphic, and sculptural works, and one or more public broadcasting entities, and terms and rates of royalty payments agreed to among owners of copyright in non-dramatic literary works and public broadcasting entities will be filed in the Copyright Office by recordation upon payment of the fee prescribed by this section. The document submitted for recordation shall meet the following requirements:  

    (1) It shall be an original instrument of agreement; or it shall be a legible photocopy or other full-size facsimile reproduction of an original, accompanied by a certification signed by at least one of the parties to the agreement, or an authorized representative of that party, that the reproduction is a true copy; 

    (2) It shall bear the signatures of all persons identified as parties to the agreement, or of their authorized agents or representatives; 

    (3) It shall be complete on its face, and shall include any schedules, appendixes, or other attachments referred to in the instrument as being part of it; and  

    (4) It shall be clearly identified, in its body or a covering transmittal letter, as being submitted for recordation under 17 U.S.C. 118. 

    (b) For a document covering not more than one title the basic recordation fee is $20. For additional titles, a charge of $10 is added for each group of not more than 10 titles. 

    (c) The date of recordation is the date when all of the elements required for recordation, including the prescribed fee, have been received in the Copyright Office. A document is filed in the Copyright Office, and a filing in the Copyright Office takes place on the date of recordation. After recordation the document is returned to the sender with a certificate of record.  

[42 FR 16777, Mar. 30, 1977, as amended at 46 FR 33249, June 29, 1981; 56 FR 59885, Nov. 26, 1991]

37 C.F.R. § 201.10   Notices of termination of transfers and licenses covering extended renewal term.  

    (a) Form. The Copyright Office does not provide printed forms for the use of persons serving notices of termination. 

    (b) Contents. (1) A notice of termination must include a clear identification of each of the following: 

    (i) The name of each grantee whose rights are being terminated, or the grantee's successor in title, and each address at which service of the notice is being made;  

    (ii) The title and the name of at least one author of, and the date copyright was originally secured in, each work to which the notice of termination applies; and, if possible and practicable, the original copyright registration number;  

    (iii) A brief statement reasonably identifying the grant to which the notice of termination applies; 

    (iv) The effective date of termination; and 

    (v) In the case of a termination of a grant executed by a person or persons other than the author, a listing of the surviving person or persons who executed the grant.  In the case of a termination of a grant executed by one or more of the authors of the work where the termination is exercised by the successors of a deceased author, a listing of the names and relationships to that deceased author of all of the following, together with specific indication of the person or persons executing the notice who constitute more than one-half of that aurhor's termination interest: That author's surviving widow or widower; and all of that author's surviving children; and, where any of that author's children are dead, all of the surviving children of any such deceased child of that author; however, instead of the information required by this paragraph (v), the notice may contain both of the following: (A) A statement of as much of such information as is currently available to the person or persons signing the notice, with a brief explanation of the reasons why full information is or may be lacking; together with (B) a statement that, to the best knowledge and belief of the person or persons signing the notice, the notice has been signed by all persons whose signature is necessary to terminate the grant under section 304(c) of Title 17, U.S.C., or by their duly authorized agents.

    (2) Clear identification of the information specified by paragraph (b)(1) of this section requires a complete and unambiguous statement of facts in the notice itself, without incorporation by reference of information in other documents or records. 

    (c) Signature. (1) In the case of a termination of a grant executed by a person or persons other than the author, the notice shall be signed by all of the surviving person or persons who executed the grant, or by their duly authorized agents.  

    (2) In the case of a termination of a grant executed by one or more of the authors of the work, the notice as to any one author's share shall be signed by that author or by his or her duly authorized agent. If that author is dead, the notice shall be signed by the number and proportion of the owners of that author's termination interest required under clauses (1) and (2) of section 304(c) of Title 17, U.S.C., or by their duly authorized agents, and shall contain a brief statement of their relationship or relationships to that author.  

    (3) Where a signature is by a duly authorized agent, it shall clearly identify the person or persons on whose behalf the agent is acting.  

    (4) The handwritten signature of each person effecting the termination shall either be accompanied by a statement of the full name and address of that person, typewritten or printed legibly by hand, or shall clearly correspond to such a statement elsewhere in the notice. 

