U.S. Copyright Office, Adjustment of the Rates for the Noncommercial Educational Broadcasting Compulsory License

[Federal Register: March 3, 1998 (Volume 63, Number 41)]
[Notices]
[Page 10414-10415]

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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS

Adjustment of the Rates for the Noncommercial Educational
Broadcasting Compulsory License

AGENCY: Copyright Office, Library of Congress.

ACTION: Announcement of the schedule for the proceeding.

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SUMMARY: The Copyright Office of the Library of Congress is announcing
the schedule for the 180-day arbitration period for the adjustment of
the royalty rates for the noncommercial educational broadcasting
compulsory license, as required by the regulations governing this
proceeding.

EFFECTIVE DATE: March 3, 1998.

ADDRESSES: All hearings and meetings for the adjustment of the royalty
rates for the noncommercial educational broadcasting compulsory license
shall take place in the James Madison Building, Room LM-414, First and
Independence Avenue, SE, Washington, DC 20540.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: David O. Carson, General Counsel, or
William R. Roberts, Senior Attorney, at: Copyright Arbitration Royalty
Panel (CARP), P.O. Box 70977, Southwest Station, Washington, DC 20024.
Telephone: (202) 707-8380. Telefax: (202) 707-8366.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section 251.11(b) of the regulations
governing the Copyright Arbitration Royalty Panels, 37 CFR subchapter
B, provides that:

At the beginning of each proceeding, the CARP shall develop the
original schedule of the proceeding which shall be published in the
Federal Register at least seven calendar days in advance of the
first meeting. Such announcement shall state the times, dates, and
place of the meetings, the testimony to be heard, whether any of the
meetings, or any portion of a meeting, is to be closed, and if so,
which ones, and the name and telephone number of the person to
contact for further information.

This notice fulfills the requirements of Sec. 251.11(b) for the
proceeding to adjust the royalty rates for the noncommercial
educational broadcasting compulsory license.
On October 18, 1996, the Library announced a voluntary negotiation
period, the precontroversy discovery schedule, and an initiation date
for a Copyright Arbitration Royalty Panel (CARP) for this docket. The
Office also requested each interested party to file a Notice of Intent
to Participate with the Office no later than December 13, 1996. 61 FR
54458 (October 18, 1996). On November 11, 1996, the National Public
Radio (NPR), the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), the American
Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP), Broadcast Music,
Inc. (BMI), SESAC, Inc., the National Music Publishers Association,
Inc. (NMPA), and the Harry Fox Agency, Inc., filed notices of intent to
participate. On June 19, 1997, the National Religious Broadcasters
Music License Committee (NRBMLC) requested leave to file its notice of
intent to participate after the deadline for making this filing had
passed. The Register granted its motion and accepted the filing. Order
in Docket No. 96-6 CARP (NCBRA) (July 30, 1997). Two additional
parties, The American Council on Education and The National Federation
of Community Broadcasters, did not file notices of intent to
participate, although they participated in the negotiations of certain
rates and terms of interest to their members.
The October 18, 1996, order set January 10, 1997, as the
commencement date for the precontroversy discovery period. See 61 FR
54458 (October 18, 1996). However, the parties requested that the
schedule set forth in the October 18 order be vacated in order to give
the parties additional time to negotiate voluntary agreements. The
Office granted the parties' request for additional time, vacated the
precontroversy discovery schedule, and instructed the parties to appear
at the Library on May 1, 1997, for a status report on the progress of
their settlement negotiations. Order in Docket No. 96-6 CARP NCBRA
(December 23, 1996). At the May 1 status conference, the parties again
requested additional time, which the Office granted, provided the
parties updated the Office on the status of their negotiations in July
1997. At a status meeting on July 24, 1997, the parties identified a
need for a CARP proceeding. On July 30, 1997, the Office announced a
second schedule setting dates for the precontroversy discovery period
and set December 31, 1997, as the date for the initiation of
arbitration. Order in Docket No. 96-6 CARP NCBRA (July 30, 1997).
In accordance with the new schedule, NRBMLC, PBS, and NPR filed
proposed rates and terms for the payment of royalty fees to
unaffiliated copyright owners on September 2, 1997. Subsequently, on
October 1, 1997, the parties filed additional joint proposals for
further adjusting the rates and terms of the section 118 compulsory
license and notices of settlement. The Office published all the
proposed rates and terms in the Federal Register for public review and
comment, pursuant to 37 CFR 251.63. 62 FR 51619 (October 2, 1997) and
62 FR 63502 (December 1, 1997). The December 1, 1997, notice announced
that the proposed regulations would become final on January 1, 1998,
unless an interested party filed a challenge to the proposed
regulations and a Notice of Intent to Participate in a CARP proceeding,
on or before December 29, 1997. 62 FR 63502 (December 1, 1997). See
also 62 FR 65777 (December 16, 1997) (correction notice clarifying the
filing dates). The Office received no comments or Notices of Intent to
Participate in a CARP proceeding in response to its notices of