    (d) Service. (1) The notice of termination shall be served upon each grantee whose rights are being terminated, or the grantee's successor in title, by personal service, or by first-class mail sent to an address which, after a reasonable investigation, is found to be the last known address of the grantee or successor in title. 

    (2) The service provision of section 304(c)(4) of Title 17, U.S.C., will be satisfied if, before the notice of termination is served, a reasonable investigation is made by the person or persons executing the notice as to the current ownership of the rights being terminated, and based on such investigation: (i) If there is no reason to believe that such rights have been transferred by the grantee to a successor in title, the notice is served on the grantee; or (ii) if there is reason to believe that such rights have been transferred by the grantee to a particular successor in title, the notice is served on such successor in title. 

    (3) For purposes of paragraph (d)(2) of this section, a reasonable investigation includes, but is not limited to, a search of the records in the Copyright Office; in the case of a musical composition with respect to which performing rights are licensed by a performing rights society, a “reasonable investigation” also includes a report from that performing rights society identifying the person or persons claiming current ownership of the rights being terminated. 

    (4) Compliance with the provisions of clauses (2) and (3) of this paragraph (d) will satisfy the service requirements of section 304(c)(4) of Title 17, U.S.C.   However, as long as the statutory requirements, have been met, the failure to comply with the regulatory provisions of paragraph (d) (2) or (3) of this section will not affect the validity of the service.

    (e) Harmless errors. (1) Harmless errors in a notice that do not materially affect the adequacy of the information required to serve the purposes of section 304(c) of Title 17, U.S.C., shall not render the notice invalid.  

    (2) Without prejudice to the general rule provided by paragraph (e)(1) of this section (e), errors made in giving the date or registration number referred to in paragraph (b)(1)(ii) of this section, or in complying with the provisions of paragraph (b)(1)(v) of this section, or in describing the precise relationships under clause (2) of paragraph (c) of this section, shall not affect the validity of the notice if the errors were made in good faith and without any intention to deceive, mislead, or conceal relevant information.  

    (f) Recordation. (1) A copy of the notice of termination will be recorded in the Copyright Office upon payment of the fee prescribed by paragraph (2) of this paragraph (f) and upon compliance with the following provisions:  

    (i) The copy submitted for recordation shall be a complete and exact duplicate of the notice of termination as served and shall include the actual signature or signatures, or a reproduction of the actual signature or signatures, appearing on the notice; where separate copies of the same notice were served on more than one grantee or successor in title, only one copy need be submitted for recordation; and 

    (ii) The copy submitted for recordation shall be accompanied by a statement setting forth the date on which the notice was served and the manner of service, unless such information is contained in the notice. 

    (2) For a document covering not more than one title the basic recordation fee is $20. For additional titles, a charge of $10 is made for each group of not more than 10 titles. 

    (3) The date of recordation is the date when all of the elements required for recordation, including the prescribed fee and, if required, the statement referred to in paragraph (f)(1)(ii) of this section, have been received in the Copyright Office. After recordation the document, including any accompanying statement, is returned to the sender with a certificate of record.  

    (4) Recordation of a notice of termination by the Copyright Office is without prejudice to any party claiming that the legal and formal requirements for issuing a valid notice have not been met. 

[42 FR 45920, Sept. 13, 1977, as amended at 56 FR 59885, Nov. 26, 1991; 60 FR 34168, June 30, 1995] 

37 C.F.R. § 201.11   Satellite carrier statements of account covering statutory licenses for secondary transmissions for private home viewing. 

    (a) General. This section prescribes rules pertaining to the deposit of Statements of Account and royalty fees in the Copyright Office as required by the satellite carrier license of section 119(b)(1) of title 17 of the United States Code, as amended by Pub. L. 103-369, in order that certain secondary transmissions by satellite carriers for private home viewing be subject to statutory licensing. 

    (b) Definitions. (1) The terms distributor, network station,T1 private home viewing, satellite carrier, subscriber, superstation, and unserved household have the meanings set forth in section 119(d) of title 17 of the United States Code, as amended by Pub. L. 103-369. 

    (2) The terms primary transmission and secondary transmission have the meanings set forth in section 111(f) of title 17 of the United States Code.  

    (c) Accounting periods and deposit. (1) Statements of Account shall cover semiannual accounting periods of January 1 through June 30, and July 1 through December 31, and shall be deposited in the Copyright Office, together with the total statutory royalty fee or the confirmed arbitration royalty fee for such accounting periods as prescribed by section 119(b)(1)(B) and (c)(3) of title 17, by not later than July 30, if the Statement of Account covers the January 1 through June 30 accounting period, and by not later than the immediately following January 30, if the Statement of Account covers the July 1 through December 31 accounting period. 

    (2) Upon receiving a Statement of Account and royalty fee, the Copyright Office will make an official record of the actual date when such statement and fee were physically received in the Copyright Office. Thereafter, the Licensing Division of the Copyright Office will examine the statement and fee for obvious errors or omissions appearing on the face of the documents, and will require that any such obvious errors or omissions be corrected before final processing of the documents is completed. If, as the result of communications between the Copyright Office and the satellite carrier, an additional fee is deposited or changes or additions are made in the Statement of Account, the date that additional deposit or information was actually received in the Office will be added to the official record of the case. However, completion by the Copyright Office of the final processing of a Statement of Account and royalty fee deposit shall establish only the fact of such completion and the date or dates of receipt shown in the official record. It shall in no case be considered a determination that the Statement of Account was, in fact, properly prepared and accurate, that the correct amount of the royalty fee had been deposited, that the statutory time limits for filing had been met, or that any other requirements to qualify for a statutory license have been satisfied.  

    (3) Statements of Account and royalty fees received before the end of the particular accounting period they purport to cover will not be processed by the Copyright Office. Statements of Account and royalty fees received after the filing deadlines of July 30 or January 30, respectively, will be accepted for whatever legal effect they may have, if any. 

    (4) In the Register's discretion, four years after the close of any calendar year, the Register may close out the royalty payments account for that calendar year, and may treat any funds remaining in such account and any subsequent deposits that would otherwise be attributable to that calendar year as attributable to the succeeding calendar year. 

    (d) Forms. (1) Each Statement of Account shall be furnished on an appropriate form prescribed by the Copyright Office, and shall contain the information required by that form and its accompanying instructions. Computation of the copyright royalty fee shall be in accordance with the procedures set forth in the forms. Copies of Statement of Account forms are available free upon request to the Licensing Division, United States Copyright Office, Library of Congress, Washington, DC 20557. 

    (2) The form prescribed by the Copyright Office is designated “Statement of Account for Secondary Transmissions by Satellite Carriers to Home Viewers.”  

    (e) Contents. Each Statement of Account shall contain the following information:  

    (1) A clear designation of the accounting period covered by the Statement.  

    (2) The designation “Owner” followed by: 

    (i) The full legal name of the satellite carrier. If the owner is a partnership, the name of the partnership is to be followed by the name of at least one individual partner; 

    (ii) Any other name or names under which the owner conducts the business of the satellite carrier; and (iii) The full mailing address of the owner. Ownership, other names under which the owner conducts the business of the satellite carrier, and the owner's mailing address shall reflect facts existing on the last day of the accounting period covered by the Statement of Account.  

    (3) The designation “Primary Transmitters,” followed by the call signs, broadcast channel numbers, station locations (city and state of license), and a notation whether that primary transmitter is a “superstation” or “network station” transmitted to any or all of the subscribers of the satellite carrier during any portion of the period covered by the Statement of Account. 

    (4) The designation “Superstations,” followed by: 

    (i) The call sign of each superstation signal carried for each month of the period covered by the Statement, and

    (ii) The total number of subscribers to each superstation for each month of the period covered by the Statement. This number is the number of subscribers to each superstation receiving the retransmission on the last day of each month.  

    (5) The designation “Network Stations,” followed by: 

    (i) The call sign of each network station carried for each month of the period covered by the Statement, and 

    (ii) The total number of subscribers to each network station for each month of the period covered by the Statement. This number is the number of subscribers to each network station receiving the retransmission on the last day of each month. 

    (6) The total number of subscribers to each superstation for the six-month period covered by the Statement multiplied by the statutory royalty rate of 17.5 cents per subscriber, or in the case of syndex-proof superstations as defined in 37 CFR 258.2, 14 cents (or in lieu thereof, the arbitrated rate, if applicable).  