[[Page 10415]]

the proposed rates and terms, and on January 14, 1998, the Office
announced its adoption of the proposed rates and terms as final
regulations, pursuant to 37 CFR 251.63(b). 63 FR 2142 (January 14,
1998).
A controversy remained, however, regarding the rates to be paid by
PBS and NPR for the use of musical works licensed by ASCAP and BMI. The
parties filed several motions to compel document production on November
7, 1997, in accordance with the July 30, 1997, order. The parties
requested a large volume of document production in these motions. With
such a large volume of document production still to be completed, the
Office recognized that the 180-day period could not commence on
December 31, 1997. Accordingly in its order ruling on the motions to
compel, the Office granted additional time for the completion of
document production and reset the date for initiation of the 180-day
period to January 30, 1998. Order in Docket No. 96-6 CARP NCBRA
(December 30, 1997). On February 2, 1998, the Library announced the
initiation of the CARP proceeding to resolve this controversy. 63 FR
5405 (February 2, 1998).
On February 3, 1998, the parties to this proceeding met with the
arbitrators for the purpose of setting a schedule for this proceeding.
At that meeting, the parties and the arbitrators agreed to the
following schedule:

Opening Statements for all parties. February 26, 1998.......................
Presentation of Direct Cases:
American Society of Composers, February 26, 1998....................... Mary Rodgers.
Authors and Publishers (ASCAP).
ASCAP.......................... March 9, 1998........................... Richard H. Reimer.
Bennett M. Lincoff.
Jon A. Baumgarten.
ASCAP.......................... March 12, 1998.......................... James Ledbetter.
Carol Grajeda.
Horace Anderson.
Ray Schwind.
Seth Saltzman.
ASCAP.......................... March 13, 1998.......................... James Day.
Robert Unmacht.
Ed Bergstein.
David Bander.
Lauren Iossa.
Broadcast Music, Inc. (BMI).... March 16, 1998.......................... Alison Smith.
Fredric J. Willms.
Bruce M. Owen.
BMI............................ March 17, 1998.......................... Bruce M. Owen.
Michael Bacon.
BMI............................ March 18, 1998.......................... Michael Bacon.
Janet R. McFadden.
Roy J. Epstein.
ASCAP.......................... March 19, 1998.......................... Dr. Peter Boyle.
Public Broadcasting Service March 20, 1998.......................... Peter Downey.
(PBS) and National Public Peter Jablow.
Radio (NPR) (did not provide Paula Jameson.
breakdown of dates for Adam Jaffe.
witnesses).
PBS/NPR........................ March 30, 1998.......................... Peter Downey.
Peter Jablow.
Paula Jameson.
Adam Jaffe.
Continuation of Presentation of March 31, 1998,
Direct Cases. April 1-3 \1\, 1998
Filing Deadline for Written April 15, 1998
Rebuttal Cases.
Presentation of Rebuttal Cases. April 27-30, 1998
Filing Deadline for Proposed May 22, 1998
Findings of Fact and
Conclusions of Law.
Filing Deadline for Replies to June 1, 1998
Proposed Findings of Fact and
Conclusions of Law.
Oral argument.................. June 16, 1998
Close of 180-day period........ July 28, 1998
All hearings will begin at 10 a.m.
and end at 5 p.m.

\1\ This date may have to be rescheduled.

The regulations require that the Copyright Office publish the
original schedule for the CARP proceeding in the Federal Register at
least seven calendar days in advance of the first meeting. 37 CFR
251.11(b). Pursuant to 37 CFR 251.11(d), however, the arbitrators voted
to publish the schedule on shorter notice than the required seven days
in order to allow the parties an opportunity to finalize the witness
list for their direct cases before publication of the schedule. The
results of the vote on the question, whether the requirement for a
seven calendar day notice should be waived, are:

The Hon. Lewis Hall Griffith, Chairperson: Yes
The Hon. Edward Dreyfus: Yes
The Hon. Jeffrey S. Gulin: Yes

At this time, the parties have not moved to close any portion of
the proceeding to the public. Further refinements to the schedule will
be announced in open meetings and issued as orders to the parties
participating in the proceeding. All changes will be noted in the
docket file of the proceeding, as required by the Copyright Office
regulations governing the administration of CARP proceedings. 37 CFR
251.11(c).

Dated: February 25, 1998.
David O. Carson,
General Counsel.
[FR Doc. 98-5440 Filed 3-2-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 1410-33-P

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