    (7) The total number of subscribers to each network station for the six-month period covered by the Statement multiplied by the statutory royalty rate of six (6) cents per subscriber (or, in lieu thereof, the arbitrated rate, if applicable).  

    (8) The name, address, business title, and telephone number of the individual or individuals to be contacted for information or questions concerning the content of the Statement of Account. 

    (9) The handwritten signature of: 

    (i) The owner of the satellite carrier or a duly authorized agent of the owner, if the owner is not a partnership or a corporation; or 

    (ii) A partner, if the owner is a partnership; or 

    (iii) An officer of the corporation, if the owner is a corporation. The signature shall be accompanied by: 

    (A) The printed or typewritten name of the person signing the Statement of Account; 

    (B) The date of signature; 

    (C) If the owner of the satellite carrier is a partnership or a corporation, by the title or official position held in the partnership or corporation by the person signing the Statement of Account; 

    (D) A certification of the capacity of the person signing; and  

    (E) The following statement: 

    I, the undersigned Owner or Agent of the Satellite Carrier, or Officer or Partner, if the Satellite Carrier is a Corporation or Partnership, have examined this Statement of Account and hereby declare under penalty of law that all statements of fact contained herein are true, complete, and correct to the best of my knowledge, information, and belief, and are made in good faith.  

    (f) Royalty fee payment. All royalty fees may be paid by electronic transfer of funds, provided the payment is received in the designated United States Federal Reserve Bank by the filing deadline for the relevant accounting period. Except in the case of an electronic payment, the royalty fee payable for the period covered by the Statement of Account shall accompany that Statement of Account and shall be deposited at the Copyright Office with it. Payment must be in the form of a certified check, cashier's check, or a money order, payable to: Register of Copyrights; or a United States Treasury electronic payment.  

    (g) Corrections, supplemental payments, and refunds. (1) Upon compliance with the procedures and within the time limits set forth in paragraph (g)(3) of this section, corrections to Statements of Account will be placed on record, supplemental royalty fee payments will be received for deposit, or refunds will be issued, in the following cases: 

    (i) Where, with respect to the accounting period covered by a Statement of Account, any of the information given in the Statement filed in the Copyright Office is incorrect or incomplete; or 

    (ii) Where calculation of the royalty fee payable for a particular accounting period was incorrect, and the amount deposited in the Copyright Office for that period was either too high or too low. 

    (2) Corrections to Statements of Account will not be placed on record, supplemental royalty fee payments will not be received for deposit, and refunds will not be issued, where the information in the Statements of Account, the royalty fee calculations, or the payments were correct as of the date on which the accounting period ended, but changes (for example, addition or deletion of a signal) took place later. 

    (3) Requests that corrections to a Statement of Account be placed on record, that fee payments be accepted, or requests for the issuance of refunds, shall be made only in the cases mentioned in paragraph (g)(1) of this section. Such requests shall be addressed to the Licensing Division of the Copyright Office, and shall meet the following conditions: 

    (i) The request must be in writing, must clearly identify its purpose, and, in the case of a request for a refund, must be received in the Copyright Office before the expiration of 30 days from the last day of the applicable Statement of Account filing period, or before the expiration of 30 days from the date of receipt at the Copyright Office of the royalty payment that is the subject of the request, whichever time period is longer.  A telegraphic or similar unsigned communication will be considered to meet this requirement if it clearly identifies the basis of the request, if it is received in the Copyright Office within the required 30-day period, and if a written request meeting all the conditions of this paragraph (g)(3) is also received in the Copyright Office within 14 days after the end of such 30-day period: 

    (ii) The Statement of Account to which the request pertains must be sufficiently identified in the request (by inclusion of the name of the owner of the satellite carrier and the accounting period in question) so that it can be readily located in the records of the Copyright Office;

    (iii) The request must contain a clear statement of the facts on which it is based and provide a clear basis on which a refund may be granted, in accordance with the following procedures: 

    (A) In the case of a request filed under paragraph (g)(1)(i) of this section, where the information given in the Statement of Account is incorrect or incomplete, the request must clearly identify the erroneous or incomplete information and provide the correct or additional information: 

    (B) In the case of a request filed under paragraph (g)(1)(ii) of this section, where the royalty fee was miscalculated and the amount deposited in the Copyright Office was either too high or too low, the request must be accompanied by an affidavit under the official seal of any officer authorized to administer oaths within the United States, or a statement in accordance with section 1746 of title 28 of the United States Code, made and signed in accordance with paragraph (e)(9) of this section. The affidavit or statement shall describe the reasons why the royalty fee was improperly calculated and include a detailed analysis of the proper royalty calculation. 

    (iv)(A) All requests filed under this paragraph (g) must be accompanied by a filing fee in the amount of $15 for each Statement of Account involved. Payment of this fee may be in the form of a personal or company check, or of a certified check, cashier's check or money order, payable to: Register of Copyrights. No request will be processed until the appropriate filing fees are received.  

    (B) All requests that a supplemental royalty fee payment be received for deposit under this paragraph (g) must be accompanied by a remittance in the full amount of such fee. Payment of the supplemental royalty fee must be in the form of certified check, cashier's check, or money order, payable to: Register of Copyrights; or electronic payment. No such request will be processed until an acceptable remittance in the full amount of the supplemental royalty fee has been received. 

    (v) All requests submitted under this paragraph (g) must be signed by the satellite carrier owner named in the Statement of Account, or the duly authorized agent of the owner, in accordance with paragraph (e)(9) of this section.  

    (vi) A request for a refund is not necessary where the Licensing Division, during its examination of a Statement of Account or related document, discovers an error that has resulted in a royalty overpayment. In this case, the Licensing Division will forward the royalty refund to the satellite carrier owner named in the Statement of Account without regard to the time limitations provided for in paragraph (g)(3)(i) of this section. 

    (4) Following final processing, all requests submitted under this paragraph (g) will be filed with the original Statement of Account in the records of the Copyright Office. Nothing contained in this paragraph shall be considered to relieve satellite carriers from their full obligations under title 17 of the United States Code, and the filing of a correction or supplemental payment shall have only such effect as may be attributed to it by a court of competent jurisdiction.  

    (h) Interest. (1) Royalty fee payments submitted as a result of late or amended filings will include interest. Interest will begin to accrue beginning on the first day after the close of the period for filing statements of account for all underpayments or late payments of royalties for the satellite carrier statutory license for secondary transmissions for private home viewing occurring within that accounting period. The accrual period will end on the date appearing on the certified check, cashier's check, money order, or electronic payment submitted by a satellite carrier, provided that such payment is received by the Copyright Office within five business days of that date. If the payment is not received by the Copyright Office within five business days of its date, the accrual period will end on the date of actual receipt by the Copyright Office.  

    (2)(i) The interest rate applicable to a specific accounting period beginning with the 1992/2 period shall be the Current Value of Funds Rate, as established by section 8025.40 of the Treasury Financial Manual and published in the Federal Register, in effect on the first business day after the close of the filing deadline for that accounting period. Cable operators wishing to obtain the interest rate for a specific accounting period may do so by consulting the Federal Register for the applicable Current Value of Funds Rate, or by contacting the Licensing Division of the Copyright Office.  

    (ii) The interest rate applicable to a specific accounting period earlier than the 1992/2 period shall be the rate fixed by the Licensing Division of the Copyright Office pursuant to 37 CFR 201.11(h) in effect on June 30, 1992.  

    (3) Interest is not required to be paid on any royalty underpayment or late payment from a particular accounting period if the interest charge is less than or equal to five dollars ($5.00). 

[54 FR 27877, July 3, 1989, as amended at 55 FR 49998, Dec. 4, 1990; 56 FR 29589, June 28, 1991; 57 FR 61834, Dec. 29, 1992; 59 FR 67635, Dec. 30, 1994; 60 FR 34168, June 30, 1995; 60 FR 57935, 57937, Nov. 24, 1995; 63 FR 30634, 30635, June 5, 1998] 

    n1 If the person who, or on whose behalf, an application for supplementary registration is submitted is the same as the person identified as the copyright claimant in the basic registration, the Copyright Office will place a note referring to the supplementary registration on its records of the basic registration.

    n2 The $20 fee applies to all applications for supplementary registration, including those made to correct or amplify the information in a renewal registration.

Continuation: 37 C.F.R. § 201.12   Recordation of certain contracts by cable systems located outside of the forty-eight contiguous states. 


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